Rafi Ajl (b.1983) is a Berkeley, California-based artist who is obsessed with form and process. He is driven by the possibilities of materiality, an insatiable curiosity, and an undisputed reverence for the pressures of the creative process.
Ajl’s approach is also deeply rooted in post-structuralist critical theory, which emphasizes that the process is never terminal but boundless and full of play.
Education
2015 Masters of Fine Arts, Design, California College of the Arts
Masters of Landscape Architecture, Harvard University GSD, incomplete
2005 Bachelor of the Arts, Hampshire College, 2005
Exhibitions + Lectures
2024 “Two Bodies” – The Future Perfect, San Francisco, CA
2024 “Works in Progress”
2020 “Aditions” – Winter Show
2019 “Crowdfunding Commons” – Shenzhen Bieannle with IF/THEN Studio
2017 “Emergent Typologies” – Sketching in Hardware
2017 “Making the Awesome” – O’Rielly Design Conference
2015 “Do You Do It For Love or Money” – Art Night SF with Love and/or Money
2015 “The Independent Food” – MAXXI, Rome, Italy with Future Farmers
2015 “A Range of Indeterminate Results” – CCA MFA Design Thesis Exhibition, Designer + Curator
Positions
Founder, The Long Confidence
Adjunct 2 Professor, Design Devision, California College of the Arts
Lecturer, Design Department, UC Davis
Residencies
2023 Monterey Glass Works, invited resident artist
2015 Future Farmers, Design Fellow, Spring – Fall