Drew Dzurko is a photographic artist from the suburbs of Chicago. His current artistic practice is a critique of capitalism’s pervasive influence on our lives. Through photography and short-form video, he distorts and transforms our lived realities, using outdated technology and old machine parts as symbols for our wasteful culture and the overlooked majority. By creating systematic editing processes with Photoshop, Drew produces images that leave viewers in spatially confusing states, reflecting the dissociative states of the average American consciousness created by late-stage capitalism. His work, often using disquieting imagery, now weaves satire into its narrative to balance gravity with levity. Drew employs an AI child narrator in his videos to highlight the absurdity of societal structures, reshaping his work to increase the accessibility of his message and focus on visibility over monetary gain. Drew aims to ignite sparks within his generation and future generations by raising awareness of the unjust state of our system, hoping to instigate substantial change.

His work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions at venues including the Texas Photographic Society, Backspace Gallery, the Ellwood House Museum, the Annette & Jerry Johns Gallery, and 4th Street Gallery in DeKalb, Illinois. He has also been showcased in the 2023 “Hand Magazine: Issue 39” and holds a Guinness World Record with his classmates for the World’s Largest Paper Snowflake. Drew and the NIU photography department completed the Belonging in STEM project, which culminated in a 2023 exhibition titled “Belonging in STEAM: Create and Discover” at the Jerry Johns Gallery in DeKalb, Illinois.