riel Sturchio (they/she) is an interdisciplinary artist. They use their experiences with queerness and illness to provoke, and criticize socially idealized normative fantasies of beauty, ability, and gender identity. They pair their academic background in critical queer phenomenology, bodily disorientation, and affect to explore the sculptural tactility of sound, the mediation of distance through varieties of touch and the body, and the value of intentional embodiment, ritual, and community. They are interested in how their body is forced into disorientation through disease and use this disoriented perspective as a foundation for active witnessing rituals.
riel and their twin sister Bianca are co-founders of Begin Collective, a community-based photography collective offering group projects by and for folks at the intersection of LGBTQ+, nonbinary identity, and disability, chronic illness, and neurodivergence.
riel has taught photography at The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX), Texas State University (San Marcos, TX), Wheaton College (Norton, MA) and St. Edward's University (Austin, TX). Currently, they are a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa (2022-current).
Recent achievements include: Robert Giard Grant (2024), Daylight Photos Jurors Pick (2024), Light Work Artist-in-Residence (2024), Film Photo Award (2023), Artist Catalyst Grant, Iowa Arts Council (2022), Interchange Artist Grant and Fellow, Mid-America Arts Alliance (2022), Robert Giard Grant X Queer|ART (2021), and New Orleans Photo Alliance, Michael P. Smith Award (2020).
Full CV available upon request.
contact: rielsturchio [at] gmail.com & gsturchio [at] uiowa.edu
Available for editorial and design work
Commissions include: Der Spiegel, Timberland, 3Sixteen, Maine College of Art & Design, Bon Appétit, The Furniture Society, Time Magazine, Corona Beer, Carolwood Snack Co., Siply Tea, Vongon, Babiela