Foreign Fruit, an exhibition by Kelly Ciurej

September 29, 2015 - October 9, 2015
Mānoa Campus, Commons Gallery

Kelly Ciurej presents an exhibition of her recent photographs. Foreign Fruit serves as an interpretation of a generic touristic view of paradise, specifically around the symbolic nature of the pineapple. The pineapple represents her transition from Chicago, her place of origin, to her new home in Hawai芒鈧渋. Although they are typically mistaken for an indigenous fruit of the islands, pineapples are transplants, transferred to a new place with new roots grown over time.

The pineapple is connotatively sweet, a symbol of welcoming and 芒鈧揳loha,芒鈧 yet it is simultaneously a hard, jagged entity, with exterior coarse points and rough edges. It promises warmth and comfort, but holds a suggestion of unease and threat, keeping a guard up as protection from its surroundings.

The photographs in "Foreign Fruit" explore the artist芒鈧劉s fragile relationship with her sense of self, place, identity, and the distinction between expectation and reality.

Ciurej is currently pursuing her MFA degree in photography at the Department of Art + Art History, UHM.

Image: Kelly Ciurej, "Foreign Fruit," 2015. Courtesy of the artist.


Ticket Information
Gallery Hours / M-F 10 am 芒鈧 4 pm; Sun. 12 芒鈧 4 pm Closed Sat. Admission to exhibition is free. Parking fees may apply.

Event Sponsor
Art + Art History, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Sharon Tasaka, (808) 956-8364, gallery@hawaii.edu,

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