Esther Hz is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist in Denver, CO. She has become well-known for installation and performances, setting up interactive creative experiences for the viewer. She is a past resident artist at Redline and PlatteForum. Her work was featured by The Denver Art Museum at Untitled in 2019 and Arthyve's Archives as Muse program debut, and she was also awarded a RedBull Microgrant in 2020. She has worked with young people at the MCA through the "Failure Lab" and "Creator's Studio" programs, mentored girls at Resilience Rising, and worked as Associate Director at PlatteForum, where she managed an international artist residency, youth program, and podcast. Currently, she works at Black Ball Projects based in New York and maintains her studio practice at XDenver.

My work aims to re-frame and distill the human condition in wildly inventive ways, to put the viewer in new situations to see themselves and be seen. Previously, I created “happenings” around participation and engagement where I modernized old rituals or scenarios and offered new bizarre ones to fill a much-needed emotional or social gap. As the work evolves, I am drawn to storytelling by the process of drawing, animation, and lastly, translating those 2-d works into 3-d mechanical and performative crude sculptures. This interdisciplinary approach allows me to digest, regurgitate and compost my life experiences. The unrefined and extraneous quality of the work makes light of my personal mental and emotional fallibilities in much the same way as a close friend might.

Curriculum Vitae