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Kassandra Mattia was born in Fairfield, California and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Before pursuing formal education as an artist, she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in physics from Santa Clara University. As a student at Santa Clara, Kassandra worked in an optics lab as a researcher of ferromagnetic semiconductors. Although that research experience is what ultimately turned her away from a career in physics, her current studio practice remains largely modeled after what it feels like to work in a lab.

Through the use of varied materials including wood, graphite, oil paint, string, wax, and clay, Kassandra has developed a practice that requires her to balance intuition with logic and blind optimism with doubt. Kassandra is currently a graduate student in painting and drawing at the University of Iowa.