BIO
Juju Ishmael is a painter and sculptor whose work explores themes of myth, mortality and transcendence. She earned her BFA in Painting from Kansas University in 1983. Her early work spanned photography, painting and environmental performance.
Ishmael exhibited as a fellow at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center (1986-87), as well as group shows in Boston. Throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s, she exhibited in the Southwest and Midwest while expanding into set design and experimental theater, later presenting her own performance-art pieces that wove mythology with personal history. After relocating to Seattle in 1996, she worked in theater tech before returning to painting.
Following a painting hiatus, Ishmael studied at Gage Academy (2016-17) and has since exhibited in the Northwest. She is currently a member of Shift Gallery, Seattle.
Born 1960 (ne. Julie Freeman) Kansas City, Missouri
Lives and works in Seattle, Washington
EDUCATION
2017 Studio Intensive, Gage Academy, Seattle, Washington
1983 BFA, Painting, Kansas University, Lawrence
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS/PERFORMANCE
2025 Call and Response, Group Show, Shift Gallery, Seattle
2025 Two-Person Exhibit, Shift Gallery, Seattle
2024 Aqueous, Art Fluent
2022 CoCA design project exhibit, Seattle Design Fair, Seattle, Washington
2020 Small works show, CoCA Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2017 Student Show, Gage Academy, Seattle
1995 Excerpt from Queen of Swords, by Judy Grahn, Lawrence, Kansas (performance)
Spoken Word, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, Kansas (group)
1994 Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton in Boca Raton, Chameleon Theater, Lawrence, Kansas (duet performance)
1993 Me and Anorexia, Jazzhaus, Lawrence, KS (solo performance)
Chorus to my Mother, Lawrence, Kansas (performance)
1991 Small Works Exhibit, Lawrence, Kansas
1990 Small Works Show, Jerome Arizona (group)
1989 Open Studios Exhibit, Brickbottom Studios, Boston, Massachusetts
1988 Boston Arts Festival, Boston, Massachusetts
1987 Walker Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts (solo)
1982 Scissors Paper Stone Gallery, Lawrence, Kansas (2 person)
Field Maze, Wakarusa Valley, Lawrence, Kansas (solo environmental project)
1981 Covered Raze, Rutland, Vermont (2-person environmental project)
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
1987 Visual Fellow, Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, Massachusetts
1982 Lockwood Award, Kansas University, Lawrence