Faith Wilding, Eco-feminist Artist and Activist
Faith Wilding
Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing

fig.001 — Faith Wilding performing "Waiting" at "Womanhouse," Los Angeles, California, 1972

As an avowed eco-feminist, Faith Wilding's work addresses the deterioration of the natural world in her lifetime, specifically in South America and her native Paraguay.

Wilding (born 1943 in Primavera, Paraguay) depicts symmetrical dualities: up and down, in and out, open and closed, evoking mystical, personal, and esoteric narratives. The works express inter­connected­­ness and spiritual exuberance while exploring the visionary iconology of the energy and force of growth.

Wilding's practice emerged at the forefront of Feminist Art in Los Angeles during the late 1960s and 1970s. For the last 50 years, Wilding has lived as an activist and artist fiercely committed to eco-feminism. Wilding was a co-initiator of the "Feminist Art Programs" alongside Miriam Shapiro and Judy Chicago.

The Feminist Art Program produced "Womanhouse," an art installation and performance space focusing on collaborative and feminist ideas. Fueled by the explosion of female-focused work and research, "Womanhouse" sought to move beyond the predominantly male-centric art history. Wilding's work continues to interrogate societal narratives, challenging the status quo in art-making, life, and politics.

Wilding has exhibited extensively worldwide since the late 1960s. A 2014 retrospective of Wilding's work, "Fearful Symmetries," traveled to five venues across the United States. Wilding's work was also included in the seminal survey "WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution," organized by Cornelia Butler, which traveled from the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles) to the National Museum of Women (Washington, D.C.), PS1 Contemporary Art Center (Long Island), and the Vancouver Art Gallery.

2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of "Womanhouse," an influential Los Angeles exhibition, installation, and performance space organized through the "CalArts Feminist Art Program." At "Womanhouse," Wilding's "Womb Room" fiber installation and performance "Waiting" are some of the best-known and highly influential works of the 1970s Feminist Art Movement. Wilding's book "By Our Own Hands" catalogs this important era of experimentation and collaboration that defined west-coast Feminist art during the early 1970s.

fig.002 — Faith Wilding in her studio working on "Natural Parables," 1978

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding in her studio working on
Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition

fig.003 — Faith Wilding featured in "Arrows of Desire," Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 2021

Exhibition History

Wilding has exhibited at museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; the Drawing Center, New York, NY; Documenta X, Kassel, Germany; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; the Singapore Art Museum, Singapore; the Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid, Spain; the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, Scotland; and the Bronx Museum of Art, New York, NY. Wilding is Professor Emerita of Performance Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has taught at Cooper Union, New York University, the Woman's Building in Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Art Institute.

While teaching at Carnegie Mellon University in the 1990s and 2000s she was a co-founder of the cyber-feminist collective "subRosa." Wilding was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009 and has been the recipient of numerous grants for the past five decades. 2014, she was awarded the prestigious Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award. Her publications include "By Our Own Hands: The History of the Women Artists Movement in Southern California, 1970–76" (Double X, 1977) and "Domain Errors! Cyberfeminist Practices!" (Autonomedia, 2003). Wilding lives and works in Rhode Island.

fig.004/005 — Faith Wilding featured in "Where Art Might Happen: Early Years of CalArts," Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany, 2019

Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition
Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition

fig.006 — Faith Wilding featured in "Ecstatic," Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California, 2023

Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition
Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition
Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition

fig.007/008 — Faith Wilding featured in "Condo," Galeria Jaqueline Martins, São Paolo, Brazil, 2020

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding, 1977 Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig.009 — Faith Wilding, 1977

Image of Faith Wilding's work in the solo exhibition
Image of Faith Wilding's work in the solo exhibition

fig.010/011 — Faith Wilding "Being Like Leaves," Bortolami, New York, New York, 2022

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972
Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition “Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries” at the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University, 2018. Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig.012/013 —“Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries” exhibition curated by Shannon Stratton at the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University, 2018. 

Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition
Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition

fig.014/015 — Faith Wilding featured in "Womanhouse," Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, California, 2022

fig.16 —Faith Wilding: "Fearful Symmetries" at the Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA, 2015-2016

Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries. Installation view at Miller ICA. Photo: Tom Little. Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972
Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972
Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig. 017/018 —Faith Wilding: "Grace Under Fire" with Library Street Collective, at The Shepherd, Detroit, MI. 2024-2025

fig.019 —Faith Wilding: "Inside, Outside, Alive in the Shell, "Anat Ebgi, New York, NY. 2025

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972
Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972
Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig.020/021 —Faith Wilding: "Inside, Outside, Alive in the Shell, "Anat Ebgi, New York, NY. 2025

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972
Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig.022 — Faith Wilding, "Crocheted Environment," Installation view from WOMANHOUSE, Los Angeles, CA, 1972

fig.023 — Faith Wilding, "Crocheted Environment," Installation view from Inside Other Spaces. Environments
by Women Artists 1956 – 1976. Haus Der Kunst, Munich, Germany. 2023-2024.

fig.024 —Faith Wilding’s "Natural Parables," presented by Anat Ebgi. Art Basel Unlimited sector, 2025. 

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972
Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972
Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig.025/026 — Faith Wilding, Invitation to a Burning, (Installation / Performance), Woman’s Building, Los Angeles, CA. 1980.

Selected Press

Absurdist Dystopia and Ancestral Ritual: The Best of Art Basel’s Unlimited Sector in 2025

Observer
June 2025

Review of Faith Wilding | "Inside, outside, alive in the shell" 

Artforum
May 2025

Faith Wilding at Anat Ebgi, New York

Art Viewer
March 2025

Wait No More: Faith Wilding’s retrospective at Anat Ebgi New York honors the pioneering artist’s 50 years of dedication to life, women, and nature. 

Family Style
January 2025

Ecofeminist Interleaving: Faith Wilding at Anat Ebgi

Impulse Magazine
February 2025

Faith Wilding on “Beauty as a Terrorist Tactic”

Art in America
February 2025

Faith Wilding Grace Under Fire at the Shepherd, Detroit, MI

New City Art
October 2024

The Art Show Highlights Masters — and Artists Under the Radar 

The New York Times 
November 2023

The 10 Best Booths at ADAA: The Art Show 2023

Artsy
November, 2023 

Bortolami opens an exhibition of works by Faith Wilding

dailyart.org
September 2022

Faith Wilding at Anat Ebgi

Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles (Carla)
Rachel Elizabeth Jones, October 2021

Faith Wilding, foremother of feminist art, draws on activist histories in new shows at Brown, Tufts universities

The Boston Globe
Cate McQuaid, September 2021

Artists to follow if you like Georgia O'Keefe: Faith Wilding

Artsy
Juliana Lopez, October 2020

In the beginning, everything was green: Embodiment, ritual, and cyberfeminism

Artillery
August 2019

Faith Wilding at Anat Ebgi

Artforum
Andy Campbell, May 2019

The sensual and the spiritual collide in the paintings of Faith Wilding

Los Angeles Times
Leah Ollman, February 2019

Shannon Stratton: On feminism, Faith Wilding and CAA

Columbia College Chicago
La Keisha Leek, February 2019

Ecofeminism: Faith Wilding interview

Bomb
Heidi Norton, February 2018

Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries at the Miller Gallery

Pittsburgh City Paper
Bill O'Driscoll, February 2018

Faith Wilding: Natural Parables

Art in America
Lauren DeLand, February 2018

Feminist artist compares '70s movement to #metoo, "Time's Up" campaigns

Carnegie Mellon University
Pam Wigley, January 2018

The feminist energies of William Blake and Faith Wilding take over Chicago

Chicago Tribune
KT Hawbaker, December 2017

When indigenous politics and environmental catastrophe collide

New City Art
Luke Fidler, December 2017

Faith Wilding's feminist mutants take on Monsanto

Art News
November 2017

The radical nature of Faith Wilding's fantastical watercolors

Reader
Kerry Cardoza, November 2017

A Brief History of Cyberfeminism

Artsy
Isabella Scott, October 2016

Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries at UHCL Art Gallery

Glasstire
Robert Boyd, September 2016

SmartMom rebooted: A cyberfeminist art collective reflects on its earliest work of internet art

Studies in the Maternal
Faith Wilding, Hyla Willis, 2016

A feminist artist, revisited: Faith Wilding at Armory Center for the Arts

Los Angeles Times
Sharon Mizota, December 2015

Faith Wilding: Lingua Ignota

Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles (Carla)
Benjamin Lord, November 2015

Critic's Pick: Faith Wilding

Artforum
Travis Diehl, September 2015

Faith Wilding: 2015 Grantee

Art Matters
June 2015

Work by Faith Wilding at Clough‑Hanson

Memphis Flyer
Eileen Townsend, September 2014

Faith Wilding: Threewalls

Visual Art Source
Robin Dluzen, Feburary 2014

Faith Wilding on her life and work

Artforum
Jason Foumberg, February 2014

Faith Wilding: Threewalls

New City Art
Jason Foumberg, January 2014

Waiting for Faith Wilding on the internet

Hyperallergic
Alicia Eler, January 2014

Perspectives on a brave new world and some familiar ones

The New York Times
Helen A. Harrison, November 1998

Women's work is (sometimes) done

The New York Times
M.G. Lord, February 1995

Image Copyrights and Photo Credits

fig.001 © Faith Wilding; Photo Credit: Lloyd Hamrol

fig.002 © Faith Wilding

fig.003 © Faith Wilding

fig.004 © Faith Wilding; Photo Credit: Raimund Zakowski

fig.005 © Faith Wilding; Photo Credit: Raimund Zakowski

fig.006 © Faith Wilding and Hammer Museum; Photo Credit: Charles White

fig.007 © Faith Wilding

fig.008 © Faith Wilding

fig.009 © Faith Wilding

fig.010 © Faith Wilding and Bortolami; Photo Credit: Guang Xu

fig.011 © Faith Wilding and Bortolami; Photo Credit: Guang Xu

fig.012/013 © “Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries”  at Carnegie Mellon University. Photo credit: Tom Little

fig.014/015 © Faith Wilding and Anat Ebgi; Photo Credit: Matthew Kroening

fig.016 © Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries. Armory Center for the Arts

fig.017/018 © Faith Wilding: "Grace Under Fire" with Library Street Collective, at The Shepherd. Photo credit: Sebastian Bach

fig.019© Faith Wilding at Anat Ebgi, New York. Photo Credit: New Document 

fig.020/021 © Faith Wilding, Anat Ebgi, New York. Photo Credit: Mason Kuehler

fig.022 © Faith Wilding

fig.023 © Faith Wilding: Crocheted Environment (Womb Room), 1972. Photo Credit: Agostino Osio

fig.0024 © Faith Wilding’s Natural Parables, presented by Anat Ebgi. Courtesy of Art Basel

fig.0025/026 © Faith Wilding

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing

fig.001 — Faith Wilding performing "Waiting" at "Womanhouse," Los Angeles, California, 1972

As an avowed eco-feminist, Faith Wilding's work addresses the deterioration of the natural world in her lifetime, specifically in South America and her native Paraguay.

Wilding (born 1943 in Primavera, Paraguay) depicts symmetrical dualities: up and down, in and out, open and closed, evoking mystical, personal, and esoteric narratives. The works express inter­connected­­ness and spiritual exuberance while exploring the visionary iconology of the energy and force of growth.

Wilding's practice emerged at the forefront of Feminist Art in Los Angeles during the late 1960s and 1970s. For the last 50 years, Wilding has lived as an activist and artist fiercely committed to eco-feminism. Wilding was a co-initiator of the "Feminist Art Programs" alongside Miriam Shapiro and Judy Chicago.

The Feminist Art Program produced "Womanhouse," an art installation and performance space focusing on collaborative and feminist ideas. Fueled by the explosion of female-focused work and research, "Womanhouse" sought to move beyond the predominantly male-centric art history. Wilding's work continues to interrogate societal narratives, challenging the status quo in art-making, life, and politics.

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding in her studio working on

fig.002 — Faith Wilding in her studio working on "Natural Parables," 1978

Wilding has exhibited extensively worldwide since the late 1960s. A 2014 retrospective of Wilding's work, "Fearful Symmetries," traveled to five venues across the United States. Wilding's work was also included in the seminal survey "WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution," organized by Cornelia Butler, which traveled from the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles) to the National Museum of Women (Washington, D.C.), PS1 Contemporary Art Center (Long Island), and the Vancouver Art Gallery.

2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of "Womanhouse," an influential Los Angeles exhibition, installation, and performance space organized through the "CalArts Feminist Art Program." At "Womanhouse," Wilding's "Womb Room" fiber installation and performance "Waiting" are some of the best-known and highly influential works of the 1970s Feminist Art Movement. Wilding's book "By Our Own Hands" catalogs this important era of experimentation and collaboration that defined west-coast Feminist art during the early 1970s.

Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition

fig.003 — Faith Wilding featured in "Arrows of Desire," Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 2021

Exhibition History

Wilding has exhibited at museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; the Drawing Center, New York, NY; Documenta X, Kassel, Germany; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; the Singapore Art Museum, Singapore; the Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid, Spain; the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, Scotland; and the Bronx Museum of Art, New York, NY. Wilding is Professor Emerita of Performance Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has taught at Cooper Union, New York University, the Woman's Building in Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Art Institute.

While teaching at Carnegie Mellon University in the 1990s and 2000s she was a co-founder of the cyber-feminist collective "subRosa." Wilding was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009 and has been the recipient of numerous grants for the past five decades. 2014, she was awarded the prestigious Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award. Her publications include "By Our Own Hands: The History of the Women Artists Movement in Southern California, 1970–76" (Double X, 1977) and "Domain Errors! Cyberfeminist Practices!" (Autonomedia, 2003). Wilding lives and works in Rhode Island.

Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition
Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition

fig.004/005 — Faith Wilding featured in "Where Art Might Happen: Early Years of CalArts," Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany, 2019

Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition

fig.006 — Faith Wilding featured in "Ecstatic," Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California, 2023

Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition
Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition

fig.007/008 — Faith Wilding featured in "Condo," Galeria Jaqueline Martins, São Paolo, Brazil, 2020

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding, 1977 Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig.009 — Faith Wilding, 1977

Image of Faith Wilding's work in the solo exhibition
Image of Faith Wilding's work in the solo exhibition

fig.010/011 — Faith Wilding "Being Like Leaves," Bortolami, New York, New York, 2022

Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition “Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries” at the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University, 2018. Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972
Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig.012/013 —“Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries” exhibition curated by Shannon Stratton at the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University, 2018

Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition
Image of Faith Wilding's work featured in the exhibition

fig.014/015 — Faith Wilding featured in "Womanhouse," Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, California, 2022

Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries. Installation view at Miller ICA. Photo: Tom Little. Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig.016 — Faith Wilding: "Fearful Symmetries" at the Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA, 2015-2016

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972
Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig. 017/018 —Faith Wilding: "Grace Under Fire" with Library Street Collective, at The Shepherd, Detroit, MI. 2024-2025

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig.019 —Faith Wilding: "Inside, Outside, Alive in the Shell, "Anat Ebgi, New York, NY. 2025

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972
Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig.020/021 —Faith Wilding: "Inside, Outside, Alive in the Shell, "Anat Ebgi, New York, NY. 2025

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972
Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig.022 — Faith Wilding, "Crocheted Environment," Installation view from WOMANHOUSE, Los Angeles, CA, 1972

fig.023 — Faith Wilding, "Crocheted Environment," Installation view from Inside Other Spaces. Environments
by Women Artists 1956 – 1976. Haus Der Kunst, Munich, Germany. 2023-2024.

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig.024 —Faith Wilding’s "Natural Parables," presented by Anat Ebgi. Art Basel Unlimited sector, 2025. 

Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972
Image of eco-feminist artist and activist Faith Wilding performing Waiting in 1972

fig.025/026 — Faith Wilding, Invitation to a Burning, (Installation / Performance), Woman’s Building, Los Angeles, CA. 1980.

Selected Press

Absurdist Dystopia and Ancestral Ritual: The Best of Art Basel’s Unlimited Sector in 2025

Observer
June 2025

Review of Faith Wilding | "Inside, outside, alive in the shell" 

Artforum
May 2025

Faith Wilding at Anat Ebgi, New York

Art Viewer
March 2025

Wait No More: Faith Wilding’s retrospective at Anat Ebgi New York honors the pioneering artist’s 50 years of dedication to life, women, and nature. 

Family Style
January 2025

Ecofeminist Interleaving: Faith Wilding at Anat Ebgi

Impulse Magazine
February 2025

Faith Wilding on “Beauty as a Terrorist Tactic”

Art in America
February 2025

Faith Wilding Grace Under Fire at the Shepherd, Detroit, MI

New City Art
October 2024

The Art Show Highlights Masters — and Artists Under the Radar 

The New York Times 
November 2023

The 10 Best Booths at ADAA: The Art Show 2023

Artsy
November, 2023

Bortolami opens an exhibition of works by Faith Wilding

dailyart.org
September 2022

Faith Wilding at Anat Ebgi

Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles (Carla)
Rachel Elizabeth Jones, October 2021

Faith Wilding, foremother of feminist art, draws on activist histories in new shows at Brown, Tufts universities

The Boston Globe
Cate McQuaid, September 2021

Artists to follow if you like Georgia O'Keefe: Faith Wilding

Artsy
Juliana Lopez, October 2020

In the beginning, everything was green: Embodiment, ritual, and cyberfeminism

Artillery
August 2019

Faith Wilding at Anat Ebgi

Artforum
Andy Campbell, May 2019

The sensual and the spiritual collide in the paintings of Faith Wilding

Los Angeles Times
Leah Ollman, February 2019

Shannon Stratton: On feminism, Faith Wilding and CAA

Columbia College Chicago
La Keisha Leek, February 2019

Ecofeminism: Faith Wilding interview

Bomb
Heidi Norton, February 2018

Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries at the Miller Gallery

Pittsburgh City Paper
Bill O'Driscoll, February 2018

Faith Wilding: Natural Parables

Art in America
Lauren DeLand, February 2018

Feminist artist compares '70s movement to #metoo, "Time's Up" campaigns

Carnegie Mellon University
Pam Wigley, January 2018

Image Copyrights and Photo Credits

fig.001 © Faith Wilding; Photo Credit: Lloyd Hamrol

fig.002 © Faith Wilding

fig.003 © Faith Wilding

fig.004 © Faith Wilding; Photo Credit: Raimund Zakowski

fig.005 © Faith Wilding; Photo Credit: Raimund Zakowski

fig.006 © Faith Wilding and Hammer Museum; Photo Credit: Charles White

fig.007 © Faith Wilding

fig.008 © Faith Wilding

fig.009 © Faith Wilding

fig.010 © Faith Wilding and Bortolami; Photo Credit: Guang Xu

fig.011 © Faith Wilding and Bortolami; Photo Credit: Guang Xu

fig.012/013 © “Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries”  at Carnegie Mellon University. Photo credit: Tom Little

fig.014/015 © Faith Wilding and Anat Ebgi; Photo Credit: Matthew Kroening

fig.016 © Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries. Armory Center for the Arts

fig.017/018 © Faith Wilding: "Grace Under Fire" with Library Street Collective, at The Shepherd. Photo credit: Sebastian Bach

fig.019© Faith Wilding at Anat Ebgi, New York. Photo Credit: New Document 

fig.020/021 © Faith Wilding, Anat Ebgi, New York. Photo Credit: Mason Kuehler

fig.022 © Faith Wilding

fig.023 © Faith Wilding: Crocheted Environment (Womb Room), 1972. Photo Credit: Agostino Osio

fig.0024 © Faith Wilding’s Natural Parables, presented by Anat Ebgi. Courtesy of Art Basel

fig.0025/026 © Faith Wilding

Biography

Exhibition History

Selected Press

Faith Wilding is represented by Anat Ebgi,
Los Angeles/New York.

For inquiries, please contact info@anatebgi.com

Biography

Exhibition History

Selected Press

Faith Wilding is represented by Anat Ebgi.

For inquiries, please contact info@anatebgi.com