Aly Ogasian

Aly Ogasian is an Assistant Professor of Art + Design at Scripps College. Prior to joining Scripps College, Aly was an Assistant Professor at Rhode Island School of Design, and a critic at Smith College.

In her work, Aly attempts to re-orient herself in a contemporary world dominated by data and technology, where the romantic and adventurous spirit of discovery has been lost or forgotten. In these zones, science and technology give rise to the nebulous, the enigmatic, the mysterious -- the primary goal is to “make sense” rather than to objectively know.

Rather than grapple with the “polarity” between the arts and sciences, her work argues that both fields operate in a territory of wonder that exists at the border between sensation and thought. Within this context, wonder is connected to an instance of “new knowing”, a re-encountering of familiar terrain. Her recent work pairs artistic fieldwork with public programs that engage communities around issues of climate change, histories of land use, and environmental stewardship.

She has been awarded residencies at Montalvo Arts Center, Vermont Studio Center, School of Visual Arts, The Arctic Circle, and the National Center of Contemporary for Art: Russia, amongst others. In 2019 Ogasian was an artist in residence at Schmidt Ocean Institute aboard the Research Vessel Falkor departing from Hawaii. In 2018, Ogasian and her collaborator, Shona Kitchen were awarded the first ever artist residency at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Cape Canaveral, Florida, supported by a NASA Space Grant.

She has exhibited nationally and internationally at venues such as The Russian State Arctic & Antarctic Museum; The Atlantic Center of the Arts; Kennedy Space Center/Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge; The Salamanca Arts Center Tasmania; Watkins College of Art, Design & Film and ISEA, amongst others. Aly has also co-curated a group exhibition at apexart, NYC, and has collaboratively produced artist books.