Selva Aparicio: Visiting Artist Lecture

Selva Aparicio (b. 1987, Barcelona, Spain; lives between Alfred, NY, and Chicago, IL) is an interdisciplinary artist working in installation and sculpture, exploring themes of memory, intimacy, and the temporality of life. Raised on the outskirts of Barcelona, in a landscape shaped by history and renewal, she developed a deep connection to nature and the ephemeral. Her practice reveres the discarded, examining cycles of life, death, and rebirth.

She studied Sculpture at Escola Massana de Barcelona, earned her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2015), and received her MFA from Yale University (2017). Aparicio has exhibited internationally at institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, DePaul Art Museum, and The Museum of Art and Design, NY. Her accolades include the 2025 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Visual Arts, the Artadia Award (2022), and the Burke Prize (2023). She recently completed a public art commission for Beaufort 2024 Triennale and is an Assistant Professor at Alfred University.