Bridget Anthony-Hlioui’s art is a journey to find peace and connection featuring simplicity through complexity. In her work, she creates a balance between perceived depth and flatness, oftentimes turning the subjects into abstractions by riddling her pieces with patterns of colors, motifs, and symbols.
The process to discover her art has taken on a therapeutic role in her life. From an early age, she found herself pondering "what makes a home?" It has been this question that has magnetized the needle of her compass and the direction of her work. Motifs and subject matter teeter between the natural and man-made as she explores her surroundings and their relation to her awareness of the spiritual and ever-present Divine.
Bridget graduated from The Corcoran School of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography. She is an advocate for art as therapy, having witnessed its benefits while teaching in the DMV area. Her work is shown locally and nationally. She resides in the Washington, DC region.
You can find her online at www.bahlioui.com and on Instagram @bridget_a_hlioui.
Artist Statement
I explore “what makes a home?” through patterns, layers, and symbols. My mixed media process is a search forconnection to our physical and spiritual worlds expressed through patterns of natural and man-made symbols. The layers in my pieces emulate how I experience reflection. The physical process involves sketching, measuring, tracing, and making templates for my patterns. From there I work back and forth between the overlaid patterns and the scenic backgrounds using ink pens, colored pencils, watercolor, and gouache paints.
A portion of my inspiration stems from sharing my home with a refugee family as a child. This opened my mind to diversity and the needs of displaced people. I also draw inspiration from our world’s cultures, tessellations, the geometric patterns of Islamic art and American quilts. To bridge having family and homes in two countries, I use many symbols from Tunisian culture. My work is a mental reflective journey that leads to finding how simplicity can lead to complexity and back again, much like how we are created in nations and tribes but are all of the human race. What really fascinates me is that the process of juxtaposing patterns against the scenic memories of my travels never fails to remind me of the Creator, signs in nature, and our final spiritual home.
Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
The Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C., B.F.A., Honors Distinction, Photography, 1993
Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale, VA, Ceramics, 2013-2014
Frederick Community College, Frederick, MD, Fine Art, 1988-1990
CERTIFICATIONS
Certified Art Therapy Life Coach, Transformation Academy, 2019
EXHIBITIONS
2023 Farther Afield, Del Ray Artisans, Alexandria, VA (juried)
2023 Fun With One, Del Ray Artisans, Alexandria, VA (juried)
2023 The Unseen, Del Ray Artisans, Alexandria, VA (juried)
2022 Fall Salon, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA (juried)
2022 12th Annual March 150 Exhibition, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
2021 11th Annual March 150 Exhibition, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
2021 A Generous Kingdom V, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR (juried)
2020 10th Annual March 150 Exhibition, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
2020 Tell Me a Story, Del Ray Artisans, Alexandria, VA (juried)
2020 Seeking Solace, John Marshall Library, Alexandria, VA
2019 9th Annual March 150 Exhibition,Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
2013 Annual Student Art Show, The Verizon Gallery, Annandale, VA (juried)
2012 The Curvilinear and the Abstract: Islamic Art of the 21st Century, Columbia University,
New York, NY (juried)
2012 One Nation under God, Striving for the Common Good, Washington Convention Center,
Washington, DC (juried)
2011 Night of Sawa, The Nur Center, Falls Church, VA
2000 Group Art Exhibit, The Blue Elephant Gallery, Frederick, MD (juried)
1993 Images of the Unseen, Hemicycle Gallery, The Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC
1993 Faculty Show, The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC
1992, 1991 Photography Exhibition, White Walls Gallery, The Corcoran School of Art, Washington, DC
1991 Photography Show, Castle Art Building, Frederick, MD (juried)
1990 Frederick Festival of the Arts: Photography Show, Castle Art Building, Frederick, MD
1990, 1989 Student Exhibition, The Mary Condon Hodgson Art Gallery, Frederick, MD
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
2021- 2023 Art Teacher, US Arts, Fairfax, VA
2021 “Reflections,” Judge, Fairfax County Council PTA art competition, VA
2020, 2019 “Reflections,” Judge, Fairfax County Council PTA art competition, VA
2013-2018 Developed and taught K-8 Art curriculum, Washington International Academy, Alexandria, VA
2018, 2017 “Welcome Ramadan,” Student Exhibition & Fundraiser, Washington International
Academy, Alexandria, VA
INTERVIEWS & PUBLICATIONS
2018-2017
Student Art Gallery Online, Facilitation and documentation of over 2,000 students’ pieces
, Alexandria, VA,
June 2017- June 2018.
2013
Calliope, NOVA Student Journal of Art & Literature, Annandale, VA
1990 The Monocacy Valley Review, Frederick, MD, photograph featured as cover art.
1990 The Dogwood Tree, FCC Magazine, Frederick, MD
WORKSHOPS & ARTIST TALKS
2023 Snapshot Mandala Workshop, Make Space, Alexandria, VA
2022 Tessellation Workshop, Del Ray Artisans, Alexandria, VA
2021 “No Gaps, No Overlaps”, Del Ray Artisans, Alexandria, VA
2018 “My Heart Has Wings” clay workshop, WIA, Alexandria, VA
HONORS AND AWARDS
2023 Curator's Award, Thought Provoking, The Unseen, Del Ray Artisans, VA
2021 The Digital Media Academy Scholarship,
Beyond Borders Studios, The Center For Global Muslim Life.
2020 Winner, The Voyage Out, Artspan.com.
2013 Ceramics Award, Third Place, Northern Virginia Community College.
1993 Honors Distinction, The Corcoran School of Art.
1990 Mary Cassatt Scholarship, Frederick Community College.
Virginians for the Arts