IRENA KECKES
ART
Irena Keckes
irena.prints [at] gmail.com
Professional info
Languages
I am Associate Professor of Art (Printmaking and Drawing) at University of Guam (Sept. 2015 - present). I earned a PhD in fine arts from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, New Zealand (2015), and I hold MFA degree from Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan (2005). My research interests are contemporary printmaking, expanded forms of print, woodcut print, non-toxic printmaking, and ecologically informed Buddhism.
Croatian
English
Japanese
Work experience
Associate Professor of Art (Printmaking and Drawing)
University of Guam
College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
Communications and Fine Arts
September 2015 - present
Teaching: Printmaking, Drawing, Basic Design, Studio-art courses
Graduate Teaching Assistant
University of Auckland, Elam School of Fine Arts
March 2011 - November 2014
Teaching courses: Printmaking and Drawing
Skills and Expertise
Teaching
Visual Arts
Printmaking
Drawing
Contemporary Art
Painting
Papermaking
Design
Art Education
Art History
Education
Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland
2011 - 2015 PhD with Creative Practice
University of Auckland Dotoral Scholarship
As part of my PhD research I created large woodcut prints. I explored art/craft relationship, phenomenology, and notion of repetition. My research looked into if and how eco-Buddhist ideas may inform ecologically mindful attitudes in printmaking.
Tokyo University of the Arts (Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku)
2003 - 2005 MFA in printmaking
Japanese Government (Mombusho) Scholarship
I mastered Japanese woodblock printmaking method, a non-toxic printmaking process which uses natural materials. My MFA project consisted of a cycle of the 24 prints titled "Time".
Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb
1994 - 2000 BA Art Education
I studied a range of subjects including drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, art history, art theory, methodology, didactics, sociology and psychology of art education. My BA graduation project was the cycle of linocuts "Undersea World" (University of Zagreb Chancellor's Award, 1999).
Awards and Achievements
2019 UOG Creative Research Grant for artist in residency in Pocitelj, Bosnia
2018 University of Guam CLASS travel grant to present collaborative paper (Irena Keckes and Katarzyna Zymna) "The Encounter. The Process. THe Oucome?", and to exhibit a print installation "Bonding"
2018 University of Guam Creative Research Grant for artist in residence project in Puebla City, Mexico
2018 University of Guam Travel Grant to present at SGCI 2018 (Southern Graphics Council International), in Las Vegas
2017 UOG College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Travel Grant to present a paper and artwork at IMC2017 (International Mokuhanga Conference) Hawai'i HA USA
2017 UOG College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Travel Grant to present an artwork at SGCI 2017 conference in Atlanta, GA USA
2016 University of Guam Travel Grant to present at SGCI 2016 conference in Portland, OR USA
2015 UOG College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Travel Grant, University of Guam to present at Impact 9 International Printmaking Conference in Hangzhou, China
2013 The University of Auckland Vice Chancellor’s Arts Support Funds Grant
2013 NICAI Conference and Creative Events Funds (CCEF) for attending Impact 8 International Printmaking Conference in Dundee, Scotland
2011-2014 The University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship to study PhD in Fine Arts at University of Auckland, NZ
2002-2005 Mombusho Japanese Government Scholarship to study MFA in printmaking at Tokyo University of the Arts
2004 Septini Award, Tokyo University of the Arts
2000 Japan Foundation Prize for the Mino Washi Artist in Residency, Gifu prefecture, Japan
1999 The University of Zagreb Chancellor's Award for the best student project - the cycle of linocut prints
Conference Presentations
2020 April (upcoming) SGCI 2020 Puerto Rico, panel presentation
2018 September Paper presentation IMPACT 10 International Printmaking Conference, Santanader, Spain
2018 April 4 - 7 Panel Printmaking in the Pacific, SGIC 2018 Las Vegas conference
2017 September 28 - October 1 International Mokuhanga Conference (IMC) 2017, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, O'ahu, Hawai'i,
Artist Presentation - a paper on my creative practice
2017 March 15-19 SGCI 2017, Homeward Portfolio
2016 March 8 Academic papers "Expanded Print" and "Contemporary Woodcut: Installation and Animation"
37th CLASS Annual Research Conference, University of Guam
2016 March 30 - April 2 Panel presentation "Out of the Frame and Outside the Gallery", SGCI 2016 Flux: The Edge of Today and Tomorrow, Portland, Oregon
2015 September 22 - 26 Academic Paper "Extended Forms of Print" presented at Impact 9 International Printmaking Conference, China Academy of Arts, Hangzhou, China
Illustrated Talk "Elam International Printmaking Workshop 2015 (EIPW 2015)" presented at Impact 9 International Printmaking Conference, China Academy of Arts, Hangzhou, China
2015 January 28 An Artist Talk / Lecture, Elam International Printmaking Workshop and Symposium, University of Auckland
2014 Sept 10-14 Academic Paper presented at the 2nd International Mokuhanga Conference, Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan. Title: "Contemporary Print: Reconsidering Expanded forms of Mokuhanga"
Exhibited artwork at the International Exhibition of Prints, 2nd International Mokuhanga Conference, Tokyo
2013 Aug 28– Sept 2 Academic Poster and Portfolio presented at Impact 8 International Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking Conference, Dundee University, UK. Title: "Non-toxic Printmaking and Ecologically Engaged Buddhism"
Artists in residency projects
2019 Bosnia Pocitelj Art Colony
2018 Mexico Grieta Negra Talller, Puebla City
2005 Korea Haslla Art Symposium, Haslla
Project: woodcut prints on canvas, outdoor print installation "Flags".
2000 Japan Artists in Residency project "Mino Paper Village", Mino, Gifu prefecture
Project: woodcut print installation "Snake", consisting of three 9 m long prints
Professional affiliations
2001 - 2014 Croatian Association of Artists (HDLU)
2013 Central Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand (CPACNZ)
2016 Southern Graphic Council International (SGCI)
Solo exhibitions
2018 IMPACT 10, International Printmaking Conference, Print installation "Bonding"
(Irena Keckes and Katarzyna Zimna) , Santander, Spain
2015 Dialogues & Evocations: Irena Keckes / Nim Flora Chan (with Nim Flora Chan), Fo Guan
Shan Buddhist Temple, Auckland, New Zealand
2014 Woodcuts, Art at Wharepuke, non-toxic print gallery, Kerikeri, New Zealand
Mindful Repetitions, George Fraser Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2013 Presence of Absence, George Fraser Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2012 Unlimited Resonance of Repetition, Elam Projectspace, Auckland, New Zealand
2011 Prints and Paintings, Gallery Saoh & Tomos, Tokyo, Japan
2010 Print exhibition, RBR Art Centre, Tokyo, Japan
2007 Energetic, Intuitive, Emotional, prints, Gallery Karas, Karlovac, Croatia
2006 Inner Space, woodblock prints, Gallery Tomos, Tokyo, Japan
2005 Time, woodblock prints, Miura Art Gallery, Osaka, Japan
2005 Flags, outdoor print installation, Haslla, Korea
2004 Life Cycle, woodblock prints, Gallery Tomos, Tokyo, Japan
2002 Red Threads, paper threads installation, Gallery Nova, Zagreb
2001 Prints and Washi, print and paper installation, Gallery Karas, Karlovac, Croatia
2002 Prints of Joy, print installation, Gallery Karas, Karlovac, Croatia
2000 Paper installation, washi presentation, Gallery V.Karas, Karlovac, Croatia
2000 Undersea World, linocuts, Gallery ZILIK, Karlovac, Croatia
1999 University of Zagreb Chancellor’s Award show, Gallery VN, Zagreb, Croatia
Group exhibitions
2019 Poeticas del Arte Contemporaneo, Salon de la Plastica Mexicana, Mexico City, Mexico
2019 Panchina Rosa, Academia di Belle Arti Catania, Catania, Italy
2018 Isla Center for the Arts, Printmaking Exchibtion, curated by Irena Keckes
2018 Mid America Print Council Conference, University of Wyoming, Portfolio Exhibition: Go West: A Collaborative Turn (October 2018)
2018 9th D'ouro Print Biennial 2018, Portugal
2017 UOG Fine Arts Faculty Biennial Exhibition, Isla Center for the Arts, UOG, Guam
2017 Beauty of Mokuhanga: Discipline & Sensibility, IMC2017 international printmaking exhibition at University of Hawai'i at Manoa Art Gallery, O'ahu, Hawai'i
Homeward Printmaking Exhibition, BUMF Gallery, Arts University Bouremouth, UK
Homeward Printmaking Exhibiton (part of UOG Poetry Broadsides), Isla Center for the Arts, UOG, Guam
3rd Global Print 2017, Portugal
Tribuna Grafika Exhibition 2017, Romania
International Art Forum Graphics Leopolis, Ukraine
SGCI International Printmaking Conference 2017, Atlanta, Terminus: Arrivals & Departures:
Homeward Portfolio Exhibition, Atlanta, Georgia USA
2016 International Printmaking Biennale, Northern Print, UK
International Exhibition of Contemporary Print UOG 2016, Isla Center for the Arts
Festival of Pacific Arts, Guam Museum & Isla Center for the Arts
UOG Fine Arts Faculty Biennale, Isla Center for the Arts, Guam
2015 IMPACT 9, International Printmaking Conference, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
Wansolwara II, Franklin Art Centre, Auckland NZ
Elam International Printmaking Exhibition, Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2014 The 28th Kyoto Art Festival, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Japan
International Art Exhibition, Keifu Art Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
Wansolwara: Print Here and Now, Nathan Homestead, Auckland, New Zealand
International Mokuhanga Exhibition, Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan
2013 The 3rd Art at Wharepuke International Printmaking Show, Kerikeri, New Zealand
Pangaea 2: Continental Drift, Japanese Consulate-General in Melbourne, Australia
2012 The 26th Kyoto Art Festival, Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan
Tallinn Triennial of Drawing, Tallinn, Estonia
2009 Evolution & Change, OT Gallery, Tustin, California, USA
Two Artists show, KILU studio, Santa Barbara, California, USA
SBCC group exhibition, Atkinson gallery, Santa Barbara, California, USA
2006 Three Artists Print Show, Gallery 52, Tokyo, Japan
International Contemporary Art Fair, Prague, Czech R.
U-35 International Exhibition-Kyoto 2006, Kyoto Art Centre, Japan
U-35 /60 Artists Exhibition, Nagoya, Japan
2005 Vol2 U-35 International Exhibition, Akarenga Souko, Yokohama, Japan
Haslla Art Camp, Haslla Art World, Haslla, Korea
Six Faces, Ginza OS Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Pepper's Loft Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo Geidai Graduation show, Tokyo Geidai Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2004 Tokyo Geidai MFA show, Machid amuseum, Machida, Japan
2002 The 3rd Croatian Triennial of Drawing, Contemporary Art Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
2001 The 2nd Croatian Triennial of Watercolour, VKaras Gallery, Karlovac, Croatia
International Festival of Theatre and Visual Arts, Tzew, Poland
Kunstvolle Kraft Neuer Aufgang, Munchen, Germany
2000 Paper Art Village Project in Mino City, Mino Washi Museum, Mino, Japan
2000 Academy of Fine Arts Graduate show, Gallery SC, Zagreb, Croatia
1999 On Four Rivers, Munich, Germany
1998 Pasionska Baština, Klovićevi dvori, Zagreb, Croatia