About
Maja Petrić is an artist, a PhD candidate and a predoctoral associate at University of Washington’s Center for Digital Art and Experimental Media (DXARTS). She holds a Masters degree in new media art from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), and a Masters degree in journalism from University of Zagreb, Croatian Studies.
Maja grew up in Croatia during the violent fragmentation of Yugoslavia. It is then that she became preoccupied with using art to transform the traumatized sense of her surroundings. Her work is about changing the perception of space in function of art. Therefore, the subjects of her work are perception, space, and art. To change perception, she studies sensation, experience, and phenomenology. To create spatial situations, she practices designing spaces, fabricating structures, manipulating materials, and integrating lighting and audiovisual systems. The core of her artistic research is the sublime.
Her light art installations have recently been awarded the Richard Kelly Award, the Thunen Lighting Award, and the Doctoral Fellowship from Croatian Science Foundation.
For the Historical Background of the Sublime and the Artist Statement visit the Research page.
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
PhD Candidate in Digital Arts and Experimental Media
University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA, September 2008 – ongoingMaster of Professional Studies in Interactive Telecommunications
New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, New York, NY, USA, September 2004 – May 2006Master of Arts in Journalism
University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia, September 2002 – May 2003Bachelor of Arts in Journalism
University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia, September 1999 – May 2002Information and Communication Technologies Policy Scholar
Stanhope University, Budapest, Hungary, July – August 2003Undergraduate Exchange Program Fellow in Visual Arts
SUNY Oswego, New York, NY, USA, September 2001 – May 2002EMPLOYMENT
Predoctoral Teaching Associate, University of Washington, Seattle, October 2008 – present
Instructor for Digital Video Foundations, University of Washington, Seattle, September 2011 – December 2011
Discussion Instructor for Digital Art and New Media – History, Theory and Practice, University of Washington, Seattle, September 2010 – December 2011
Instructor for Digital Video Foundations, University of Washington, Seattle, July 2010 – August 2010
Graduate Research Assistant for DXARTS media, University of Washington, Seattle, June 2010 – August 2010
Instructor for Fundamentals of Digital and Experimental Art II, University of Washington, Seattle, April 2010 – June 2010
Graduate Research Assistant for DXARTS media, University of Washington, Seattle, January 2010 – April 2010
Discussion Instructor for Digital Art and New Media – History, Theory and Practice, University of Washington, Seattle, September 2009 – December 2009
Instructor for Discovery Seminar: Digital Expression, University of Washington, Seattle, September 2009
Graduate Research Assistant to Professor Shawn Brixey, University of Washington, Seattle, June 2009 – September 2009
Lecturer on Light, Art and Architecture at Digital Art and Dance Composition III, University of Washington, Seattle, May 2009
Instructor for 3 Space III: Special Topics in 3D Computer Arts, University of Washington, Seattle, April 2009 - June 2009
Graduate Teaching Assistant for 3 Space III: Special Topics in 3D Computer Arts, University of Washington, Seattle, October 2008 – April 2009
Creative Director, NoN Group, Zagreb, Croatia and New York, NY, USA, September 2000 – present
Art Director, Tiffany & Co, New York, NY, USA, May 2008 – July 2008
Art Director, Social Sauce, New York, NY, USA, September 2006 – March 2008
Interactive Art Director, UNICEF concert for Darfur at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY, USA, June 2006 – January 2007
New Media Art Consultant, Publicolor, New York, NY, USA, July 2006 – September 2006
Graduate Research Assistant to Professor Helen Nissenbaum, New York University, New York, NY, USA,
December 2004 – May 2006Graduate Research Assistant for Values in Technology Design: Democracy, Autonomy, and Justice, New York University and Ford Foundation, New York, NY, USA, December 2004 – May 2006
Executive Editor, Nescafe Web Portal, Zagreb, Croatia, March 2003 – March 2004
Filmmaker, Bond Street Theatre, USA and South Eastern Europe, May 2002 – May 2005
Media Art Researcher, Franklin Furnace, New York, NY, USA, May 2002 – May 2003
EXHIBITIONS
As It Is Cracking – Storefronts Seattle, Amazon Campus, Seattle, WA, USA, February, 2011
The Eyes of the Skin 2 - Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA, January – February, 2011
Four Landscapes: History of Events - DXARTS Experimental Film Screening, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA, June, 2010
The Eyes of the Skin – Faculty Dance Concert, University Washington, Seattle, WA, 2009
Underwater Love – Mixed Signals, Washington, DC, August 2006
outSIDEin - Interactive Telecommunication Exhibit, TSOA, New York, NY, USA, May 2006
Cloud Head – Interactive Telecommunication Exhibit, TSOA, New York, NY, USA, February 2006
Underwater Love – Interactive Telecommunication Exhibit, TSOA, New York, NY, USA, December 2005
Nice Sea Sky – Villa Arson Center, Nice, France, August 2005
The Balkans – National Cultural Centers, Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro, June – September 2005
Croatia – Interactive Telecommunication Exhibit, TSOA, New York, NY, USA, March 2005
sfrj.net – Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, June 2003
The Crash – Multimedia Center Mi2, Zagreb, Croatia, February 2003
2 Laconic Persons of the Box – Multimedia Center Mi2, Zagreb, Croatia, December 2002
The Bond Street Theatre Films – Cultural Center REX, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro, November 2002
The Bond Street Theatre Films – Arts Academy, Pristine, Kosovo, November 2002
The Bond Street Theatre Films – Theatre of Minorities, Skopje, Macedonia, November 2002
The Crash – Festival of Alternative Theatre Expression – FAKI, Zagreb, Croatia, May 2002
The Crash – SUNY Oswego Gallery, New York, NY, USA, May 2002
Beton – SUNY Oswego Gallery, New York, NY, USA, December 2001
2 Laconic Persons of the Box – Student Center Festival, Zagreb, Croatia, May 2001
2 Laconic Persons of the Box – Zadar of Dreams Festival, Zadar, Croatia, June 2001
2 Laconic Persons of the Box – Festival of Alternative Theatre Expression – FAKI, Zagreb, Croatia, May 2001
LECTURES
Artist Talk – “Transforming the Poetic Experience of Space Through Light”, Darkbot, Seattle, WA, USA, February 2011
Artist Talk – “Pursuing the unknowable through transformative spaces”, International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA), Istanbul, Turkey, September 2011
Artist Talk – “Transforming the Poetic Experience of Space Through Light”, Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, San Francisco, CA, USA, April 2011
Artist Talk – “Pursuing the unknowable through transformative spaces”, Text, Action and Space (TAS), Paris, France, October 2010
Artist Talk – Upgrade! Zagreb, Gallery Nano, Zagreb, Croatia, December 2009
PUBLICATIONS
Pursuing the unknowable through transformative spaces in Exploring Textual Action (Text, Action and Space), Aarhus, Denmark, December 2011
Pursuing the unknowable through transformative spaces, Leonardo Electronic Almanac, Volume 17, Issue 1., MIT Pess, Boston, USA, September 2011
Pursuing the unknowable through transformative spaces, International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA), Istanbul, Turkey, September 2011
outSIDEin, Light In The Middle Of The Tunnel, The 2nd International Conference on Media Art and Information Aesthetic (MAIA), Beijing, China, July 2009
Atmospheric Architecture, New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, New York, NY, USA, May 2006
Interaktivnost i interaktivne umjetnosti (Intractivity and Interactive Arts), Zarez, Zagreb, Croatia, December 2005
Epistemology of The Balkans, Open Society Scholar Forum, New York, NY, USA, May 2005
Mapping the Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania, February 2004
Eastern European Performance Art, K & S Gallery, Berlin, Germany, August 2002
Mapping the Art, Franklin Furnace, New York, NY, USA, August 2002
On contemporary performance art, Focus, Zagreb, Croatia, January 2000 – June 2001
On contemporary art, Revolt, Zagreb, Croatia, September 1999 – August 2001
On contemporary art, Student, Zagreb, Croatia, August 1999 – August 2001
AWARDS
The Frankopan Fund’s Staples Award, London, UK, September 2011
Graduate School Travel Award, Seattle, WA, USA, October 2011
Graduate School Top Scholar Award, Seattle, WA, USA, October 2010
The Frankopan Fund’s Staples Award, London, UK, September 2010
National Foundation for Science, Higher Education and Technological Development of the Republic of Croatia Doctoral Fellowship, Opatija, Croatia, July, 2010
Richard Kelly Award, New York City, NY, USA, June 2010
4Culture The Individual Artist Program Grant, Seattle, WA, USA, June 2010
Robert E. Thunen Memorial Scholarship, Alameda, CA, USA, April 2010
Graduate School Top Scholar Award, Seattle, WA, USA, October 2009
The Frankopan Fund’s Staples Award, London, UK, September 2009
Graduate School Top Scholar Award, Seattle, USA, October 2008
Ministry of Education Graduate Scholarship, Zagreb, Croatia, October 2008
Herman H.R. Rottenberg Award, New York, NY, USA, December 2006
The Percy L. Douglas Award, New York, NY, USA, September 2006
International House Award, New York, NY, USA, October 2006
McLaine Network Award, New York, NY, USA, July 2006
Tisch School of the Arts Scholarship, New York, NY, USA, September 2005
McLaine Network Award, New York, NY, USA, July 2005
Tisch School of the Arts Scholarship, New York, NY, USA, May 2005
International House Award, New York, NY, USA, January 2005
Ministry of Education Graduate Scholarship, Zagreb, Croatia, November 2004
McLaine Network Award, New York, NY, USA, June 2004
Tisch School of the Arts Scholarship, New York, NY, USA, May 2004
Croatian Academic and Research Network Award – CARNet, Zagreb, Croatia, June 2004
European New Media Artist in Residency Exchange, Kingston upon Hull, UK, August 2003
Alumni Award by Open Society Institute, New York, NY, USA, June 2003
Artist Grant by European Cultural Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands, September 2002
Artist Award by International Student Association of SUNY Oswego, New York, USA, March 2002
New York City Summer Award by Open Society Institute, New York, NY, USA, May 2002
Undergraduate Student Exchange Grant by Open Society Institute, New York, NY, USA, May 2001
