Irene Pijoan (1953–2004) was a Swiss-born American painter, sculptor and educator whose work explored the relationships between the body, nature, memory and spirituality. She earned her B.A. in 1978 and M.F.A. in 1980 from the University of California, Davis, where she studied with Robert Arneson, Roy De Forest and Manuel Neri. Her early work included expressive figurative sculptures and encaustic paintings, often conveying psychological intensity through textured surfaces and haunting imagery. Beginning in the late 1980s, Pijoan moved toward increasingly abstract compositions, eventually developing cut-paper and metal works whose delicate, organic forms evoke natural growth, movement and transformation. Her later practice reflected an interest in meditation, personal experience and the spiritual dimensions of artistic creation. Pijoan taught at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1983 until her death in 2004, influencing generations of emerging artists. Her work was exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum, Oakland Museum of California and San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, and is held in collections including San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. She also created major public artworks in Oakland, Santa Clara and Seattle.