PRESERVATION OF
FORGETTING AT
NEON HEATER GALLERY
PRESERVATION OF
FORGETTING AT
NEON HEATER GALLERY
The Town Between My Toes
2019
sand, wax, raw rigatoni and shell pasta, pleather, black food coloring, olives, carrots, olive pits, cotton string, resin, wire, wood, paint, rocks, teddy bears
size varies (6' tall)
Pea-n-Carrot Tree
2019
preserved peas, carrots, and peppers, gravestone dust, beads, rocks, sand, resin, paint, plastic, streamers, pleather, wood, string, mosaic tile
12x12x44"
Portrait by Sarah Huny Young
Sidney Mullis is a sculptor living and working in Pittsburgh, PA. She is building a make-believe forest to find where childhood selves retreat in adulthood and if it is possible to bring them back. Before that, she made work about puberty, the intimacy of forgetting, and performance of gender.
Her work has been exhibited in a number of locations including Berlin, Tokyo, England, Croatia, and the Netherlands. Solo shows include the Leslie Lohman Museum (NYC), Wick Gallery (NYC), Bunker Projects (PA), Neon Heater Gallery (OH), Bucknell University (PA), Rowan University (NJ), University of Mary Washington (VA), and more. She has been an artist-in-residence at The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, The Wassaic Project, Women’s Studio Workshop, MASS MoCA, Ox-Bow School of Art, among others. Her work has been featured in publications such as Hyperallergic, Young Space, Maake Magazine, De:Formal, and Sculpture Magazine.
Mullis is currently a reading tutor for kids with learning disabilities.
b. 1992
Lives in Pittsburgh, PA
AWARDS
2024 Mentor, Brewhouse Art’s Distillery Emerging Artists Program, Pittsburgh, PA
2024 April MyMA Artist Grant Finalist, juried by Andrew Woolbright, artist and Editor-at-Large for Brooklyn Rail
2022 - 2023 Artist-in-residence, The University School, Pittsburgh, PA
2021 Artist-in-residence, Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
2020 Artist-in-residence, Bunker Projects, Pittsburgh, PA
2019 Artist-in-residence, Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY
2019 Artist-in-residence, Women's Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY
2018 Artist-in-residence, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ
2017 Artist-in-residence, Borland Project Space, State College, PA
2017 Artist-in-residence, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA
2017 Best-In-Show for Sleepover, Three Rivers Arts Festival, Trust Arts Education Center, Pittsburgh, PA
2016 Artist-in-residence, Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
2016 Creative Achievement Award, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA
2016 - 2014 Graduate Fellowship Tuition Waiver, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA
2014 Graham Fellowship, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA
2014 Melchers Gray Purchase Award, duPont Gallery, juried by Desiree Holman, Fredericksburg, VA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 (upcoming) Black Forest, McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH
2023 Purple Forest, Olin Art Gallery, Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, PA
2020 Sand murmurs/Tongue pockets/Thumb secrets (Yellow Forest), Bunker Projects, Pittsburgh, PA
2020 Of Ash and Ice (White Forest), Wick Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2018 Preservation of Forgetting, Neon Heater Gallery, Findlay, OH
2018 Legs Together, Rowan University Art Gallery, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ
2018 Who is Puberty and how does she hit?, Downtown Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
2017 Who is Puberty and how does she hit?, Downtown Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
2017 Preservation of Forgetting, Galleri Urbane, Dallas, TX
2017 A Hot Smidge, duPont Gallery, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA
2016 inti.mate in.timate, John Sloan Gallery, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA
2016 What Mom Don't Know, Zoller Gallery, State College, PA
2016 inti.mate, Wooster St. Window Gallery, Leslie Lohman Museum of Art, New York, NY
2015 inti.mate, Future Tenant Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 SPRING/BREAK NYC with Testudo, Kelsey Tynik, and curator Lexi Bishop, NY, NY
2024 Short Film Festival, part of Community Festival, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
2024 Take Me Somewhere Nice, LVL3 Gallery, Chicago, IL
2024 Winnipeg Underground Film Festival, Dave Barber Cinematheque, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
2024 X on the line, Dream Clinic, Columbus, OH
2024 Garden Party Silent Art Auction, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
2024 phone, wallet, KEYS, Coco Hunday, Tampa, FL
2023 For the camera, for the screen, for the audience, Folio Gallery, Landmark Arts, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
2023 Seeking Ourselves in Each Other, Muskingum University, New Concord, OH
2023 Six in an Open Field, University Museum, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA
2023 Inward and Beyond, Ice House Studios, Pittsburgh, PA
2023 What the swans are twittering about in the riverbed, Trixie, The Hague, Netherlands, curated by Elena Apostolovski
2023 Friend of the Artist: 15th A.I.R. Biennial, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, curated by Eriola Pira
2022 All Game No Play, STIFF Film Festival, Palach Cultural Centre, Rijeka, Croatia, curated by Elena Apostolovski
2022 Object Lounge, Collarworks, Troy, NY
2022 Full Spectrum, Brew House Association, Pittsburgh, PA
2022 Soft Play, Collarworks, Troy, NY
2022 Vitrine, Brew House Association, Pittsburgh, PA
2022 Frills: Glories, Excess, and Getting Weird, SPACE, Pittsburgh, PA, curated by Hannah Turpin and Dave Zak
2021 Frills: Glories, Excess, and Getting Weird, SPACE, Pittsburgh, PA, curated by Hannah Turpin and Dave Zak
2021 To Get To The Other Side, Elephant Gallery, Nashville, TN
2021 Art-n-Stuff IV, Ejecta Projects, Carlisle, PA
2021 Mating Rituals, Third Floor Window Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, curated by Carolina Alamilla
2021 The Point of Oversight, Tavan PIKa, European Capital of Culture program, Rijeka, Croatia, curated by Elena Apostolovski
2021 Transcendental States, Project Gallery V, projectgalleryv.com, juried by Adam Liam Rose (online exhibition)
2021 New Contemporaries, dodomu gallery, dodomugallery.com (online exhibition)
2020 Zip City, Left Field, curated by Emily Burns, Los Osos, CA
2020 Now, more than ever, Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY (online exhibition)
2020 Keep for Old Memoirs, Young Space, curated by Kate Mothes and Celine Mo (online exhibition)
2020 Staying Relevant, Keystone College, La Plume, PA
2020 Congruence, I Like Your Work, curated by Bridgette Mayer (online exhibition)
2020 me irl, Dalton Gallery at Agnes Scott College, curated by Melissa Huang, Decatur, GA
2019 Moving Pictures, Pavilion Theatre, State College, PA
2019 At Once, Gallery SKC, STIFF Film Festival, Rijeka, Croatia
2019 Meet & Greet, Zoller Gallery, State College, PA
2019 Terra not so Firma, FJORD Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2019 Gender, Prism Contemporary, Blackburn, England
2019 Our Bodies Ourselves, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
2019 Transcendence, IA&A at Hillyer, Washington, D.C.
2019 That's What She Said (traveling), Zoller Gallery, State College, PA
2018 Spaghetti Paradise, J.O. Station, Brooklyn, NY
2018 That's What She Said (traveling), AFA Gallery, 8th International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art, Scranton, PA
2018 Contemporary Renaissance Women, Banana Factory, Bethlehem, PA
2018 Artwalk, Neon Heater Gallery, presented by The Arts Partnership, Findlay, OH
2018 No Place Like Home, Zoller Gallery, State College, PA
2017 Fresh Legs, Galleri Heike Arndt DK, Berlin, Germany
2017 The Gift Edit, Galleri Urbane, Dallas, TX
2017 Three River Arts Festival, Trust Arts Education Center, Pittsburgh, PA
2017 Skinny Dipping, Woskob Family Gallery, State College, PA
2017 About the Body, Humpday Gallery, State College, PA
2017 Nasty Women Art Exhibition, The Knockdown Center, Queens, NY
2017 Nasty Women Art Exhibition, Grand Arthaus, Phoenix, AZ
2016 Please Do Not Touch, Carpetland Studios, State College, PA
2016 Group Show, Galleri Urbane, Dallas, TX
2016 XXChange, Area 405, Baltimore, MD
2016 I'm Feelin' Myself, Downtown Player’s Club, curated by Miranda Kyle, Atlanta, GA
2016 Small Works, Trestle Gallery, juried by Heather Darcy Bhandari, Brooklyn, NY
2016 Luxe, Slayer Gallery (online exhibition)
2016 Girls Just Wanna...,Galleri Urbane, Dallas, TX
2016 The Female Complex, Medici Gallery, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
2016 Borders, Walter E. Terhune Gallery, juried by Sarah Rose Sharp, Owens Center for Fine and Performing Art, Toledo, OH
2016 Odd Couples, Zoller Gallery, State College, PA
2016 One In Herself, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
2016 Being Her Now, Salisbury University Art Galleries, Salisbury, MD
2015 Back to the Future, pehrspace, juried by Sarah Zucker and Brian Griffith, Los Angeles, CA
2015 Badass, Black Sun Studio, State College, PA
2015 Repeat, Hump Day Gallery, State College, PA
2015 What Are You Doing Now? Zoller Gallery, State College, PA
2015 Certain Critical Operations, Found in Fred, Fredericksburg, VA
2015 30th Annual Graduate Research Exhibition, HUB Gallery, State College, PA
2015 Set in Motion: Green, Fountain Gallery, Purdue University, Lafayette, IN
2015 All My Work Sucks Show, KRAP Collective, Philadelphia, PA
2015 Why Are You Here? Zoller Gallery, State College, PA
PERFORMANCES
2016 Scrub - a - Phub, Wild Goose Creative, Columbus, OH
2014 BodyCare, Rinaldo's Barber Shop, State College, PA
2014 Painting the Town Pussy, Tokyo, Japan
2013 Straight, Andy Boyd Gallery, Fredericksburg, VA
COLLECTIONS
Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection
Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn, NY
University of Mary Washington Permanent Collection, Fredericksburg, VA
Women's Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY
ARTIST TALKS & PRESENTATIONS
Brewhouse Arts, Distillery Emerging Artists Program, Pittsburgh, PA
Ohio State University, Graduate Seminar taught by Dani Restack and Jared Thorne, Columbus, OH
SAIC, Senior Capstone taught by Barbarita Polster, Chicago, IL
Trixie, The Hague, Netherlands
Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, PA
Collarworks, Troy, NY
SPACE Gallery, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh, PA
Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA
Paradise Palace, Brooklyn, NY
Palmer Museum of Art, University Park, PA
Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME
Alfred University, Alfred, NY
MSS, St. Paul, MN
Penn State University, State College, PA
Women's Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY
Keystone College, La Plume, PA
Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ
Bucknell University, Downtown Gallery, Lewisburg, PA
Galleri Urbane, Dallas, TX
University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA
Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA
Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatauk, MI
PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
Two Coats of Paint, Scene + liked: Spring/Break Art Show NYC, twocoatsofpaint.com, September 2024.
Testudo, Essay about Sidney Mullis by Curator Lexi Bishop, testudomkt.com, May 2024.
Testudo, Corporeal Creativity by Associate Curator Emily Edwards of Dallas Contemporary, testudomkt.com, April 2023.
Pep Talk for Artists, Podcast about Soft Play, hosted by Amy Talluto, anchor.fm, November 2022.
Bunker Projects, Exhibition Review written by Sidney Mullis, bunkerprojects.org/helpharm, April 2022.
Femme Art Review, Sidney Mullis is Your Long-Lost Imaginary Friend, femmeartreview.com, September 2021.
Project Gallery V, Interview with Sidney Mullis, projectgalleryv.com, September 2021.
Bunker Projects, Exhibition Review written by Sidney Mullis, bunkerprojects.org/reverie, August 2021.
LVL3 Gallery, Interview with Sidney Mullis, lvl3official.com/sidney-mullis/, July 2021.
Maake Magazine, Interview with Sidney Mullis, maakemagazine.com, September 2020.
Artnet News, Editors' Picks: Keep for Old Memoirs, news.artnet.com, May 2020.
DE:FORMAL, Interview with Sidney Mullis, deformal.com, February 2020.
Friend of the Artist, Volume 11, friendoftheartist.com, January 2020.
Wassaic Project, Interview with Sidney Mullis by Joe Brommel, wassaicproject.org, January 2020.
Women's Studio Workshop, Sid-the-Kid: Sidney Mullis in the Studio, wsworkshop.org, June 2019.
Art Uncovered with Sidney Mullis, produced by Kimberly Ruth, btrtoday.com, November 2018.
That's What She Said Exhibition Catalogue, August 2018.
Hyperallergic, Interview with Sidney Mullis, hyperallergic.com/sidney-mullis-who-is-puberty/, June 2018.
Sarah Rose Sharp, Be the Beacon with Sidney Mullis, sarahrosesharp.com, February 2018.
Art Daily, Solo Exhibition at Rowan University Art Gallery, January 2018.
Penn State News, Sidney Mullis on Trust, Humor, and Gender, news.psu.edu/story/, December 2017.
Sculpture Magazine, pg 21, ed., November 2017.
The Bucknellian, bucknellian.net, November 2017.
Hiss Mag, Issue #1 Juicy, October 2017.
Young Space, Interview with Sidney Mullis, young-space.com/blog, October 2017.
Slayer Gallery, Interview with Sidney Mullis, May 2016.
inti.mate, Helm de Laat, GLIMP! (Netherland queer art e-bulletin), pg 12, March 2016.
Sarah Rose Sharp, Sidney Mullis @ Wooster St. Window Gallery, sarahrosesharp.com, February 2016.
EDUCATION
2016 Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, MFA Sculpture, Summa Cum Laude
2014 University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA, BA in Studio Art with Honors, Summa Cum Laude
2013 Berlin Weissensee School of Art and University of Cincinnati, Studio-based Inquiry, Berlin, Germany
EMPLOYMENT
2023 - now Program Manager, Learning Disabilities Association of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA
2021 - now Reading Tutor, Learning Disabilities Association of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA
2018 - 2021 Assistant Teaching Professor, Penn State University, State College, PA
2018 - 2019 Interim Communications Coordinator, School of Visual Arts, Penn State University, State College, PA
2018 Visiting Artist-In-Residence & 3D Design Instructor, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ
2016 - 2021 Program Coordinator, Anderson Lecture Series (visiting artist program), Penn State University, State College, PA
2016 Instructor, Beginning Sculpture, Penn State University, State College, PA
2015 Instructor, Ideas as Objects, Penn State University, State College, PA