Create2025

ART EXHIBITION

Undergraduate research and creativity were celebrated at the 2025 CREATE conference at Eastern Connecticut State University, where students presented posters, gave talks, exhibited artwork and videos, performed music and acted in the University’s largest academic showcase of the year.

DEPARTMENT OF ART AND ART HISTORY FINE ARTS INSTRUCTIONAL CENTER Eastern Connecticut State University 83 Windham Street Willimantic, Connecticut 06226

FEATURING THE WORK OF: Maria Arredondo Roman Azzolino Manderz Baranowski Ariana Bradley Michelle Chenail Nancy Davis Jessica Day Caleb Gagnon Nina Grim Amritleen Kaur Lauren Kennedy Kara Mahoney Michael O’Gara Kaycha Perez Ivy Poulakos Savion Ross Jimena Santos Julia Terranova Meghan Turco Arianna Vernola Lilian Vinsel Meghan Wrobel

Maria Arredondo Faculty Mentor: Kin S. Chan

In celebration of International Mother Language Day, I was approached by the World Languages and Cultures Department to create a poster for their Eastern event. Through a warm color palette and style, the poster illustrates a twisting tree with exposed roots dangling over a series of speech bubbles. Just as a trees roots represent its foundation and growth, language is the root of an individual’s identity and culture.

International Mother Language Day Poster Digital Illustration | 2025

FEBRUARY 21ST

VERENIG

YHTENÄINEN UJEDINJEN

團結的

ενωµένος

NAGKAKAISA

LOTOGATASI

EGYESÜLT

BIRLEŞIK

FORENT

SAMEINUÐ

UMOJA

ユナイテッド

UNIDOS MIDEYSAN

VIENINGI BERSATU

INI UNITOS

BATUA

НЭГДСЭН

FÖRENAD

SJEDNOCENÝ

একত্রীত UNITED

SERIKAT UNI

VEREINIGT

ÜHINENUD VERENIGD ZJEDNOCZONY

Roman Azzolino Faculty Mentor: Soojin Kim

This comic explores the complicated relationship between the Fenghuang and the Dragon. Two prominent figures in Chinese folklore.

The story looks through the lens of a personification of the mythology. Once childhood friends, Fenghuang and Hanjun now find themselves on opposing sides of a conflict torn apart by the chaos of war.

Feathers and Scales Digital Illustration | 2024

Manderz Baranowski Faculty Mentor: Afarin Rahmanifar

The piece is a highly saturated acrylic painting (with elements of mixed media) that depicts an older woman sitting on a chair, pulling up a compression stocking. Her varicose veins morph into spiders that crawl up the peeling wallpaper in the background.

Spider Veins Acrylic/Mixed Media on Canvas 24 x 48 2025

Ariana Bradley Faculty Mentor: Afarin Rahmanifar

With this mixed media piece I wanted to really push out of my comfort zone with using a wide range of materials. The concept of the piece is about the passage of time, as well as decay and growth. There are two individuals sitting on a cliff with the cliff as a skull meant to be the personification of death. The weeping willow represents grief, mourning, and sorrow. However, it also represents resilience, adaptability, and the enduring nature of love and family despite death. The moon phases represent the passage of time with a quote by Ernest Hemmingway (read bottom to top).The left figure is reassuring the right figure that things will get better in time.

Better in Time Mixed Media | 48 x 28 | 2024

Michelle Chenail Faculty Mentor: Soojin Kim

For my character design, I focused more on my animation and environment than making a complex character. I created a pixelated character to try a different style than I am used to.

My goal for the project was to create a character that interacts with the environment more than user interaction.

Packaging Design - Branding & Advertising Digital Design | 2024

Nancy Davis Faculty Mentor: Afarin Rahmanifar

Swirls of spring sunshine meet the cool afternoon.

Day and Night Alcohol Markers and Micron Pens | 24 x 18 | 2025

Jessica Day Faculty Mentor: Lora Lee

One of an edition of five, this piece explores the balance between life and death and what lurks beneath the surface. Made with two carved 6x8 inch linoleum blocks and printed on printmaking paper in blue and black ink.

Bird Bath Linocut Print | 6 x 8 | 2024

Jessica Day Faculty Mentor: Soojin Kim

The “Pretty Gross” project encompasses a captivating collection of original character designs, each infused with a delightful blend of cuteness, vibrant colors, and just the right touch of creepiness, all crafted from delectable sweets. Complementing these imaginative characters is a meticulously crafted packaging design—a charming cardboard box designed not only to house stickers featuring the characters but also to double as a clever and attention-grabbing advertisement.

My Little Pony Relationship Chart Digital Design | 2025

Caleb Gagnon Faculty Mentor: Lora Lee

A group of friends walking in the quiet woods. The atmosphere is dark and gloomy, there is a sort of silence to the environment with the only color being the figures themselves. With a sense of mystery, where will these woods take this group?

Walk In The Woods Digital Illustration | 2023

Nina Grim Faculty Mentor: Afarin Rahmanifar

When creating this piece I wanted to explore what it feels like to take a nose-dive into a new identity or state of mental fortification, and the negative consequences that sometimes come with losing yourself in that persona.

Becoming the Wolf Acrylic on Canvas | 24 x 18 | 2025

Nina Grim Faculty Mentor: Afarin Rahmanifar

When creating this piece I wanted to explore what it feels like to take a nose-dive into a new identity or state of mental fortification, and the negative consequences that sometimes come with losing yourself in that persona.

Becoming the Wolf Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 18 2025

Amritleen Kaur Faculty Mentor: Lora Lee

This illustration is a personal project completed using digital tools. The Twilight Trio is a group of friends from a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Despite all of their conflicts and struggles, they continue to prevail and remain friends.

Twilight town Digital Illustration | 23 x 30 | 2024

Lauren Kennedy Faculty Mentor: Afarin Rahmanifar

This piece is about the feeling of being overwhelmed - represented by the overstuffed bear - and the feeling of being numb - represented by the understuffed bunny - at the same time.

The bear is falling apart at the seams, while the bunny is deflated.

Overstuffed and Understuffed Acrylic on Canvas | 24 x 30 | 2025

Kara Mahoney Faculty Mentor: Robert Greene

A group of oysters constructed from mixed medium including wood, clay, metal, and collage, displayed on a circular mirror. “Delicacies” was created as a way of grappling with ambition, desire, and fate.

Delicacies Clay, Wood, Aluminum collage | 24 x 24 x 5 | 2024

Michael O’Gara Faculty Mentor: Afarin Rahmanifar

Exploring the various lines and colors found in a hand.

Reaching Hand Mixed Media | 2025

Kaycha Perez Faculty Mentor: Afarin Rahmanifar

An art piece about the walk through time and space through mexican culture.

Walk Through Life Acrylic, Fabric, and Tissue paper | 25 x 25 | 2024

Ivy Poulakos Faculty Mentor: Tao Chen

This is a liquid product package design for a fictional soda brand called BLOOM which uses natural fruit flavors in the soda. The design uses floral imagery to emphasize the natural feeling the soda is trying to convey and has different colors and designs for each flavor to give the product more personality.

BLOOM: Soda Packaging Design Digital Design | 2024

Savion Ross Faculty Mentor: Soojin Kim

Starting off this series of Marvel Rivals Concepts is Deadpool. He was designed second, but I finished his piece first. I took more inspiration from his Ultimate Deadpool costume for this particular piece, as many other concepts online focused on his more traditional appearance.

I also tried to make it seem like Deadpool actually messed with the piece itself via the red scribbles.

Marvel Rivals Character Concepts-Deadpool Character Design |2025

Savion Ross Faculty Mentor: Soojin Kim

Thanos was the first character I had designed for this type of project. I took main inspiration from his MCU Design, but also tried to include as much of his classic color scheme with blue and gold as possible. This is also when I began experimenting with a different tupe of.

Marvel Rivals Concepts - Thanos Character Design |2025

Savion Ross Faculty Mentor: Soojin Kim

The final character I designed was Jubilee, per the recommendation of another peer. Since I had designed Deadpool as a Duelist, and Thanos as a Vanguard, it only made sense to balance the trio out by making Jubilee a Strategist. Her design is mostly the same as her appearance in the X-Men Series, but with some small design changes.

Marvel Rivals Concept - Jubilee Character Design |2025

Jimena Santos Faculty Mentor: Soojin Kim

Magia Cafe is a made-up perfume brand that aims to combine functionality and art! Heavily inspired by the Mahou Shoujo/Magical Girl Genre, it caters to collectors and enjoyers of cutesy aesthetics alike and shows likes Pretty Cure and Sailor Moon. Each of the bottles are correlated to a character! The first product of this line is based on Bunnie, an angel themed magical girl. The scent would be comprised of Vanilla, Cotton Candy, Meringue, and Bubblegum!

Magia Cafe Perfume: Bunnie Digital Design | 2024

Julia Terranova Faculty Mentor: Rob Greene

Euphoric Decay is a wearable art piece that encapsulates a multitude of feelings and concepts. While making this piece I was relating to it in many different ways, I saw my relationship with femininity, my mental health, even how I interact with people. I strongly encourage each viewer to interpret the piece in your own way. When has something in your life made you feel like the beautiful wing on the outside while truly feeling like the decayed wing on the inside? How has something in your life slowly decayed or faded away? Where do you see these patterns of impermanence, fragility, facades, or fading throughout your life?

Euphoric Decay Wire, Cellophane, and Nylon | 32 x 12 x 14 | 2023

Julia Terranova Faculty Mentor: Soojin Kim

Altar Alchemy is a skincare brand created for a sustainable package design project, inspired by the healing practices of witchcraft. Skin Cleansing Potions use familiar herbs which are natural and renewable, instead of harsh and unrecognizable chemicals. Within witchcraft, these herbs are used for medicinal benefits as well as metaphysical properties like protection, healing, luck, and abundance. This project aims to break the stigma surrounding witchcraft by emphasizing that the practice is grounded in nature, community, and care.

Altar Alchemy Package Design Digital Design | 2025

Meghan Turco Faculty Mentor: Afarin Rahmanifar

This piece was about how easy it is for memories to ripple away and how hard you try and grasp on to them for dear life.

Ripples Through Time Mixed Media | 36x24 | 2024

Arianna Vernola Faculty Mentor: Soojin Kim

The prompt of this project - “crowding the picture plane” - spoke to me as someone who loves layers. With an emphasis on brains, bugs, bubbles, & aquatic beasts and blooms, I used a multitude of materials (including paint marker, colored pencil, oil pastel, acrylic paint, and newspaper) to actualize my vision. The process was sporadic and solutions were improvised, resulting in a product that is almost as entertaining to look at as it was to create.

sticker design for winter “Art At Eastern” Digital Illustration | 2024

Lilian Vinsel Faculty Mentor: Afarin Rahmanifar

“Dear Dad-“ is a deeply personal 3D sculpture of an anatomical human heart, reductively carved from a block of soapstone. Broken, hollowed out, and then restored through the technique of Kintsugi. Inside the heart are the sealed ashes of my late father, alongside a personal note written by myself to him. This piece is not only a functional urn, but it’s also a reflection of my own experiences with parental loss and grief.

“Dear, Dad..” Soap Stone Rock | 8 x 6 x3 | 2024

Meghan Wrobel Faculty Mentor: Soojin Kim

ExpHAIRiment is a hairspray brand that encourages people to have fun and experiment with their hairstyle while also getting the maximum hold they need. Compared to the bold and classy look of other hairspray brands, ExpHAIRiment displays an illustrative design with a soft color pallet to appeal to those who are looking for a brand that is driven by creative expression.

ExpHAIRiment: Hairspray Packaging Design Digital Design | 2024