I was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1957, my mother, a writer, Cleveland born histologist and my father, an Iraqi immigrant, a pathologist. I studied Graphic Design from 1975-1981 and later did post graduate work, both at Kent State University. I studied portrait painting at The Art Students League and The New York Studio School, in New York City. From 1993-1998, armed with a scholarship, I attend
ed The Cleveland Institute of Art to earn my B.F.A in Painting and Sculpture. I travelled to Indonesia, Morocco, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya, Borneo and Turkey procuring primitive artifacts for my unique Design Studio Gallery. Since then I have operated 5 additional galleries, including the infamous Loren Naji Studio Gallery. Voted “Best Sculptor 2013” in Cleveland Magazine I have displayed my art in many venues, including The Cleveland Museum of Art, The NEO Show, Asterisk Gallery, Spaces, The Butler Art Museum, The Maryland Federation of Art, Phoenix Gallery in New York. My public sculpture, “They Have Landed” is located, at the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, across from the West Side Market. I am a decision-making board member of the Skeggs Lecture Series at Youngstown State University and have worked choosing and hiring prominent speakers including artist Vito Acconci and author, Toni Morrison. Among other grants, I received a $27,500. and and a house to create Satellite Installation Gallery in Collinwood, Ohio
In 2016 I created Emoh, an 8-foot spherical live-in sculpture that confronted homelessness. USA Today featured an Emmy-Award winning video about my experience. I was featured in Ripley’s Believe it or Not for living inside my own art. This fall, I will tour with my sculpture, Emoh, proposing multiple spheres covered with art by various artists. These live-in public sculptures, placed throughout cities will serve as homeless shelters.
