indira allegra | Artist and Founder
indira allegra (they/them) is a conceptual artist, writer and founder of Cazimi Studio. A polymath, they draw from diverse interests in weaving, critical phenomenology, end of life care, Buddhist philosophy, performance, traditional ecological knowledge and post-humanist thought.
allegra's work has been featured in The Art Newspaper, Artnet, Art Journal, BOMB Magazine, SF Chronicle, e-flux, Hyperallergic, All Arts, Forbes, Topical Cream and ARTFORUM and in exhibitions and performances at the Museum of Arts and Design (New York, NY); Blaffer Museum (Houston, TX); SFMOMA (San Francisco, CA); Center for Craft Creativity and Design (Asheville, NC); John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, WI); de Young Museum (San Francisco, CA); Jacob Lawrence Gallery (Seattle, WA); Gray Area (San Francisco, CA); the Museum of the African Diaspora (San Francisco, CA) and San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles (San Jose, CA) among others.
allegra is the author of Tension Studies and Dispersal of a Feeling: Bloodnotes on Choreography and Illness(Sming Sming Books). Their writing has been featured in Theater, TEXTILE: Cloth and Culture, American Craft Magazine, Panorama Journal, Leonardo and Material Intelligence among others. Their monograph Blackout (Sming Sming Books) is in the collection of major art museum libraries nationwide. allegra has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Burke Prize, Creative Capital, United States Artists Fellowship, Gerbode Choreographer Award, Art Matters Fellowship, Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Creative Project Grant and CripTech Metaverse Fellowship.
They have a Masters in Religion in Buddhism and Interreligious Engagement from Union Theological Seminary, a BFA in Interdisciplinary Studies with a minor in Visual Critical Studies from the California College of the Arts (& Crafts) and an Associates in Sign Language Interpretation from Portland Community College. allegra took the lay precepts/5 mindfulness trainings in 2007 at Deer Park Monastery founded by Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Monk Thích Nhất Hạnh and received their Raja yoga teacher training from the Niroga Institute in 2009.