ELENA MARY SIFF
947 25th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90403-2109
Tel: 310.453.4258/Fax: 310.828.0021
E-mail: esiff@att.net
Website: http://www.elenamarysiff.com
Education:
1975 MFA University of California, Los Angeles
Solo Exhibitions:
2004 Art in Transit, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS
2002 Birdsong , installation in Clover Park, FRESH ART project, Santa Monica Arts
Commission
1993 Speaking Thunder , Installation, Santa Monica Place, Santa Monica, CA
1992 Speaking Thunder , Installation, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
1989 Sanctuary , Installation, Gallery 25, Fresno, CA
1988 Life is a Lottery, Installation, Window Space, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts
Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
1982 Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1981 Alice Benjamin Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1978 New Media Gallery, Ventura College, Ventura, CA
College of Creative Studies Gallery, University of California, Santa Barbara
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2008 American Surrealist Initiative, Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, MI.
2006 Human Artefacts, Art Works Galleries, Richmond, VA.
2005 Peace Now! Wheeler Arts Center, Indianapolis, In.
Postmodern Renewal, Crazy Space Gallery, 18 th . Street Arts Center, Santa Monica
L.A. Series, Jose Drudis: Biada Gallery, Mt. St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles, CA
2004 Leap of Faith , Susan Hensel Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Transformations , Platt Art Gallery, University of Judaism, Los Angeles, CA
2002 Formulations , Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
Reactions , Exit Art, New York, NY
2001 Chouinard: A Living Legacy , Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA, catalog
Cut and Paste: Collage , Etherington Fine Art, Vineyard Haven, MA
From the Hands of the Maker , Temple Judea Museum, Elkins Park, PA
Not for Publication: In the Spirit of the Book , Hillwood Art Museum, C.W. Post
College, Long Island University, New York
2000 Third Biennial Artists’ Books Exhibition , Athenaeum Music and Arts Library,
La Jolla, CA

On Paper , Skidmore Contemporary Art, Malibu, CA
1999 Fifth Wexford Artists’ Book Festival, Wexford Art Centre, Wexford, Ireland, catalog
Reassembled Perceptions , Sales Gallery, Laguna Art Museum,
Laguna Beach, CA
1999- So- Called Books: Diversity in Artists’ Books from Southern California ,
2002 The Center for Book Arts, San Francisco, CA (traveled to Center for Book
Arts, New York, Marriott Library, Rare Books Division, University of Utah,
Special Collections Library, UCLA), catalog
Open and Closed: Artists’ Contemporary Books as Sculptural Form , Fullerton
College, Fullerton, CA
1998 Fourth Wexford Artists’ Books Festival , Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford, Ireland,
catalog
PT Gallery, Hamamatsu, Japan
1997 The Pink Wink, New Image Art, Los Angeles, CA
Splice , Side Street Projects, Santa Monica, CA, catalog
Gallery Art Salon II, Chiba, Japan
Third Wexford Artists’ Books Festival, Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford, Ireland
Selected Group Exhibitions (cont):
1997 118W/24N , Galerien Minoriten, Graz, Austria
Women of the Book: Jewish Artists, Jewish Themes, selected venues through
2002, catalog
Book Objects , Artworks Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1996 Blessings and Beginnings , The Skirball Cultural Center Museum, Los Angeles,
CA, catalog
Pandora’s Box , Antikenmuseum, Basel, Switzerland, catalog
Books in the Living Room, The Living Room, Santa Monica, CA
1995 Global /Focus: Women in Art and Culture , The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
U.S.A. Within Limits , Galeria Millan, San Paolo, Brazil
Eco Nation: Patriots of the Earth , Bedford Art Gallery, Regional Center for the
Arts, Walnut Creek, CA
1994 Only the Shadow Knows: Revelations from the Unconscious , Tree Art Access
Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah
Artists’ Response to AIDS, 1994 , Ventura College, Ventura, CA
Alchemy of Fire
What’s Next
, Channing Peake Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
, Merging One Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
The Book Unbound , The Ormond Memorial Museum Ormond Beach, FL
and other U.S. venues, catalog
1993 World of Difference: Art, Tourism and Cultural Dialogues , Euphrat Gallery,
De Anza College, Cupertino, CA
Shaped Structures: Bookworks in Form
CA
, Palos Verdes Art Center, Palos Verdes,
Teenagers, Teenagers , Fullerton Museum Center, Fullerton, CA

All that Glitters , Frameworks and De la Guerra Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1992 Dreams and Shields: Spiritual Dimensions in Contemporary Art, The Salt Lake
Art Center, Salt Lake City, Utah , catalog
Landscape Plus , Olga Dollar Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Fat in the Fire , Ashley-Craig Gallery, Venice, CA
1991 In Shadow , Mad River Post, Santa Monica, CA
Contemporary Icons , Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
traveled to Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA
Day of the Dead , Los Angeles Photography Center, Los Angeles, CA
Reclaimed Creations II , Frances Puccinelli Gallery, Carpinteria, CA
Boundless Vision , San Antonio Art Institute, San Antonio, TX, catalog
1990 Crosscurrents: Bookworks from the Edge of the Pacific , College of Creative
Studies Gallery, University of California, Santa Barbara (traveled to national and international venues, catalog
Reclaimed Creations , Frances Puccinelli Gallery, Carpinteria, CA
Symbolic Realities , Fine Arts Gallery, Academy of Art College, San Francisco,
CA
34 Degrees 25 Minutes 120 Degrees 15 Minutes: Santa Barbara Artists
Woman’s Building, Los Angeles, CA
, The
Images and Origins: Reflections of Women Artists , Bridge Gallery, Los Angeles
City Hall, Los Angeles, CA
1989 Books and Bookends: Sculptural Approaches , Strathmore Art Center, Rockville,
MD
traveled to Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, MD,
Piedmont Arts Center, Newport News, VA, Arvada Center for the Arts and
Humanities, Arvada, CO, catalog
In High Gear/Survival in the 90’s , SITE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (catalogue)
Forty Years of California Assemblage , Wight Art Gallery, University of
California,
Selected Group Exhibitions (cont.):
1989 Los Angeles, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, Fresno Art Museum,
Fresno, CA, Joselyn Art Center, Omaha, NB, catalog
1988 Collage/Assemblage , Arpel Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1987 Intimate Narratives , Art Space Gallery, Fresno City College, Fresno, CA
Book without Bounds , Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA
Passages: Impact of Four Decades , Fresno Arts Center and Museum, Fresno, CA
Seriously Humorous , Rancho Santiago College, Santa Ana, CA
1986 Landscape/Elements , Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
New Collage 1986
Angeles, CA
Let’s Play House
Small Liberties
, Theatre Art Gallery, The Design Center of Los Angeles, Los
, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, New York
, Soho 20 Gallery, New York
1985 The Artist and the Toy , Pritchard Art Gallery, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID

To the Astonishing Horizon: New Approaches to Landscape in Southern
California , The Design Center of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Artwatch , Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
1984 L.A. and the Palmtree!!!Image of a City , Arco Center for Visual Art, Los Angeles,
CA, catalog
The Nature of the Olympics , Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Hollywood, the Muse: Motion Picture Imagery in Contemporary Art , Palos
Verdes
Art Center, Palos Verdes, CA, catalog
Rutgers National 83/84 catalog
, Stedman Art Gallery, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ,
Masks, Masquerades, Megilllot
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA, catalog
, Hebrew Union College Skirball Museum,
California Bookworks: The Last five Years , Otis-Parsons Exhibition Center,
1983 Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
At Home , Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
The Field Gallery of West Tisbury, West Tisbury, MA
Lights, Camera, Action , Artists Look at Hollywood and the Movies ,
Space Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Of This Time, Of That Place, Open Space Gallery, Victoria, B.C., Canada
Contemporary Collage: Extensions,
Claremont, CA, catalog
The Galleries of Claremont Colleges,
1982 Microcosms from California , Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum,
Santa Barbara, CA, Ruth Siegel Gallery, New York, catalog
1981 Art of Assemblage , University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University,
Rohnert Park, CA
Santa Barbara Artists , University Art Museum, University of California,
Santa Barbara
California Collage , LRC Gallery, College of the Siskyous, Weed, CA, catalog
1980 Miniature Interiors: Small Scale Environments , Fullerton College, Fullerton, CA
In a Major and a Minor Scale , Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1978 Orlando Gallery, Encino, CA
Space Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Los Angeles, CA
Other Related Activity:
2005 Curated Unpredictable Dialogue , Sam Francis Gallery, Crossroads School for the
Arts, Santa Monica, CA
2004 Curated Radiant Spaces: Private Domain , Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA

Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA (catalog)
1998 Co-curated Japanese Mind , Artworks Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1997 Curated L.A. Slide, The Living Room , Santa Monica, CA
1995 Curated The Transformative Object, Channing Peake Gallery, Santa
Barbara, CA
1995-
2005 Co-curated Women Beyond Borders , Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts
Forum and international venues (catalogs)
1994 Curated mail art exhibition for In the Spirit of Fluxus , Santa Barbara Museum of
Art, Santa Barbara, CA
1993 Work chosen for 1993 Women’s Artist Calendar
1987 Greeting Card, European National Committees of UNICEF
1986 Curated Southern California Assemblage: Past and Present , Santa Barbara
Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, Ca, The College of Creative Studies
Gallery, University of California, Santa Barbara, traveled to The Museum of Santa
Cruz County, Santa Cruz, CA (catalogue)
1985 Curated Found and Fabricated, The Art Corner Gallery, Standard Brands Paint
Co., Santa Barbara, CA
1983 Curated The Magic Show , Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa
Barbara, Ca (catalogue)
1977 Be Somebody , an animated film, distributed by Creative Film Society, traveled in Dreamachine, a festival of Expanded Animation
Grants:
1993 NEA, Art in the Marketplace, Santa Monica Arts Commission, for residency at
Santa Monica Place, CA
1992 W.M. Keck Foundation, Special Education Project, Santa Barbara Museum of
Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Collections:
Mandeville Special Collections Library, University of California, San Diego
Franklin Furnace Archive, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry, Miami Beach, FL
Special Collections Library, University of California, Los Angeles
Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS
Publications:
Hans Christian Andersen:: Illustrated by artists from around the world, Solark Publishing,
Great Britain, 2006
Altered Books, author: Gabe Cyr, Lark Books, Asheville, NC, 2006
What’s On Your Mind? Political zine on the 2005 North American tour of
MOBILIVRE-

BOOKMOBILE project, Montreal, Canada