KT Abadir-Mullally is a Coptic-American installation and social practice artist based in Philadelphia. As an artist and archivist who works in digital preservation, they are curious about the movement of information and how much or little control we have over what is remembered or forgotten. Through sculpture and relationship building, their work debates the fragileness of our modern cultural production and the desire for ideas and information to die. Their research dives into fear, hybridity, queerness, collective thinking, grief, and cultural loss.
Abadir-Mullally’s work has been included in exhibitions in Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles.Their work has been funded by the Leeway Art and Change Grant and the Bartol Foundation. Abadir-Mullally’s artwork has been published in Queer Rain: Belonging, Dardishi Issue 2: Healing, and Coptic Queer Stories. Abadir-Mullally is a member of Batikh Batikh, an artist collective, pop-up cinema and gallery centering SWANA women, queer and local artists in Philadelphia. They hold a BFA from California Institute of the Arts and a MLIS from Simmons University. Above all else, they are passionate about diasporic queer Southwest Asian and North African joy and complexity, and the agency of the living to decide how their narratives are preserved.
EDUCATION
2021-2023 MS, Library and Information Science, Simmons University, Boston, MA
2018 BFA, Fine Arts, California Institute of the Arts, Santa Clarita, CA
SELECT EXHIBITIONS, (Solo* + Group Exhibitions)
2023 “Desecration: A Process”, AUTOMAT Collective, Philadelphia, PA *
2022 “How Deep is Your Love?”, William Way LGBT Community Center, Philadelphia, PA
“Panopticon Spring '22 Art Show”, Simmons University, Boston, MA
“Houb wa Harb - Love and War”, Protea Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2021 “Not Your Family WhatsApp”, Virtual Exhibition & IRL at Coaxial, Los Angeles, CA
2020 “The Pen Pal Art Show”, Leimin Space, Los Angeles, CA
“Hybrid Vigor: Come As All of You”, ArtChangeUS REMAP: LA, CalArts, Santa Clarita, CA
2019 “How Do You Dyke?”, The Women’s Center for Creative Work, Los Angeles, CA
“...from the dry wind we hear an echo”, California Institute of the Arts, Santa Clarita, CA
“Hybrid Vigor: In the Flesh”, Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2018 “Coptic Babe Coptic Dyke,” D300, California Institute of the Arts, Santa Clarita, CA *
“Hybrid Vigor,” The Women’s Center for Creative Work, Los Angeles, CA
“Mark for Redaction”, Flux Factory, Long Island City, NY
“Two Truths and a Lie”, Santa Clarita Motel, Santa Clarita, CA
2017 “In all Sincerity”, Tiger Strikes Asteroid and Monte Vista, Los Angeles, CA
“Begonia and Chestnut”, Robin Ave, Saugus, CA
“The Laundry List,” Mint Gallery, California Institute of the Arts, Santa Clarita, CA *
“Take Care, alright”, C.111.E, California Institute of the Arts, Santa Clarita, CA *
“MonsterPaw1210”, Stevenson Blanche, Santa Clarita, CA
“Minimally Neutralize Lethal Clan”, Stevenson Blanche, Santa Clarita, CA
2016 “Arrangement Against Content”, Monte Vista, Los Angeles, CA *
“Screaming Lessons”, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Los Angeles, CA
“got rid of tons of clutter today”, C.A.V.E. Gallery, Venice, CA
“Foundation Show”, California Institute of the Arts, Santa Clarita, CA
RESIDENCIES & FELLOWSHIPS
2024 L.a. Studio, ART-14 Residency Program, Patton, PA
2022 Sinister Wisdom, Creative Endeavors Fellowship, Tampa, FL
2021 YallaPunk, Fellowship , Philadelphia, PA
INTERVIEWS & PRESS
2023 Title Magazine. Desecration and data death: A conversation with Caitlin Abadir-Mullally
2022 Summer 2022 Non-Residential Creative Endeavors Fellow Caitlin Abadir-Mullally (kt)
The Queer Arabs: Episode 180: Grief Houses
2020 ArtChangeUS Presents Workshops and Equity Trainings at REMAP:LA
2019 Hybrid Vigor: In The Flesh at Subliminal Projects
2018 The Queer Arabs: Episode 31 in English: Coptic Babe Coptic Dyke!
Coptic Queer Stories: Caitlin Abadir-Mullally
PUBLICATIONS
2021 Dardishi Issue 2: Healing
2020 To Be Asked: digital collage featured on Coptic Queer Stories
ARTIST TALKS & PRESENTATIONS
2022 The Writing Workshop, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, Cheyney, PA
Immersion: Archiving Family Histories , Oakwood School, Los Angeles, CA
Experiments in the Archive with Shannon Brooks, Hook & Loop, Philadelphia, PA
Artist Talk hosted by Queer Rain Oakland, CA
2021 Archiving and Art: with Sherin Guirguis, & Andy Campbell , Not Your Family WhatsApp, Los Angeles, CA
Image, Material and Storytelling Panel with Doris Bittar hosted by Yasmine Kasem, Bread and Salt, San Diego, CA
Artist Talk, TASAWAR Transcultural Talks, Tunis, Tunisia
2020 “Hybrid Vigor”, HATCH Workshop, Stockton, CA