EDUCATION
MFA - University of Hawaii at Manoa 2017
BA - St. Xavier University 2013
BIO
Kelly Ciurej is an artist and photographer born and raised on Chicago’s Southside. Rooted in personal experiences, her work pursues moments of self-discovery– the misalignment in thought. Through the use of photographs, performance, artificial materials, and digital printing processes, her work explores notions of feminist psychology and the myth of “paradise”.
Her work has been exhibited throughout Hawai’i in spaces including the Hawai’i State Art Museum, University of Hawai’i Art Galleries, Gallery ‘Iolani, East Hawai’i Cultural Center, and the Honolulu Museum of Art School. She has been exhibited nationally in both group and solo shows, recently including the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Shockboxx Gallery in Los Angeles, and BOX13 Artspace in Houston, TX, among others. Ciurej received her MFA from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa in 2017 and currently resides in Honolulu, Hawai’i.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
2018 Hawai'i State Art Acquisition Award
2017 Hawai‘i State Art Acquisition Award
2017 John Young Scholarship in the Arts
COURSES TAUGHT
ART 107 (Introduction to Photography)
ART 107B (Introduction to Photography - Film)
ART 207 (Intermediate Photography)