S T A T E M E N T
My work challenges personal observations of everyday life through a multidisciplinary approach to printmaking, sculpture, and assembly. In our fast-paced lives of perpetual doing and not enough BEING, I value slowing down to observe and record the beauty in the ordinary. Translating these daily phenomenons in my work allows me to share my insights about the world in a deeply introspective and personal manner.
My work is inspired by and rooted in the art of bookmaking. It is where I first explored the concepts of repetition, mixed media, and assembly. This foundational inquiry evolved into challenging the idea of a book while respecting its integral properties. For example, my imagery often repeats like book pages and is stitched together somehow, but typically it is hanging from the wall or the ceiling. The story of the work is often flexible and is intended to be interpreted by the viewer.
Abstracting the Landscape with Encaustic at the Vermont Artist Retreat Summer 2023 with Lorraine Glessner and Kelly Milukas
B I O
Erica Engfer Pizza lives and creates in Northern New Jersey. She received her BFA in Design from The College of New Jersey and her MFA from Montclair State University with a concentration in Metalworks and Jewelry. Her work has appeared in museums and galleries throughout NJ in both group and solo shows. Her solo show, Slow Down, traveled across the country as part of an installation for The Creativity Caravan. She has organized and curated several exhibits celebrating the work of contemporary female artists. She is also an active member of Studio Montclair, where she served as an exhibits coordinator for several years.
Engfer Pizza is a proud public school art teacher and the chair for The Creative and Professional Studies Department for Parsippany Hills High School. Through teaching and mentoring, her work is influenced by her students’ creativity and perspectives on the world. From 2016 through 2018, she was the recipient of two grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Through these grants, she was able to provide professional development to art educators throughout her 14-school district. She also worked to develop and execute a student-led printmaking installation exploring each individual’s heritage, traditions, and future goals.
Exploring Landscape through Photography, The Figure, and Encaustic at the Vermont Artist Retreat Summer 2022 with Lorraine Glessner and Leah MacDonald
E X H I B I T I O N
2024
Black and White Imprint | Studio Montclair | Montclair, NJ
Booked 18 | Museum of Early Trades and Crafts | Madison, NJ
2023
Highlands Exhibit | Morris Museum | Morristown, NJ
Members Juried Exhibit | Hunterdon Art Museum | Clinton, NJ
Viewpoints 2023 | Studio Montclair | Montclair, NJ
NJ Arts Annual: Mother Nature vs Human Nature | The Noyes Museum | Atlantic City, NJ
2022
Pages | Studio Montclair | Montclair, NJ
2019
The Art of the Mixtape II | Speakeasy Gallery | Boonton, NJ
Good Works | Studio Montclair | Montclair, NJ
Itsy Bitsy Art Gallery (Solo Show) | Creativity Caravan | Denville, NJ
2018
Art To Go | Studio Montclair | Montclair, NJ
Food, Folks, and Fun | Monmouth Museum | Monmouth, NJ
Studio Montclair at KW | Studio Montclair @ KW | Montclair, NJ
The Sum of Our Hearts | Speakeasy Art Gallery | Boonton, NJ
ViewPoints | Studio Montclair | Montclair, NJ
Other Nature (Curator) | The Creativity Caravan | Montclair, NJ
Juried Print Exhibition | Trenton Artworks | Trenton, NJ
2017
5 and Under | The Creativity Caravan | Montclair, NJ
Waking in Winter (Curator) | PYCG | Denville, NJ
The Art of Meditation | LITM Gallery | Jersey City, NJ
Museum of Goodbye | The Creativity Caravan | Montclair, NJ
2008 - 2016
Cigars, Lilly Pads, and Tootsie Rolls (Solo Show) | PYCG | Denville, NJ
Dog Days of Summer | Main Street | Boonton, NJ
Ez-Spired Show | Speakeasy Art Gallery | Boonton, NJ
The Art of The Mixtape | Speakeasy Art Gallery | Boonton, NJ
Childhood Memories | Zufall Health Center | Dover, NJ
People, Places, Things | Zufall Health Center | Dover, NJ
Home Show | Zufall Health Center | Dover, NJ
TCNJ Alumni Exhibition | TCNJ Arts and Media Gallery | Ewing, NJ
Mustache Show | Index Gallery | Newark NJ
Love Show | Small World Coffee | Princeton, NJ
Works on Paper | Rivergarden Gallery | Denville, NJ
MA Thesis | Montclair State University | Montclair, NJ
Favorite Things Jewelry | Rivergarden Gallery | Denville, NJ
E D U C A T I O N
Residency: Abstracting the Landscape through Encaustic | Waitsfield, Vt ‘23
Residency: Exploring Landscape through Photography, The Figure, and Encaustic | Waitsfield, Vt ‘22
Residency: Artist Educator Forum | Savannah College of Art and Design ‘19
Residency: Artist Teacher Institute | NJ State Council on the Arts ‘15 and ‘16
Master of Fine Arts, Metalworks and Jewelry | Montclair State University ‘09
Certificate of Teaching | College of St. Elizabeth ‘04
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Graphic Design | The College of New Jersey, ‘03
T E A C H I N G
Morris County Library System ‘17 - Present
Parsippany Hills High School ‘03 - Present
A W A R D
Honorable Mention Best In Show, Viewpoints, Studio Montclair 2018
NJ State Council on the Arts Residency Grant 2016-2018
Distinguished Faculty Award, Parsippany Troy Hills School District 2017
E X P E R I E N C E
Department Head of Creative and Professional Studies | Parsippany Hills High School 2022 - Present
Studio Montclair Windows at Studio Montclair Coordinator 2018 - 2020
Artist in Residency Grant, NJ State Council on the Arts 2017 - 2018
Other Nature Curator, The Creativity Caravan 2017
The Creativity Caravan Student Workshop 2018
Waking in Winter Curator, PYC Gallery 2017
Artist in Residency Grant, NJ State Council on the Arts 2016 -2017
Papermaking at the Artist Teacher Institute @ Stockton University. Residency made possible through a grant from NJ State Council on the Arts, 2016.