Karina Skvirsky

Karina Skvirsky, professor of art

Research areas: Skvirsky is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice began in photography and grew into video and performance. She has received grants from: Anonymous Was A Woman (2019), Creative Capital (2019), Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Engagement (2019), New York Foundation for the Arts (2019), The National Association of Latino Arts & Culture (NALAC, (2018), Fulbright Scholar Program (2015), The Jerome Foundation (2015), The New Jersey State Council in the Arts in photography (2015), The New York State Council on the Arts, Film and Electronic Arts, NY (2010), Urban Artist Initiative, NY, NY (2006), Puffin Foundation, Teaneck, NJ (2006), among others.

Her Lafayette journey: Skvirsky joined the Lafayette faculty in 2006. Prior to that, she was a faculty member at the International Center of Photography and adjunct professor at Parsons School of Design. Most recently, she was a visiting fellow at the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity (CSREA) at Brown University from 2020-21. Skvirsky’s 2019 grant from Creative Capital resulted in “Sacred Geometry,” a series of hand-cut photographic collages and “How to build a wall and other ruins,” a project that includes a multi-channel video installation and live performances. “Sacred Geometry” was exhibited in solo exhibitions at Museo Amparo in Puebla, Mexico and Ponce + Robles Gallery in Madrid, Spain. It was also part of the Diálogos section of Frieze (curated by El museo del barrio). “How to Build a Wall and Other Ruins” premiered at the XVth Cuenca Biennial, curated by Blanca de la Torre in December 2021. Other important international exhibitions include Impermanence, the XIII Cuenca Biennial (Ecuador) curated by Dan Cameron in 2016 and There is always a cup of sea for man to sail, the 29th São Paulo Biennial in Brazil (2010). 

What she’ll be teaching in the fall: Skvirsky is on sabbatical during the fall 2022 semester.