Curriculum Vitae

Benita Struik

Born in 1971 in Nanaimo, British Columbia; lives and works in Swift Current, Saskatchewan Canada.

Education
High school: Swift Current Comprehensive High School

Bachelor Degree with a Major in Sociology and a Minor in Psychology
Bachelor of Education Degree with a course concentration in History and Fine Art from the University of Alberta, Edmonton. Major focus of study was criminology, psychology, art, and history.

Other courses include: Art History, Painting Through the Lens, Behavioral Studies, Non-Violent Crisis Intervention, Perceptual Control Theory (IAACT).

Studio - If you want to visit me do use the contact-form

About me

Benita Struik has a strong interest in people who are marginalized. She volunteered with the RCMP, Youth Probation and worked as a licensed private investigator. Today she is a teacher and Administrator in an alternative education program, Chinook Alternative Middle Plus School (CAMPS). The CAMPS school works with students who struggle in the regular system and who need extra supports in and out of school to be successful. The school looks at students on an individual basis and develops a program for student success. Students enrolled in the program may struggle with one or many issues including, anxiety, ADHD, Conduct Disorder, depression, Reactive Attachment Disorder, addiction, poverty and/or social/emotional struggles.

Besides working as an Administrator/teacher, she works as an artist.

“I have always gravitated towards art that pushed the boundaries, raised an eyebrow and questioned the norm. I want people to walk away with a new idea or thought. Art is about personal perception. When I look at art, I want to question, reflect, be disturbed and awed at the same time. Therefore, when I create, it always starts with a question.”

She enjoys working with many different types of materials including wood, paint, metal, glass, gel medium and photography. She prefers to work with ideas, and images of the past and present and how they relate to today. The common theme in her work is its historical basis. She explores history/ies in relationship to who is telling what history, whose voice we hear, whose perspective we see. Special interest goes to the role and fate of women, their part in history as well as in culture. (see also the project ‘Tough and Tender’)
In the past years, she has had the opportunity to travel and stay in Holland during the summer months where her father lives and works as a professional artist. She has seen a number of art installations and gallery exhibits across Europe, such as the Documenta 12 in Kassel (2007) and the Sculpture Project in Münster (2007 - organized once every ten year), both in Germany; she hopes to bring that European flavor into her art in Canada.