hstreek@gmail.com
http://hollystreekstra.com
she/her/hers

BIO 

I am a sculptor and installation artist who employs multiple modes and forms of expression. My artistic investigation and perspective involves raising questions about our relationship to doubt, our desire for mystery and enchantment, the primacy of vision and its interrelation with human consciousness. My processes seem to vacillate between sculpturally crafted works, and installation environments, and I have a background in theater, music, and dance. Compelling ideas are the priority of the work, and they dictate creative outcomes. I have participated in many group exhibitions and residencies in the United States and abroad. My work has been seen at SooVAC, Minnesota Museum of American Art, and Franconia Sculpture Park, in Minnesota; the Invisible Dog, Brooklyn; and the Good Children Gallery, New Orleans. I was a 2016 Jerome Emerging Artist Fellow. In 2013, I was a Fulbright Teaching Scholar in Hungary. I earned a BFA from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and an MFA in Sculpture from Louisiana State University.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY & MENTORSHIP

Seeking an MFA at MCAD is exhilarating; it’s also emotionally challenging to be in a constant state of passionate, committed personal exploration. Self-awareness is at the center of the practice that you are analyzing, explaining, defending, then reshaping. The challenges that you set for yourself during this time will provide you with continued sustenance consisting of practical knowledge, inherent reference points, and implicit faith in yourself. I enjoy being your confidant in this process. For me, mentorship consists of collaborating on two equal and critical objectives. One: cultivating a meaningful exchange focused on why the mentee is compelled to use visual art as a means of expressing ideas. Two: supporting the forms of creative inquiry that nourish goals derived from those motivations, whatever they may be(come). I’ve found that when I approach my own artistic inquiry with self-trust and boundless curiosity, the most meaningful path reveals itself. I like to help others to find the trailhead, shed some light, and clear the bramble out the way.