• Artworks
  • Biography
    Bruna Stude

    Marine life and oceans have always held a profound fascination for photographer Bruna Stude. A seasoned scuba diver and free diver, the Kaua'i resident and Croatian native spent over two decades documenting oceans and wildlife around the globe. In recent years however, the devastating changes wrought by human impact on the environment have inspired the artist to photograph empty oceanscapes, creating works that are a poignant and powerful commentary on the human relationship to the natural world.

    Stude's keen eye for detail is evident in the subtle textures and delicate tonalities of her work. These are further augmented by a perceptive manipulation of exposures, creating photographs that are deeply evocative and entrancing. Her extensive practice of photographing underwater has allowed her to perfect a unique technique that foregrounds the experience of being submerged in the ocean, bringing to life the abstract patterns made by light refracting through water and organic compounds suspended in a swell or gently swaying in the subsurface.

    The silent beauty of Stude's empty oceans stands in striking contrast to normative depictions of seascapes. The absence of life in her monochromatic photographs is a decided aesthetic that functions on both a psychological and didactic level. In the artists' own words, "My photographs are not a documentation but an artistic choice to illuminate: looking up from only a few inches below the surface I see cities, I see only what man has created. By revealing the truth and the extraordinary, I try to create an awareness and inspire reverence."

  • CV

    Born Croatia
    Lives and works in Kauai, HI

    SOLO EXHIBITIONS

    2016
    Honolulu Museum of Art, at FHC Honolulu, HI
    2015
    Alfstad & Contemporary, Sarasota, FL
    2013
    Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Kahului, HI
    2012
    galerie 103, Kauai, HI
    2008
    Kaua`i Museum, Kauai, HI
    2007
    TIMESPACE , Hanapepe, Kauai, HI
    2006
    Sulkin/Secant Gallery, Bergamot Station Art Center, Santa Monica, CA

    SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

    2016
    Fresh Paint, galerie 103, Kauai, HI
    Parks, Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Kahalui, Maui, HI
    2015-16
    Hawai'i: Change & Continuity, Hawai`i State Art Museum, Honolulu, HI
    2014
    PRINT, PAPER + SANDBOX, galerie 103, Kauai, HI
    2013
    Grand Prix de la Découverte, Paris, France
    2012
    X Biennial of Hawai'i Artists, Spalding House, The Honolulu Museum of Arts at Makiki Heights, Honolulu, HI
    2011
    Artists of Hawai`i 2011, 59th Biennial Exhibition, The Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, HI
    2010
    Winter Kunstkammer - Part II , Contemporary painting, photography, sculpture and ceramics exhibited with works of art from the Hellenistic period through the 19th century of European, Oceanic and New World Culture. Walter Randel Gallery, Chelsea, New York, NY
    2009
    20 Going On 21: Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Present, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI
    DREAMSCAPES, LOOK Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
    Artists of Hawai'i 2009, 58th Biennial Exhibition, The Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, HI
    The Art Studio as a Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
    2008
    E C O / L O G I C, Arts at Marks Garage, Honolulu, HI
    17 National Juried Show, The Art Center of Northern New Jersey, New Milford, NJ
    Contemporary Landscapes , Millard Sheets Art Canter, Pomona, CA
    Negative Space, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO

    COLLECTIONS

    Hawai`i State Foundation for Culture and the Arts, Honolulu, HI
    The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI (Honolulu Museum of Art)
    The Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, HI (Honolulu Museum of Art)
    Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, France

     

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