Visual Exhibition 2024
Visual Exhibition
2024
The College of Art and Design's Visual Exhibition is a juried showcase of creativity for RIT's Graduate Education Week! It represents exemplary work by students from our renowned graduate programs.
Best in Show
Ipek Koprululu (visual communication design)
read
“'read' is a campaign launched by the American Library Association. My redesign highlights the entertaining and mysterious aspects of reading to a target audience of adults. Reading is an individual experience because each reader imagines the text differently. However, when the reader tries to picture the images they imagined in a concrete form, they will find that the images are mostly abstract and incomplete. The content of this campaign was designed to create curiosity by emphasizing this diversity and abstraction."
Elise Miller (industrial design)
Kumiko
"'Kumiko' is the traditional Japanese art of hand-cut lattice, usually found on Shoji screens. This lamp used scrap from the furniture department to create this traditional kumiko pattern known as 'holding hands.' This art form is a practice of patience and precision."
Ipshita Pal (visual communication design)
On Grieving and Healing
"This video features a poem that was written by me as a means of trying to heal from a personal tragedy. I have used frame-by-frame, hand-drawn animation to add a more raw and personal touch to this piece. The essence of this piece is to show how tragedy occurs in the best of times, and we do everything we can to heal from it."
Pranjal Sawai (visual communication design)
Panchatantra
"Step into the enchanting world of the Panchatantra with our unique storybook, where age-old wisdom meets modern creativity. Inspired by shadow puppetry, each character, including the clever monkey and kind crocodile, comes to life through carefully cut alphabets illuminated to cast captivating shadows on plain cotton. The fusion of typography and shadow puppetry creates a visual symphony, breathing contemporary life into ancient tales."
Rachel Seaton (visual communication design)
Gumball Machine
"The gumball machine offers gumballs freely, trying to please anyone who passes by. No matter how the machine is treated, its response is the same, it is always giving. This gumball machine is bright and full of generosity but is backed into a corner of a dark hallway and is in stark contrast to the environment. All the gumballs are the same color, no matter how it is treated or taken advantage of, it will always give with the same intention, to please everyone else. It gives freely and encourages people to take from it, even if the gumballs are discarded and forgotten on the floor, the machine keeps on giving."
Amandeep Singh (film and animation)
House Rules
"House Rules is a horror comedy short film about a tenant renting a house for a couple nights who fails to follow even the simplest of house rules, leading to his inevitable demise."
Paige Smith (industrial design)
"I have been working with a weaver in the small mountain village of Ocotal, Nicaragua, refining this design for a backpack made completely with local materials/by local craftspeople, in an area without electricity or running water. The backpack is constructed with pine needles collected from the forest, and hand-sewn by thread. The straps are made from braided recycled t-shirts. It is meant to be for children to carry schoolwork on their walks to school, and also dually to be used as a desk-like surface for doing work at home. After speaking with the weavers and community members about this design, they will be crafting similar bag designs as exportable objects to other areas, hopefully eventually worldwide. For most of these women, it is their only source of income and their only job outside of taking care of their children and homes."
Yixuan Xia (metals and jewelry design)
"My work as an artist and designer involves exploring the emotional and symbolic dimensions of jewelry through various materials and techniques. I aim to create works that not only enhance the aesthetic beauty of a space, but also convey deeper meanings and emotions related to comfort, horror, and dreams. This piece named 'Nightmare,' I want to express that what you see is not always the truth. Behind the purity, there will be endless darkness."
Aybuke Yilmazer (film and animation)
Lale
"Lale is an abstract animation about a girl who has things to say to her uncle but she is never able to do so. The message of this film is, "some things need to be done on time — you may not have a chance later on." Lale means "Tulip" in Turkish and yellow tulips represent separation in my culture."
Schools of Art and American Crafts
Silver Kim (glass)
Remixed Food
“'Remixed Food' is a video sculpture that employs a pair of wooden hands to create three modern Hansik (Korean food) dishes. Each dish is a fusion of Western, Japanese, and Chinese influences. The dishes, prepared or cooked in transparent glass bowls or nuggets, visually conceal the heat due to the glass’s transparency, making hot and cold glass appear identical. This symbolizes the subtle integration of these three cultures into Korea. The dishes featured in the video are 'corn cheese' (Western influence), 'albap' (Japanese influence), and 'jjajang tteokbokki' (Chinese influence)."
Jonathan Mills (fine arts studio)
exit wound
"My own physical absence, but lingering presence is where the most power can be felt. To be something fleeting. A sound trapped within the wind, changing and distorting over time and space. You surrender to the contractual obligation with your body to evolve. 'exit wound' negotiates the space in between desire and manifestation, both within the physical body and the materials that are worked with. Utilizing the chair as a source of emotion creates a scene of undoing. An abstract representation of letting go."
Emma Neukirch (visual arts-all grades)
Sad Ghost
"'Sad Ghost' is an exploration of reduction printmaking using softcut blocks. One print is a multilayer reduction print, while the monochromatic print is a one-layer print. Each print features an illustration of the sad ghost himself, sitting in a puddle and contemplating his own self pity. This piece is a reflection of the artist's troubles as she navigates her way through higher education and adulthood."
Bridget Provan (fine arts studio)
Survivor's Glow
"In these works I used fluorescent inks in a screen-printing process. This was to highlight and accentuate the beauty of the images which is a dramatic contrast to the imagery of bruises. These works are about surviving trauma and abuse. The bruises in particular are about reclaiming one's body and turning the now faded marks that were documented into something beautiful."
Mackenzie Serwa (glass)
Mother and Daughter (Together)
"'Together' is a durational performance consisting of the building and eventual destruction of two columns of glass. The spires are slowly built up and layered with glass directly from the furnace, making the networks inherently precarious as the material is unannealed (not cooled properly) and in a state of cyclically cracking and rehealing the more glass is added. Once the height has reached eye level, I begin to string the threads between the two, building the connection until the weight of one structure fails, inevitably pulling the other down with it."
Yayan Zhang (metals and jewelry design)
Tranquil Talismans
"In the academic realm and amidst the harsh trials of rejection, I find myself under the relentless control of anxiety. Recognizing the unsustainable damage to my emotions, I discovered that 'sleep is a skill and can heal the soul.' Armed with this wisdom, I transformed whimsical pillows into wearable jewelry — a visual covenant with tranquility. Inspired by ancient Chinese jade pillows, the cool green gemstones and the unique cold tones of silver emit a calming aura. While the second ring maintains a consistent design, the use of brushed metalwork adds softness, refracting light to give the piece a sense of fluidity that aligns seamlessly with a sense of Zen. The series creates a wearable sanctuary, transcending the ordinary, offering solace, and invoking a tranquil haven."
School of Design
Farah Ahmad (visual communication design)
That's What She Did
"Title sequence design for an imaginary crime thriller TV series named That's What She Did. This project served as the concluding assignment for a motion graphics course within the initial semester of the visual communication design graduate program. The task revolved around conceiving a fictitious movie or TV series entirely crafted by students, with no real-world existence. The creative journey encompassed brainstorming, storytelling, storyboarding, establishing style themes and color schemes, crafting assets, and animating them."
Bing Chen (visual communication design)
"A streamlined redesign of the RIT myCourses platform, this app enhances academic engagement by simplifying communication, course management, and progress tracking. Key features include an integrated calendar for schedules and deadlines, concise task cards for effortless task management, and an instant messaging system for direct communication with faculty and peers. This redesign focuses on efficiency, reducing unnecessary steps to empower students in their academic pursuits and foster community interaction."
Phoebe Huey (visual communication design)
Knots
"This motion graphic piece visually communicates the feeling of anxiety through the metaphor of a knot tightening. It first makes the viewer feel seen by representing anxiety in a relatable way. Then it visualizes recovery, encouraging the viewer to seek help. Ultimately this piece is intended to destigmatize and normalize asking for help with mental health challenges."
Samara Sudhir (visual communication design)
Vertigo
"In Salaman Rushdie's words, 'Vertigo is the conflict between the fear of falling and the desire to fall.' This project is an exploration of the metaphorical concept of vertigo, relating it to the contradictory feelings of life — how it feels so long, yet flashes by so quickly. Prints were created from a personal image, creating a self-portrait of sorts. The various edits of the versions of the same image symbolize the different phases of my life."
Xueer Wang (visual communication design)
Dimensions of Dreamscapes: The Flow of Psychedelic Colors
"'Dimensions of Dreamscapes: The Flow of Psychedelic Colors' is a series that showcases a collection of imaginative digital creations, blending abstract forms with the intricacies of natural textures. Each piece is characterized by its distinctive composition and a vivid color scheme. The range of visuals extends from a dynamic red numeral to lustrous florals and complex geometric patterns, accompanied by decorative textual elements. Designed to push the limits of the viewer's perception, these works invite a deeper reflection on an entwined world of reality and fantasy."
Angel Yang (visual communication design)
"This triptych poster began as a classroom project and later became a cultural event poster. One of the elements reminded me of a guitar, therefore, I decided to turn the element into the NY guitar festival. My vision for the posters is vibrant and striking, capturing both the essence of the spirit of the guitar. I selected the primary colors — yellow, orange, blue, and red — to represent creativity, joy, and tranquility. These bold colors also complement each other beautifully. The triptych is designed to show a gradual transition from one panel to the next, symbolically moving through different dynamics of the guitar."
School of Photographic Arts and Sciences
Evan Jaccodine (photography and related media)
"This work is part of a series titled 'Florescence,' a process-based project finding ground where printed matter, photography, and painting overlap. I use a Risograph machine to print monotone photographs that I adhere to handmade frames. The images and their material structure touch on tension between fragility and strength."
Ella Tunis (photography and related media)
Untitled
"This untitled piece is just one work in the project that I will be developing for my thesis. It is an archival inkjet print of a pile of bones lying in matted down, dewey grass. The project as a whole discusses issues surrounding desire and the feminine body, with this specific photograph conveying the darker side of that dynamic."
School of Film and Animation
Virginia Guerrero (film and animation)
Card Suits Side Table
"I was brand new to furniture making when I made this table and quickly found out how much fun it is to use wood as a medium. I knew I wanted to make a side table, but still wanted to make it whimsical. I turned to playing card suits as the theme because they are easily recognizable symbols and have practical shapes. I chose the most practical shapes — the club and diamond — for the tabletop and the bottom shelf. Then I wood burned the remaining two shapes, the heart and spade, into the table legs. I was thrilled to have discovered a new passion for woodworking and hope to create more projects in the future. This table was a lot of fun to work on and, as a film student, it was definitely refreshing to be far away from a computer screen."
Mukund Kuntimad (film and animation)
Monkey See, Monkey Do
"I was influenced by a mid-century, modern style of animation combined with classic cartoon expressions and humor to tell a story of self reflection and being careful of what you wish for. Sometimes, you need a mirror to see who you really are."
