Interdisciplinary Artist
Chanika Svetvilas is an interdisciplinary artist who utilizes narrative as a way to share experiences to disrupt stereotypes and to reflect on contemporary issues as a cultural worker. Past projects include: collecting objects and stories that reflected an immigrant history from surrounding New York City communities for a commissioned window installation at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum; stationing a handbuilt mobile immigration booth on the streets of Brooklyn to survey the needs of English language learners with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund; and disseminating immigrant rights information with the youth program, Leadership Through the Arts for the Queens Museum. At The Ohio State University, she interviewed faculty, staff and students who self-identified with disability to speak about accessibility issues and the disability community on campus.
Additionally, she has presented her interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary installations at the annual College Art Association Conference, CUNY Hunter College, Stony Brook University and exhibited at the Denver International Airport, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, ABCNoRio, Brooklyn Public Library, Westbeth Gallery, Islip Art Museum, Asian Arts Initiative, and Wexner Center for the Arts among others.
Svetvilas was born in Buffalo, NY and raised in Elmira, NY in the Southern Tier of New York State. After previously living in Brooklyn, NY, Columbus, OH, and Plainsboro, NJ, she currently resides in Princeton Junction, NJ. Her studio is located at historic Art Station in Hightstown, NJ.
