Derek Szteliga is an international artist who is best known for his inter-disciplinary, site-responsive collaborations. Fluently integrating a variety of media (including watercolor, painting, printmaking, ceramics, carpentry, papermaking, furniture-making, Reiki healing and architecture), Szteliga selects materials and practices to employ specific effects, flush out ideas, and embrace new challenges.

Szteliga’s exploration of materials and concepts has roots in the German idea of a gesampttkunstwerk (or total work of art). During his time in Berlin (2002-2007), Szteliga belonged to the artist collective Factory-Berlin (formerly called Tiefenrauschost [T.R.O.]) and participated in many grassroots, international projects. The Factory-Berlin artists collaborated with curators and business owners to establish pop-up exhibitions in a variety of spaces. Artists from all disciplines were invited to create site-specific works that directly responded to the history, geography and spatial constraints of a specific place – whether abandoned factories, churches, high-profile storefronts or historic landmarks. And in a vibrant city like Berlin with its unique history and rapid recent growth, each space offered a distinct opportunity for diverse, electric responses. Ranging in duration from a few years to a couple of weeks, these projects provided a dynamic dialogue, were publicized and well-received, and garnered the attention of both the local community and, at times, the broader European art market.

Szteliga’s work has been exhibited at venues in Belgium (Antwerp), England (London), Estonia (Umbusi), Germany (Berlin), Northern Ireland (Belfast), and across the United States in Massachusetts (Boston), New Mexico (Albuquerque, Grants, Ramah and San Cristobal), and Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). A true man-of-the-world, Szteliga has had studios in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Mexico, and - most recently - Berlin, Germany. He now lives and works in Philadelphia, PA..