Otis College MFA Fine Arts Alum Vita Kari Makes Social Media and Art World Gold

“Art doesn't have to be a painting on a wall—it can be a viral practice.”

In one of their most viral videos, which has 27.6 million views on TikTok, Los Angeles artist Vita Kari (’24 MFA Fine Arts) faces the camera with a pair of paper eyes on their cheeks. Holding tweezers, they reveal a clever sleight of hand. “The craziest thing about being creative is… this isn’t my lip, I just printed it out!” Kari says as they grab a paper lip covering their real upper lip.

The video, with its humorous reveal, is only seven seconds long but it makes a strong impact. From their “The Craziest Thing About Being Creative” video series to their performances and tapestries, the MFA Fine Arts graduate is known for work that demands your attention. 

Blurring the line between illusion and reality, Kari explores virality, internet culture, public space, and diaspora through their perspective as a queer and deaf/hard of hearing artist. “What I learned from being in Otis’s Fine Arts graduate program is that there’s a way to engage in the glitch in the art space,” says Kari in their West Hollywood home. “Art doesn’t have to be a painting on a wall—it can be a viral practice.” 

In July, for Apology Box, part of a group show they curated at Dorado 806 Projects, Kari confined themselves to a box for 24 hours while reciting anonymous public apologies. It was a world record attempt and also a fundraiser for gender-affirming care. For 2024’s On the Wall, they taped themselves to a facade and posted a fake broadcast—filmed by a friend—that claimed that Kari was there for several days, instead of just four hours.

Tapestries made by Kari are a reimagining, unraveling, and recreation of their late Middle Eastern-immigrant grandmother’s rugs that also use iconography from queer history. The pieces are unwoven in parts, meant to represent the static in Kari’s hearing aids as they pick up sounds.  

“The conversations I’m trying to have with my work are about things that are exhausting,” says Kari. “It’s exhausting to talk about the political climate and my intersectional identities. Using the lens of humor and play is easy and fun.”

Glitching the algorithm has paid off. Kari has been highlighted in W Magazine, Forbes, The Art Newspaper, and more. They’ve been featured in shows in Shanghai, Mexico City, Knoxville, Los Angeles, and made their art fair debut in 2024 with Yiwei Gallery at Untitled Art Miami Beach. They’ve collaborated with brands such as Spotify and DoorDash and were honored this year by the City of West Hollywood for their artistic contributions promoting accessibility and LGBTQ+ visibility.

Born and raised in L.A., Kari participated as a teenager in Otis College’s pre-college Summer of Art program. “Otis changed the course of my life,” says Kari. “I made friends with people I’m still friends with now. Before, I never had the experience of that level of a professional art environment.”

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in art from Warren Wilson College in North Carolina, Kari returned to L.A. in 2018 to help care for their grandmother, who had Alzheimer’s. They founded Vitawood, a community art space and platform for queer artists that existed from 2020 to 2022. 

While caring for their grandmother and exploring their Middle Eastern and Jewish identity, Kari—who was awarded an Otis scholarship—dove in as a student in its MFA Fine Arts program. Faculty members Asher Hartman and Kathrin Burmester inspired them to explore virality and form. Kari also cites faculty members Kori Newkirk, Lindsay August-Salazar, Jennifer Moon, von curtis, Judie Bamber, and Soo Kim as mentors. “I came into the program with hope and vision and came out of it making money—a success story,” says Kari.

In their 2024 MFA Fine Arts thesis exhibition, Billboard Prenup: A Byte of Love, they “married” their digital self in a performance alongside figurative tapestries and sculptures of sparkling hamburgers—a tribute to their grandmother’s first meal in the U.S. In one textile piece, Forgot to Charge My Hearing Aids, a pattern runs through a depiction of Kari’s face, obscuring it. 

When it comes to advice for MFA Fine Arts students, Kari says, “Stick with it! Otis’s professors are there to support you. If you want to go in the art market direction, voice it. Make good friends because those people are going to be your collaborators.” 

Information about Otis College’s MFA Fine Arts program. 

Information about Otis Extension’s Summer of Art program. 

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