Jessica Mallios was born in Austin, Texas and lives and works in San Marcos, Texas. She is an Associate Professor in the School of Art and Design at Texas State University. She holds an MFA from The Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College and a BFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. She is a founding member of Lakes Were Rivers, a collective based in Austin, Texas. Her work has been presented in many solo and group exhibitions including Artpace San Antonio, TX; Disjecta Contemporary Art Center in Portland, OR; Higher Pictures, New York, NY; The Contemporary Austin in Austin, TX; the Torrance Art Museum in Los Angeles, CA; The Center for Ongoing Research & Projects, Columbus, OH, and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, TX. Mallios was an artist-in-residence at Ströndin Studio in Seydisfjördur, Iceland (2020), Artpace in San Antonio, TX (2014), and Can Serrat in El Bruc, Spain (2008).