Stephanie Schwiederek


Master of Fine Arts in Studio, Photography

Stephanie Schwiederek is a visual artist working in photography, video, and text. She grew up in a motel in Pine Brook, a part of Montville Township, New Jersey. In 2013, Money Magazine ranked Montville the 13th best place to live in the nation. However, there are pockets in that township where the living situation was far from ideal. The Pine Brook Motel was a transient space, and a hive of prostitution, drugs and violence. However, for her and her parents, it became a place they called home for thirteen years. As a result of her precarious upbringing, her work often deals with the notions of the family dynamic in peril, trauma, identity, and social class. She is interested in the borderline where violence and intimacy; dysfunction and acceptance; resignation and resilience meet.