Athena Parella (b. 1995) is an American artist whose work exists at the intersection of wonder and unease. As a child, she believed magic was woven into everyday life—that even ordinary objects carried emotions and thoughts of their own. The eventual loss of this belief left her with a longing for enchantment, a quiet ache that continues to shape her artistic practice.
Working in oil, charcoal, and graphite, Athena explores nostalgia, memory, and the surreal. Through subtle distortions and recurring motifs, she constructs liminal spaces where imagination and reality blur, inviting viewers to navigate the tension between what is remembered, what is forgotten, and what is invented to fill the gaps. Her work transforms personal experiences into symbolic reflections on presence, absence, and the fragile nature of perception.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 - Salut 10, Nucleus Portland, Portland, Oregon
2025 - Drawn, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio
2025 - Paper, Site: Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2025 - 2025 Spotlight Showcase, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2025 - Dollhouse, Era Contemporary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2025 - Works on Paper, The Gallery at Green and Stone, London, England
2025 - Small Works, Strata Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2025 - Surreal Salon 17, Baton Rouge Gallery, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
2024 - P.S. 9 Postcard Show, Nucleus Portland, Portland, Oregon
2024 - The Shape of Things, BAU Gallery, Beacon, New York
2024 - Beauty in the Ordinary, AVA Center, Gillette, Wyoming
2024 - Salut 9, Nucleus Portland, Portland, Oregon
2023 - Unframed, Shockboxx Gallery, Hermosa Beach, Califiornia
2023 - Summer Camp, Shockboxx Gallery, Hermosa Beach, California
2023 - Nostalgia, District Arts Gallery, Frederick, Maryland
2022 - Memento, Arden Gallery, South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, Massachusetts
2022 - Liminal II, Verum Ultimum Art Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2022 - Artist's Choice, Rhode Island Water Color Society, Pawtucket, Rhode Island
2022 - Providence Art Club National Open Juried Exhibition, Maxwell Mays Gallery, Providence Art Club, Providence, Rhode Island
2020 - SMALL WORKS 7th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Main Street Arts Gallery, Clifton Springs, NY
2019 - Crossroads, Gallery 372, Worcester, Massachusetts
Residencies, Awards and Recognition
2025 - The Flying Fruitbowl Podcast, Episode 109: Athena Parella
2024 - NG Creative Art Residency, Maussane-les-Alpilles, France
2022 - 2nd Place Memento, Arden Gallery, South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, Massachusetts
2022 - Award of Merit Providence Art Club National Open Juried Exhibition, Maxwell Mays Gallery, Providence Art Club, Providence, RI