Born Minneapolis, MN
Lives and works in Chicago, IL
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Not yet titled, Dennos Museum, Traverse City, MI (forthcoming)
2020 From Sky to Sky, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2019 Friendship with the Unknown, Gallery 1871, Chicago, IL
2018 Festival, One River School of Art + Design, Evanston, IL
2016 Ocean Inside the Drop, Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais, IL
2015 Here and Now, South Suburban College, South Holland, IL
2013 Silence Speaks, Morpho Gallery, Chicago, IL
Residencies / Awards / Grants
2022
Tusen Takk Foundation, residency, Leland, MI
Illinois Arts Council Agency Grant
2021
Hypatia Trust, Hypatia-in-the-Woods residency, Shelton, WA
First Prize, Fifth Midwest Open, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago
2020
Anonymous was a Woman Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts
Illinois Arts Council Agency Grant
2019
The Macedonia Institute, Chatham, NY
Individual Artists Program Grant, CAAP, City of Chicago Cultural Grant
2018
Vermont Studio Center residency, Johnson, VT
Partial Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center
Illinois Arts Council Grant
2015
3rd Place, ArtFutura, Northwestern University Lurie Center, awarded by James Rondeau, Director, Art Institute of Chicago
3Arts Artist Project Award, 3Arts, Chicago, IL
2014
Individual Artists Program Grant, CAAP, City of Chicago Cultural Grant
First Prize for Mountain Silence, Encaustic Nature in Art, The Art Center - Highland Park, IL
Second Prize for Tenderly, Wax Effects, Art Central Gallery, San Luis Obispo, CA
2013
Illinois Arts Council Grant
Award of Excellence for Winter, Small Art Big Impact Exhibition, Manhattan Art Int’l, NY
First Prize for Tenderly, Fluidity, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL
Special Merit Award, Abstract Art Competition, Light Space & Time Gallery
2012
Special Recognition Artist, Seasons Art Competition, Light Space & Time Gallery
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022
Deep Freeze, CIRCA Gallery
Threaded Together, Alma, Chicago
2021
Group Show, SHRINE Gallery, New York
Continuous Span, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
Myriad, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Winds of Change, Gallery 1871, Chicago
Fifth Midwest Open, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago (juror: Alison Wong)
lately ii, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2020
Art-in-Place, Terrain Exhibitions + CNL Projects
Rockford Midwestern Biennial, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL (juror: Jim Dempsey)
Intention, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
By & For, curated by Pia Singh
Winter Salon, Gallery 1871, Chicago, IL
Lately, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2019
Painting with Fire, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL
Nouveau, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Variations in Wax, Robert Morris University, Chicago, IL
Spatial Stillness, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2018
Rockford Midwestern Biennial, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL (juror Aron Packer)
Bold Boho, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
depth of [color] field, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Summer Show, Gallery 1871, Chicago, IL
Summer Salon, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2017
Ahavani Mullen + Lindsy Halleckson, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN (2-person show)
New Horizons, Gallery 1871, Chicago, IL
Encaustic 2017: Rebirth of an Ancient Medium (invitational), Bridgeport Art Center, Chicago, IL
Diffused Surface (invitational), Gallery 201, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL
2016
Winter Salon, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
New Works by Gallery Artists, Gallery 1871, Chicago, IL
Summer Salon, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Winter Salon, Gallery 1871, Chicago, IL
2015
ArtFutura, Northwestern University Lurie Center, juried by James Rondeau, Director, Art Institute of Chicago
Another Way of Keeping a Diary, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo, CA
Elements of Light, Brickton Art Gallery, Park Ridge, IL (2-person show)
New Works by Gallery Artists, Gallery 1871, Chicago, IL
Expansive Visions, Christopher Art Gallery, Prairie State College, Chicago Heights, IL
12th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition, Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, IL
Honouring Pollinators, Alton Mill Art Centre, Caledon, Ontario, Canada
Textual Encounters, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL
Winter Salon, Gallery 1871, Chicago, IL
2014
Abstract Sanctuary, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
Wax Effects, Art Central Art Gallery, San Luis Obispo, CA
Encaustic Nature in Art, The Art Center, Highland Park, IL.
Unbound(ed), Morpho Gallery, Chicago
Fused, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL
Small Art Big Impact, Manhattan Arts International, New York
The Diptych Project, Engine Gallery, Biddeford, ME
Green, Fine Arts Building, Chicago
Minute Musings, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL
2013
National Juried Encaustic Exhibition, Encaustic Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
Seven, 7th International Encaustic Conference, Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, Truro, MA (Juror: Shawn Hill, critic Art New England)
Fluidity, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL
Miniatures, Linus Galleries, Los Angeles, CA
6x6x2013, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY
Abstract II, Brickton Art Center, Park Ridge, IL
12th Annual Art Inter/National Exhibition, Box Heart Gallery, Pittsburgh
WAX(in') Blue, Morpho Gallery, Chicago
Growth, Expansion Gallery, Lacuna Artist Lofts, Chicago
FusedChicago 3, Fine Arts Building, Chicago
8th Annual Emerging Artist Exhibition, Morpho Gallery, Chicago
Introspect, Arterie Fine Arts, Naperville, IL
Abstract, Light Space Time Gallery, Jupiter, FL
2012
Repurposed, University of Maryland, Rockville MD
Rhythm in Wax, Norris Cultural Arts Gallery, St. Charles, IL
Sacred Spaces, The Art Center - Highland Park, IL
Encaustic, Fine Line Creative Arts Center, St. Charles, IL
Tactile Encounters, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago
The Buzz, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago
ReInvention, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL
Morsels, AnySquared Projects, Chicago
For the Love of Paint!, Flow Art Space, Minneapolis
Painting: Color Dominates, Evans Encaustics, Sonoma, CA
Seasons, Light Space Time Gallery, Jupiter, FL
The Abstract Show, Brickton Art Center, Park Ridge, IL
2011
Age 1.5 and Up, Prak-sis Gallery, Chicago
2010
Beyond Abstraction, Space/Division, Chicago, IL
Selected Bibliography
2021
Newcity, 60wrd/min COVID Edition: Ahavani Mullen, Lori Waxman
Lifted Lab, Interview: Ahavani Mullen
2020
Create Magazine, Ahavani Mullen: Transforming your Medium
NBC 5 Chicago, Art-In-Place Initiative Invites Artists to Display Exhibits Outside Homes
Newcity, Artists Turn Their Homes Into Galleries, with Art-in-Place
New Art Examiner, COVID-19 vs. The Art Field
2019
Praeterita, Paintings and Sculpture by Ahavani Mullen, Phillip Hartigan
2018
Still Point Arts Quarterly, Still Point X
2017
Encaustic Arts magazine, Spring 2017
2015
Studio Visit Magazine, Volume 28, Juror: Carl Belz, Rose Art Museum, Director Emeritus, Brandeis University
Artguardian, What’s Your Process
2014
The Diptych Project II: A Collaboration in Wax, Dietlind Vander Schaaf
YoungSpace, Ahavani Mullen, Kate Mothes
Below the Surface, Collaboration and Inspiration: The Diptych Project II, New
England Wax
2013
FUSEDChicago, Ahavani Mullen, Featured Artist Interview
Panorama Arts Magazine, Tenderly
2012
Debra Claffey Art Blog, Natura Viva, Making Something out of Nothing
University of Maryland, Repurposed: Earth-Friendly Art
Encaustic Art Blog, Ahavani Art Studio Encaustic Paintings, Cherie McClelland Smith
Selected Collections
Tusen Takk Foundation
The Macedonia Institute, NY
Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV
Dussias Wittenberg Koenigsberger LLP, Chicago, IL
Harrison Law, Chicago, IL
Million Dollar Round Table, Executive Suite, Park Ridge, IL
Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY
Other private and corporate collections
Curatorial Projects
The Abstract Show IV, Juror, Brickton Art Gallery, Park Ridge, IL, 2016
Teaching
Oakton Community College, Des Plaines, IL
Prak-sis Contemporary Art Association, Chicago
Arterie Fine Arts, Naperville, IL
Education
Macalester College, St. Paul, MN, B.A., 1996
University College London, University of London, England 1994