2023 SVA BFA Photo & Video Thesis Catalog

Senior Thesis Catalog 2023

The SVA BFA Photography and Video Department provides a world-class education through our unique emphasis on fluency in photographic imagery. Our forward-thinking curriculum ensures that our students can decipher how still pictures and moving images have operated over the last two centuries, how they function today, and how they will work in the years to come. That knowledge, paired with rigorous technical training, prepares our students to make original work with meaning and purpose.

This catalog of thesis projects from the Class of 2023 reflects the diversity of our student body and their approaches to photographic language in the age of information. As digital natives, our graduating class completes their degrees with a range of strategies that constellate the history of pictures with a vision toward technologies of the future, from analog processes to 3D imaging, virtual reality, and AI. Upon graduation, our students are prepared to use their education and talents to pave the way forward in photography, video, and related media, which live not only at the forefront of culture, art, fashion, advertising, news, politics and activism, but also at the center of daily communication and interaction. We look forward to seeing the lasting contributions of the Class of 2023 as they join our professional community.

Joseph Maida, Chair, SVA BFA Photography and Video

Senior Thesis Catalog 2023

The BFA Photography and Video Department at The School of Visual Arts is located in the heart of New York City, the epicenter of art, culture, fashion, commerce and activism. Our department’s celebrated faculty connects students to a remarkable network, which is extended through the worldrenowned mentors who participate in our annual Mentors program. Our alumni go on to work successfully in all creative fields and often hire fellow graduates because of a shared artistic language and our program’s record of accomplishment.

School of Visual Arts has been a leader in the education of artists, designers and creative professionals for seven decades. With a faculty of distinguished working professionals, a dynamic curriculum and an emphasis on critical thinking, SVA is a catalyst for innovation and social responsibility. Comprising 7,000 students at its Manhattan campus and more than 40,000 alumni in 128 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world. For information about the College’s 30 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, visit sva.edu.

@svabfaphotovideo

bfaphotovideo.sva.edu

bfaphotovideo@sva.edu

SVA BFA Photography and Video

Senior Thesis Catalog 2023

Ramie Ahmed

Siva Ambrose

Allison Asselbergs

Kasey Baker

Harlan Beeton

Helena Buarque de Macedo

Ava Campana

Zhenni Cao

Shibo Chan

Yifan Chang

Anran Chen

Shuyi Chen

Yu Wen Ophelia Chen

Zoe Del Toro

J Dylan

Tyler Frigge

George Gildersleeve

Qingyuan Han

Reese Herrington

Mckinsey Hou

Meghan

Adamaris

Natalia

SVA BFA Photography and Video

Senior Thesis Catalog 2023

Pumipat

Leiya Wang

Qingyuan Wang

Yiling Wang

Yuchen Wang

Cyle Warner

Ramie Ahmed

Beauty And Its Time Has Come, 2022-23

My images capture the genuine pride of friends in my community. They are strong yet graceful Black individuals whose intersectional identities challenge society’s portrayals of Black people. By using a camera, I hope to show that underserved groups remain vibrant and that despite our difficult past, we continue to shine. We are not monstrous; rather, we are people who hurt and love. Having care and connection at the forefront of my projects allows for an intimate visual perspective, granting friends space to present themselves with freedom. My influences are photographers such as Nan Goldin, Gordon Parks, Clifford Prince King, Texas Isaiah, Kendall Bessent, Ryan McGinley, and members of the Kamoinge Workshop. These people have influenced my art because of how beautifully they depict the communities in which they’re immersed; their work reveals how they see their community from the inside out.

Email ramie.i.n.ahmed@gmail.com

Website ramieahmed.com

Instagram @ramie_is_ramie

Ramie Ahmed

Ramie Ahmed

Ramie Ahmed

Siva Ambrose

Maybe Memory is all the Home you get, 2022

My current body of work is concerned with introspection and familial legacy. Identity is at the forefront of my work as a first-generation American from a West Indian family. In particular, my work explores the confusion that comes with not knowing where I stand as a Black woman with Caribbean ancestry from Brooklyn. This series is about feeling alienated in the community that I was born into, with one foot in the door and one foot out. I want the viewer to relate to my yearning to get to know myself and my family better. My work includes photographic and symbolic portraits, as well as a conceptual video dealing with the timeline of my family’s move from St. Lucia to New York City.

Email sivatambrose@gmail.com

Website sivaambrose.cargo.site

Instagram @s.ivva

Siva Ambrose

Allison Asselbergs

under the light of the same sun, 2022-23

under the light of the same sun is a documentary photography project focused primarily on my partner, Neil. I began with inspiration from Sally Mann and Harry Callahan. The influence of traditional black-and-white photography is visible in the earliest images in this series. As I continued to create within that style, I couldn’t help but feel like I was saying the same thing over and over. In response, I moved away from that approach and began to work only with disposable Fujifilm cameras. I needed to work more simply to allow myself to let go of formality. Soon thereafter, I felt that I needed to find a way to bridge the two styles, so I developed a middle ground with my color digital images.

I have two intentions for this project, one personal and one public. The personal intention is to document this stage of my life and relationship, as a record and as memories to look back on. I cherish family photos and felt compelled to start collecting my own. My public intention is to advocate for simpler living and inspire deeper personal connections. I aim to show that peace and love are still attainable and worth seeking out.

This project began while my partner and I lived together in Woodstock, NY. Living in New York City was one of the most challenging phases of my life and I learned that I feel most inspired when I leave the city. Moving back upstate has been more than influential on my work, it has defined it.

Allison Asselbergs

Allison Asselbergs

Allison Asselbergs

Kasey Baker

Witches, Whores and Monsters, 2021-23

Through self-portraiture and alternative processes (specifically, Polaroid film), I develop ideas surrounding process, format, and authenticity. Witches, Whores and Monsters critiques the patriarchy and the ways it seeps into even the smallest parts of women’s and femme-presenting people’s lives. It is essential in my practice to create space for women to feel heard and represented in the art world—this goes beyond just leveling the playing field. As Andrea Dworkin said, “Men often react to women’s words—speaking and writing—as if they were acts of violence; sometimes men react to women’s words with violence. So we lower our voices. Women whisper. Women apologize. Women shut up. Women trivialize what we know. Women shrink. Women pull back.” I believe there is strength in being soft. However, there comes a point where we must cross the line for our own well-being. We must speak our truth and, sometimes, we cannot be soft in this pursuit. Our words and actions will be sharp and rabid as a response to the pain that has been placed onto our bodies and minds as the result of being gaslit by patriarchal systems. My work is a safe space for the feminine experience.

Email notkaseybaker@gmail.com

Website ghostswithmemories.com

Instagram @ghostswithmemories

Harlan Beeton

To Croon And Buzz In The Sun, 2022-23

To Croon And Buzz In The Sun is a lyrical ramble through New York’s less-traveled corners and backroads, drawing on American literary, photographic, and mythological traditions. Questioning, relying on instinct, and staying present as the camera became my guide, I fell into a trance while following the light.

Email harlan@harlanbeeton.com

Website harlanbeeton.com

Instagram @couchsurfers.anonymous

Harlan Beeton

Harlan Beeton

Harlan Beeton

Helena Buarque de Macedo

The Pink Manifesto, 2021-23

In my multi-year project The Pink Manifesto, I present my world through pink-colored glasses. It is a statement on the history of pink, including its connotations and societal effects. In this research, I have explored the feminist aspects of the color, its etymology, and explanations for how it came to be a “girly” color. In the first year, I looked for pink objects everywhere, capturing them in over three hundred two-by-three-inch Polaroids. The video The History of Pink is the next chapter of this story, a mockumentary with deliberate fabrications and false experts. I used my prior research on the color to write a script full of phony information. In the short film, there is a layer of irony because the character whom the audience would least expect to be correct is the only one sharing factual information. Accompanying the film and Polaroids is my essay, “The Pink Manifesto.”

Email helena@helenasnaps.com

Website helenasnaps.com

Instagram @helenasnapspics

Helena Buarque de Macedo

Helena Buarque de Macedo

Helena Buarque de Macedo

Ava Campana

American Drama, 2020-23

This body of work is a hyper-performative embodiment of my fascination with American culture. Working in both still photography and video, I challenge self-portraiture and character studies by drawing a definitive line between Ava Campana, the photographer, and the person who is being photographed. The personas created in this work bend the distinctions between fiction and reality through various theatrical strategies such as hair, makeup, styling, props, set design, and digital manipulation. Creating and photographing these fully fabricated identities, which are based on my own reality, allow me to exaggerate the conundrum of American culture and emphasize its absurdity. The images go to humorous, unhinged, and satirical extremes that focus on themes of overstimulation, mass consumption, Internet culture, and the false promise of the American Dream.

Ava Campana

Zhenni Cao

Friend, 2023

I use my work to record the memories of my best friends and myself during our last semester in New York City. We met in New York and have spent most of our time here. As graduation is approaching, I begin to realize it may be a long time before I can see them again. We will go our separate ways with our respective careers and studies. We may have to return to China or leave New York soon after graduation. Everyone will be busy, and since we come from different cities in China, we might not have many opportunities to get together again. Therefore, I cherish every gathering we can have right now, and I use photography to memorialize what is probably the last chance to have my friends with me in New York.

Zhenni Cao

My project is inspired by my grandmother’s beliefs. To cure her spinal problem, she began to follow Falun Gong, a new religion defined as a cult by the Chinese government. When I was young, I would always see my grandmother make strange gestures on the bed. Whenever I recall this, questions come to mind: Can religion solve problems? What is the meaning of religion to humanity?

The catastrophic Covid-19 pandemic has been a massive shock to people. Based on this, I am trying to build a mechanism to relieve people’s mental stress by using a common feature between religion and psychotherapy. I collected answers from a group of New York City residents to determine what makes them suffer. Then I blended their answers into an AI system to produce gently moving images that flow like water. I believe AI can visualize people’s annoyances immediately; it fits the basic theory of this project and the Buddhist dogma of “looking inward,” or finding the answer in your heart.

The audience’s participation and immersion is an important part of this project, so I designed a virtual space in a VR device, inspired by James Turrell’s artworks and Tadao Ando’s Church of Light (1989). When the audiences enter the space and gaze at the flowing images based on the answers from their questionnaires, their suffering and pain can be alleviated.

Shibo Chan

Shibo Chan

Yifan Chang

mind, 2022-23

I love dreaming and my work combines photography and collage to create new images of my imagination and dreams. I use many different photographs and paint to create each new piece. Sometimes I print them out and then rephotograph them, and sometimes I just edit everything in Adobe Photoshop. I keep a dream journal, since my dreams have a great influence on me. Some people believe that dreams can offer insight into our deepest desires, fears, and motivations, while others see them as random firings and messages from the brain during sleep. Dreaming is a way for me to escape the real world, but the memory of the dream is too brief, so I take pictures of the dream material and then combine them through collage.

Email

Instagram

Yifan Chang

Anran Chen

Ghostwriter Film Still, 2022

My video works tell stories that break taboos and capture the hidden, dark places within everyone’s hearts. I want my artwork to be detached from reality, like a secret garden or a new dimension without the limitation of morals, full of eccentric illusions and dark humor. I would describe my work as dissonant. The images all speak to the chaos and desire within us. My inspirations are films like Shuji Terayama’s Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets (1971) and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker (1979).

This short video is about a ghostwriter and his hidden secrets. We follow a ghostwriter who leaves his home. As the plot unfolds, he delves deeper into the lives of his client and becomes embroiled in a dark and dangerous world of secrets and lies. Through the eyes of the ghostwriter, we witness the power of words to reveal and conceal the truth. At the heart of my work is a fascination with the darker aspects of the human experience. Whether exploring themes of addiction and obsession, or the corrupting influence of power, I am drawn to the ways in which our desires and impulses can lead us down dangerous paths. Through my films, I aim to create a dialogue around these complex issues, inviting viewers to confront the darker aspects of themselves and their world.

Anran Chen

Shuyi Chen

My Journal, 2022-23

My practice crosses time and space, using photography and ceramics as carriers to tell my story. Before I engaged with ceramics, photography had been my predominant medium. I used photography to explore my aesthetic sensibilities and perspective toward the world. As my practice grew, I became focused on how art can illuminate personal histories and encourage deeper understanding. With this acknowledgment, I began experimenting with alternative photographic processes. For example, I apply images onto ceramics that I sculpt from clay, and then fire these sculptures to permanently embed particularly disruptive childhood memories into the work.

Growing up in China, I was sent to boarding school at the age of three. Later, I was entrusted with the care of my two younger siblings. Swallowed by the loneliness of the dorm room, I shaped the expression of my feelings, and this concept is an encrypted narrative for me. I use the moon as a metaphor and vessel to hold my expectations and conflicts regarding duty and family. While photography is a way for me to speak with the past, and to rewrite memories, my ceramics function as a source of therapy. I can reconcile the invisible and often undervalued pain caused by the structure of traditional Chaoshan culture. I named this series My Journal, as it visualizes these indescribable but integral parts of my experience.

Email crchan0222@gmail.com

Website shuyichen.me

Instagram @crchan_

Shuyi Chen

Yu Wen Ophelia Chen

Awakening, 2022-23

I use photography to show the impact of K-pop style on fashion and global aesthetics. As an enthusiastic follower of K-pop content, I appreciate how the portraits of K-pop artists in their album photo books correspond to their songs and to the unique imagery developed by each group or solo artist. K-pop is now considered a well-known, trendy global influence, beloved by fans of all ages and nationalities. My work combines melodies of K-pop music and my own visual storytelling, showcasing how K-fashion impacts a global aesthetic.

Initially, my interest in K-pop stemmed from my fascination with the entertainment industry. Now, I’ve realized that my works are inspired by K-pop music, albums, and photo books themselves. I project myself into K-pop styled portraits by using models posing as K-pop artists. My work incorporates elements of music and mystery that meld into stories along with showing modern K-fashion. I also experiment with concepts from games, dream-states, and hallucinations, immersing my subjects in dreamy and flawless vibes. Since my photography aims to explore the way K-pop music creates an impact in the fashion world, I use the visual language of K-pop album photo books to make my work. I synchronize the sound of K-pop music and K-style outfits, and also explore how K-pop has impacted people outside Korea, including myself.

Email jajayesno@gmail.com

Website opheliachen.com

Instagram @photopheliart

Yu Wen Ophelia Chen

Yu Wen Ophelia Chen

Yu Wen Ophelia Chen

Zoe Del Toro

Journey Of Mind, 2023

Photography is a major lifeline for me. In my formative years, I struggled with undiagnosed depression, anxiety, and OCD. It was as if I was living in a black-and-white world and photography brought color to my life. Black-andwhite portrait photography and documenting my process with crochet have been avenues to express myself and capture many feelings.

Crochet is an art form. It has a rhythm, and the drawing of one loop through another is like music, which I find very soothing. My mood blankets have many colors, which reflect my emotions. The use of the hexagon symbolizes the grid cell system in the brain.

My creative process enables me to slow down, focus, and create something of beauty that helps me express my many moods and feelings. Photography has helped me work through many of my challenges with a positive outlook and to feel more socially comfortable. It is my intention that my work will help educate people about mental-health issues and encourage more awareness, understanding, and acceptance.

Email deltorozoe@gmail.com

Website zoe-del-toro.format.com

Instagram @photosbyzoedeltoro

Zoe Del Toro

Throughout my life, the pliability of the structures around me has continually been brought to my attention. After the loss of my sister, days before her twenty-fifth birthday, mourners around me spoke with heaviness about how such a young death defied natural order. In response, I find myself making work that deconstructs what appears to be natural. Images function as fragments of disassembled structures, including my own body. These fragments act as a metaphor for the absence of any purportedly predetermined architecture for human life. I (re)design my body in the same way that I (re)design “natural” structures like monogamy and binary gender. As I feel anti-Semitic and anti-queer hate increase, witness geopolitical structures crumble, experience the effects of climate changes, and watch so many institutions collapse and unravel, I continue to think about (re)forming the systems that I was born into.

In order to rebuild, what was once built has to be unbuilt. The “fragments” in my work consist of unrecognizable sections of my body and of infrastructural architecture such as scaffoldings, elevated trains, and power lines. I fabricate large, organized clusters out of the fragments, with some remaining unfixed, awaiting their newest permutation. There is no correct way to assemble the fragments, only the way that I choose to arrange them.

Tyler Frigge

Untitled, 2022

An epicurean presentation of the male body, an empty room with a used mattress tossed into the corner, a lurking arm outstretched, a figure staring in deep introspection: these images in both private interiors and sequestered landscapes convey an eerie disquiet, an unsettling feeling that something is off. Bodies are suspended in positions of vulnerability. In counterpoint, the photographs revel in sensual form and seductive light, mitigating the sense of unease and anxious psychological undertow. Depictions of the self, the father, and friends are placed within defamiliarized indoor and outdoor spaces, meshing together to create a dream-like flow with ambiguous signifiers, implying no exit and no escape.

Email friggetyler@gmail.com

Website tylerfrigge.cargo.site

Instagram @tylerfrigge

Tyler Frigge

Tyler Frigge

George Gildersleeve

Notions of Existence, 2022-23

I value preserving the past and examining the present; specifically the glimpses of beauty found within the cracks of our lives. Within the mundane lies the extraordinary, and it is within these quotidian moments that I find profound appreciation. I’ve always been fascinated with filming my friends and family; I do it because I feel that someone has to. This obsession with recollection has led me to reflect on existence, change, and death. I find satisfaction in making an audience feel deep nostalgia. Consequently, these euphoric feelings can result in despair. I create work that is so heartwarming it hurts; it is in this shared pain that I feel as though we can collectively move into the future.

My primary influences are music and the artist Jonas Mekas, specifically his film Out-takes from the Life of a Happy Man (2012). Mekas’s devotion to the camera as a way to express his appreciation for existence has been a quality I try to emulate. As a musician, improv and rhythm are integral parts of my photo and video work. My musical influences manifest in my incamera editing technique.

My footage captures my life experiences. However different that may look for someone else, I hope to exude that which we all feel: comfort, love, and the longing for intimacy and friendship. If someone can feel my passion for life and the love that I receive, maybe they’ll feel the warmth too.

Email georgie.sleeve@gmail.com

Website gcgz.cargo.site

Instagram @nastie_patty

George Gildersleeve

George Gildersleeve

George Gildersleeve

Qingyuan Han

She Walks by Water, 2022-23

In She Walks by Water, I reflect upon my childhood memories and explore the gap between memory and reality, and the discrepancies between actions and perception. My work investigates how memory is constructed through stories, and how reality can be shaped through real and imaginary narratives.

I use the media of collage and installation to recreate past experiences that are meaningful to me, and to understand more fully how we make sense of the past through present actions. Sometimes the boundaries between memories of real experiences and dreams are blurry, which is confusing. Memories change every time we recall them. Gradually, they become the shadow of the original version of reality. Through the restaging of these scenes, I attempt to understand how authenticity and memory intersect.

Memory browsing is unique. It can be triggered by a special aroma, a melody, anything that leaves a strong emotion. It’s the key to unlocking a specific piece of a story. Inspired by the four stages of sleeping theory, I select certain photographs as the thread to sew the collages together, in order to lead the audience through my understanding of the past and my examination of reality. Throughout my process, the gap between memory and reality emerges, and then everything becomes clear.

Email qingyuanhangloria@gmail.com

Website qingyuanhan.com

Instagram @hqy_gloria

Qingyuan Han

Reese Herrington

A Child is Born, 2023

“Death in life! The surgeon’s knife! Hacking at the cord! A child is born!” — Crass

Through my series A Child is Born, I investigate the changes one experiences within the body during pregnancy. Born with rheumatoid arthritis, I question my ability to successfully carry and withstand the necessary physiological changes to accommodate a child. Lily GurtonWachter, who explored Anna Laetitia Barbauld’s writing in the Los Angeles Review of Books, stated: “In pregnancy, you become strange to yourself, estranged from who you once were, from what your body used to be or mean or contain, so that your body turns into something that you no longer fully understand.” We often think we have control over our physical selves, yet from conception to the time of birth those expecting lose a sense of authority over their bodies as they prepare for a child. Pregnancy has been known to put many with autoimmune diseases, like me, into temporary remission, demonstrating the significant shifts a body goes through to grow a human. In my work, I show expecting mothers’ growing bodies, the domestic space, and the violent reality of vaginal and cesarean section births. I am inspired by the legacy of women who have come before me, who all endured their changing bodies, and the excruciating intensity of birth that made it possible for me to stand here today.

Email reeseherrington@gmail.com

Website reeseherrington.com

Instagram @reeseherrington

Reese Herrington

Hou

7,248miles, 2023

Artists use their imagination to make the world diverse. I was born in the US and grew up in China. The two countries have totally different cultures, so I was subject to many kinds of things. As I mature, I’ve begun to think about our world and the meaning of life. I started to read philosophy. It was a shock at first because it was the first time I realized that the world can be that diverse and interesting. I now think that everything in our world is objective and people give everything subjective meaning. Color, shape, and nature are the elements in my work. Elements of nature, such as the sky, sun, and moon, are objective and represent what our world really is. We only live one hundred years, and I think we are guests in this world. I do not allow the tools of artmaking to limit me. I think imagination is the key. I always ask myself, What is art? In my opinion, art functions like words, and we have created so many amazing things: society, language, meaning. All those came from the human imagination, the factor that makes humans different from (non-human) animals. Art to me is visually enjoyable with a mix of color and shape. In addition, art can be a masterpiece when people put unique meaning into their artwork.

Email mckinseyhouchn@gmail.com

Website mckinseyfoto.com

Instagram @mckinsey_hou

Mckinsey

Mckinsey Hou

Dyne Jeong

Garden of the Forest, 2022-23

All of my creative work revolves around the idea and experience of dreams. For five years, I’ve been interested in dreaming and making various works based on imagery derived from dreams. My dreams are a pathway to my other world, where I can hop and fly around. When I enter a lucid dream, I can perform and get inspired. The lucid dream-state creates an odd tension between consciousness and unconsciousness, during which I can develop surreal, conceptual imagery.

Garden of the Forest portrays an experience from my past when I was wearing a perfume with a similar name. The scent stimulated my nose and reminded me of a place I’d been to before. I closed my eyes and delved deep into my unconscious, remembering its fragrance in a forest-like, greenish place. I tried to remember where I wore this perfume but couldn’t specifically recall it. Right after this thought, I realized the forest didn’t exist in real life, and that this had all happened in my dream. Using live-action video combined with 3-D computer animation, I have transformed my “Garden of the Forest” from a dream into reality.

Email dynedanij@gmail.com

Website dynejeong.com

Instagram @dynedanixx

Dyne Jeong

Hanbing Jia

HER, 2022-23

Everyone is irreplaceable, with a unique personality, mood, body, and appearance. My photography explores fashion photography and contemporary women to investigate and record confident, unabashed, aggressive, calm, and sexy personalities. Robert Wilson and Tim Walker influence me: I use the lens and light to create visual effects with intense emotion, reflecting women’s charm and power and showing the struggle and efforts they must make to become strong and independent. The intention of my work is to break fashion stereotypes and realize that fashion has a deeper meaning. More importantly, through my photos, the audience can listen to their own inner voice and embark on a journey of self-exploration.

Email j924029@gmail.com

Hanbing Jia

Love or Bread, 2020

I was inspired by the discovery that many young people are falling in love at an increasingly fast pace, which is known as “fast-food love” on Chinese social media. Why do we need love so much? What does love mean to us? Why does money often play an important role in romantic relationships? I collected stories from friends around me, set a “stage” for each of their stories, and documented them. I recorded these stories from an objective and symbolic point of view, and I deliberately avoided showing their faces, hoping that people would relate to them more. The work consists of photos and videos about the different definitions of love and its relationship to money. I intend to present it as an installation, and the video will be played as ambient sound in the venue.

Photography means recording a personal and social reality. What I record is not merely a reflection of my surroundings, but a part of future history. This is a record of some young people’s love lives in our time. Whether their stories resonate with people, or even if they do not understand them, I hope to get feedback from the public.

Andrew Kim

Fluidity, 2021-22

People rarely talk about the gay Asian American male identity that I’ve experienced first-hand. Growing up as a first-generation Korean American and identifying as a gay male has allowed me to consider ideas about gender, sexuality, and race in an intersectional way. I was born and raised in circumstances where assimilation and closeting my queerness were a means of survival and greater comfort. Exiting that space of comfort while shaping my own adulthood has intensified my suppressed anger and frustration about being stereotyped based on race and sexuality, both by non-Asian and queer people. An overarching theme in my work is the idea that Asians are deeply stereotyped by parameters of race, affecting their assimilation into spaces of white power. Asian men are emasculated by society and deemed “unwanted”; yet, they are sometimes desired through the lens of fetishization by gay men. These conflicting views and lack of authentic representation perpetuate Asian stereotypes and trappings. I am not allowed to experience the same fluidity and range as my white counterparts without questioning if I am playing into the white man’s idea of the Asian male.

Email andrewkim9012@gmail.com

Website andrewkimm.com

Instagram @andrewkim.1

Andrew Kim

Andrew Kim

Andrew Kim

Eonnam Kim

The Intimate World of Living Spaces, 2023

In my series of works, I explore the relationship between individuals and their living environments. By capturing people in their homes, I use photography as a medium to reflect their inner selves. Our living spaces reveal a great deal about who we are, what we value, and how we perceive the world. From the interior design to the artwork on the walls, every detail offers insight into personalities and life stories. Through my photographs, I aim to offer a glimpse into the minds and emotions of my subjects, revealing the intimate and often hidden facets of their interests. From the closet to the drawer to the shelf, every object offers the possibility of a world beyond it. By portraying these domestic spaces, I aim to spark curiosity, provoke emotion, and share my fascination with the way living spaces reflect the psyches of their inhabitants.

Email kimeonnam98@gmail.com

Website kimeonnam.com

Instagram @marrrrrkim

Eonnam Kim

Fragility, 2022-23

Fragility is the psychological state of being delicate, vulnerable, broken, and damaged. For instance, a fragile person tends to be easily overwhelmed by difficult emotions—resulting in self-loathing, self-criticism, frustration, and anxiety. Fragility is a three-part series, including Fragility Scale, Fragility Sticker, and Fragility Hashtag, non-linguistic, psychological representations that utilize everyday materials and environments. The series consciously activates an individual’s synesthetic experience through associations and perceptions with corresponding colors and facial expressions. I hope to manifest positive motivations of self-reflection, self-acceptance, and self-love.

Email zennysfilm@gmail.com

Website zennysfilm.myportfolio.com

Instagram @zennysfilm

Memoria, 2019-23

How to begin? Do I start with where I’m from? Should I tell you long, detailed stories about how boring Alabama is? Should I scare you with gruesome stories of being the Other, of being Black? Should I tell you about the great wonders of my escape to New York and the unmovable change it brought? Or should I bore you with stories of my unsuccessful love life and my untamable big mouth? Even if you said yes to any one of those questions, I won’t do any of that. Okay, maybe I’ll do a little. Though I should warn you, Memoria isn’t for you, it’s for me, and so I invite you to sit and relax, maybe grab a drink, as you begin to view the world from my perspective. It may shock you, frighten you, and make you question the reality you currently sit comfortably in, but know that Memoria is my world and you are merely a guest from the outside looking in. I encourage you to look back on your own memories as I look back on mine. If you cry, I won’t be there to wipe your eyes but maybe my words can bring you comfort, as they have done for me. I can’t share the treats you may eat as you read, but let the colors of the image, or the lack thereof, distract you from my emptiness. Fill yourself with my perspective and don’t be afraid to leave me yours. This is my memoir told through the construction of my memories, overthinking, and written perspective. Don’t be afraid to take a leap with me.

Email yyikeyike@gmail.com

Website yyikeyike.cargo.site

Instagram @yyikeyike

Anna King

Katherine Klingenberg

My Chosen Family, 2022-23

A heavy box lies within my home. I’m curious what is inside. I open it up, and find items from Saint Petersburg, Russia. I discover a Russian doll, a porcelain tea set that is blue and white with gold accents, and a perfectly broken jewelry holder. Along with these objects, I also find a painting of my orphanage, framed in gold, and my Russian passport issued in infancy.

I’ve titled this work My Chosen Family, as it focuses on my most cherished relationships. As a form of portraiture, I document important objects that represent specific people in my life and explore a photographic description of love and connection. In addition, I create self-portraits to better understand my identity, birth country, and adoption. I often wonder what it would be like if I were still in Russia, and had a Russian family. I’ve described this thought in a self-portrait: it is an image of me with my eyes closed and my Russian name written across my face. When you are adopted, you question the life you could have lived in your native country; however, what really matters is your chosen family and the people whom you grew up with and learned from. This is your true family.

Email katiekling@optonline.net

Website katherinekphotography.darkroom.com

Instagram @katherinek.photography

Katherine Klingenberg

Katherine Klingenberg

Katherine Klingenberg

In the Stills, 2022-23

Informed by my love and attraction to cinema, my photography and video are tied to my unconventional style of storytelling, which encompasses elements of tragedy and beauty. My goal is to lure people in with narrative imagery. Through dramatic lighting, I explore darker subjects and motifs of complicated archetypes. A universal element of my work is that beauty is inherently violent.

The avant-garde aspects of my thesis project offer an entry point for viewers to take ownership of their own pain. I have created a series of videos based on fictional characters’ pivotal moments of dealing with and processing loss. I explore non-exploitative narratives based on the traumatic experience of grieving and the different forms they might take. I lost my sister before I was even born and this project is dedicated to her, the person I didn’t get to know and the one my father continues to grieve.

Email skytwylite@gmail.com

Website skytwylite.com

Instagram @skytwylite

Lorraine Li

Es Muss Sein, 2022-23

This photographic series captures the essence of young women through the pairing of each subject with a cherished object. These objects hold a profound significance for the individuals. The medium of photography lends itself beautifully to this exploration of the intangible, transforming the ephemeral into a tangible and substantive embodiment of personal significance.

Email xli37@sva.edu

Website lorraineli.me/work

Instagram @thepure___

Yingqing Liu

My thesis project, Lucid Dream, is a visual exploration of the mystical and surreal world of dreams. Lucid dreaming is when a person becomes aware that they’re dreaming while dreaming. The series of narrative portraits is inspired by my personal experiences of different dream states and lucid dreams. Each photograph is an interpretation of the emotions and sensations that come with dreaming, and the images are intended to take the viewer on a journey of self-discovery.

As someone who has experienced numerous lucid dreams, I believe they reveal our deepest desires. The world of dreams is one of endless possibilities but one that is impossible to record in a photograph. I choose to capture the beauty and mystery of this elusive realm using lighting, color, composition, and projections on the body. The series aims to express the surreal glamor of the dream world, the butterfly and projection serving as a reflection of the otherworldly beauty that exists within the subconscious, where thoughts and feelings are freed from the constraints of reality.

Lucid Dream is an invitation to explore the beauty and mystery of dreams. It is my hope that this collection will inspire, delight, and offer a glimpse into the extraordinary world of the subconscious that speaks to the heart of our humanity.

Lucid Dream, 2021-23

Yingqing Liu

Social Media Side Effects, 2022-23

My artworks are digitally collaged photos about the negative impacts of social media platforms. This is the unchangeable result of technological development, and nobody can live without modern technology now since it is a modern world. It has become habit to get information easily from these platforms. However, social media may deliver false information which is hard to identify—including fake news. Now that people are involved in this whirl of social media, they face potential danger. I want everyone to realize this problem and avoid the risks behind all the benefits and convenience that social media platforms bring.

I use Photoshop to collage stock photos from the Internet, photos I shoot, screenshots of my devices, shapes, and texts. My works are inspired by Richard Hamilton and Martha Rosler, whose artworks are photo collages about social problems that use manipulated photographs. They inspired me to make collages of how the Internet manipulates people. As my topic is about social media platforms, which are the products of modern technologies, I use the powers of modern technology, computers, and software, to produce my work and fight against them.

Email wendy.yw.lu@gmail.com

Website evenlu.com

Instagram @faaaraway_

Yuetong Lu

Absence, 2021-22

Recent, profound experiences with my grandparents accelerated my journey into adulthood. During the pandemic, I bonded with my grandmother and grew closer to my grandfather, which gave me insight into their longlasting marriage and a new perspective on roles within the family. When my grandmother died last year, I faced, for the first time, the death of a close family member. Fortunately, I had inadvertently created an archive of videos through frequent Zoom exchanges and family chats. I now draw on this archive and my own photographs to create a picture of our shared familial experience, as well as its ups and downs.

In the first chapter of the series, a humorous story about my attempts to learn how to cook my grandmother’s recipe for Chiu Chow Marinated Goose gradually becomes more serious, as her failing health condition becomes apparent, and I am eventually confronted with loss.

Email yuetong.a.lu@gmail.com

Website yuetonglu.com

Instagram @yuetong.a.lu_art

Yuetong Lu

Sha Luo

Embers, 2018-23

My work presents the perception of tension and sensory feeling in imagery:

Seeing the branches of a tree as thorns of clouds.

Deliberately observing and then intuitively reacting, I make photographs of ephemeral, mundane moments. I create ambiguity with blurry and delusive information, so what was intimated to me no longer represents an individual’s specific experience but rather, the feeling. To me, no one subject is more important than another: the sun is the same as a worm. Everything is relative and subjective.

Being with me.

I am letting.

Email luoshayo@gmail.com

Website shaluo.art

Instagram @shaluo__

Samantha Lussos

The Bridge of Sides, 2022-23

After she passed, I forgot how to hold onto her. Memories from my early childhood slipping away, I began searching for answers through her things. My family’s archive is an extension of me and of the stories that are made for my retelling. This story is forever hers and it will always live through me.

Looking through dusty plastic containers in my parents’ basement, I found an archive full of memories of my ancestors’ past. The materials I found included photographs of my paternal grandmother with her family. The importance of preserving lost memory, spiritual connection, silence, and softness are vital in my life and in my practice. I feel as if it is my responsibility to be my family’s historian and archivist to keep important images of the past from disintegrating or disappearing.

I use methods of deconstruction and recreation to reconceptualize the archive as material proof of my own lineage. Through cutting, piercing, and weaving archived material, I abstract and reappropriate it to explore themes of mortality and legacy and to contemplate states of the afterlife and communication with beings who have passed. Engaging with the past through material archive and oral history enriches my perspective on family, identity, and the self in the present.

Email samanthalussos@gmail.com

Samantha Lussos

Familiarity, 2022-23

My latest project explores the unique fashion perspectives of my friends and showcases their individual personalities and lifestyle habits. I chose fashion for my project because it is a way of expressing oneself, an extension of one’s personality. The people I photograph are my friends, or people who interest me. I want to capture how people naturally behave in their familiar surroundings. I see fashion not just as clothing but as life attitude and philosophy. My choices of color and style are inspired by the Taiwanese photographer Yonghua Chen. Her photos convinced me that using film could convey more emotion. Film photography is a chemical process, and the irregular grain makes film photos more vivid and dynamic.

Email majuncarmen@gmail.com

Instagram @camen_maj

Andy Maticorena Kajie

Romance, Violence, & Other Virtues, 2021-23

Memory is an ephemeral mechanism, one that harbors feelings of impermanence and change. It is a catalyst for the realization that nothing will ever stay the same, a traumatic collective experience that everyone will go through.

Romance, Violence, & Other Virtues consists of large-scale, fragmented, tapestry-like artworks that are physical representations of an internal war against memory. At its core, this work grapples with anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation in response to the ephemerality of interpersonal connections, routine, and complacency.

This series is the product of a post-photography, interdisciplinary practice. Rice paper prints are destroyed via a chemical process and subsequently repaired in a manner that leaves them disintegrating long after their creation. Everyday objects, which hold some form of collective experience, are altered in ways that engage with time and decay. These ordinary images and objects are transformed into evanescent representations of memory as a physical form.

From ever-decaying photo-sculptures to self-destructive kinetic installations, Romance, Violence, & Other Virtues seeks to understand the intricacies of the lived experience as it wrestles with the intangibility of memory and the repercussions that dance so liberally in its wake.

Email andy@andykajie.com

Website andykajie.com

Instagram @andy.kajie

Andy Maticorena Kajie

Andy Maticorena Kajie

Andy Maticorena Kajie

Meghan Moffat

Empowered, 2022-23 Email

My work explores fashion with a focus on the figure and portraiture. These photographs are typically taken on location or in the studio. I approach a makeshift, indoor studio as a set to be transformed. Each photoshoot is the culmination of a careful process, of selecting the clothing, devising the makeup, finding a location, and most importantly, working with each model’s style. Since I’m not a part of a team in which these roles are broken down, I have learned to be adept at each aspect of them. My friends often pose as models, but more recently, I have worked with professionals. This has allowed me to elevate my work to another level. An important aspect when working with professional and non-professional models alike is forming a relationship with them. I believe that making a connection and being able to communicate with the model helps create a successful photograph, leaving a lasting impression. As part of a collaborative process, I also encourage the models to project and give their own interpretations of my concept and styling. Working with talented individuals that have a strong personal style encourages me to develop my own vision for a photoshoot. Inventing sets with simple materials, such as aluminum foil, has also harnessed my skills in creating distinctive backdrops.

Meghan Moffat

Meghan Moffat

Meghan Moffat

Adamaris Ordonez

Letters to Home, 2021-23

Existing within an immigrant family, separated by geography and cultural values, I search for parallels between the two points we call home: the United States and Ecuador. As a first-generation Ecuadorian American born and raised in New Jersey, these locations play a significant role in my photographic storytelling. I return to Ecuador every other year to physically connect with my family that I miss so dearly. When I am there, I also connect with the air, the sun, and the land. I have an intense appreciation for home, family, and the deep connections we share through our roots. Through recovering and nurturing our lost family archive from Ecuador, I have become the family historian, preserving and ingeminating my family’s story, which has been lost through separation and distance. Reimagining these photographs with collage techniques such as cutting, pasting, and engraving, I am giving the family archive a new life. I contextualize my mixed-media work with my own, authored photographs depicting family gatherings, the landscape, and the Catholic iconography that reflects the preservation of faith in my family. Throughout this process, I am molding my sense of identity and a more nuanced understanding of my relationship to two homes, while also representing the Latinx experience in the United States.

Email adamarisordonez@gmail.com

Website adamarisordonez.com

Instagram @adamarisdayana

Adamaris Ordonez

Natalia Ormeño

Enlaces, 2022-23

The series Enlaces portrays the emotional bond between me and Marilú López, my nana, who took care of me during my childhood in Lima, Peru. As a domestic worker, she had to leave her daughter every day in order to fulfill her job. Over the years, she became a pillar in my life, and a second mother figure. From an early age, I would listen to her anecdotes about her childhood in Cajamarca that from my young perspective seemed more like a fantasy than reality. I recall feeling excited as she described her adventures in the river, searching for trout, and how she never felt apprehensive about encountering snakes along the way.

These photographs take place in the Peruvian Andes and on the coast, in Cajamarca and Lima. Last summer, I visited Cajamarca to photograph Marilú’s environment, and I felt a strong connection towards the land she calls home. The stories that I grew up listening to began to take shape as I focused the camera on particular objects, landscapes, or animals. During a recent visit to my house in Lima, Marilú brought her daughter, whom I photographed as well. The backyard, which in my childhood seemed like an infinite playground, was transformed into a portrait studio. In both locations, urban and rural, nature plays a prominent role as I recall my childhood memories with Marilú.

Natalia Ormeño

Revelation, 2022-23

For the past three years, I’ve been documenting my transition through selfportraits. As an openly transgender man, I strive to normalize the trans body through my work. I put my vulnerability on display, creating different sets of images featuring a wide range of emotions as I reflect on my past, present, and future. I allow the camera to capture the vulnerability of my experiences of being objectified, ridiculed, and shunned by society. My photographs vary between black and white and color. I introduce elements of tension through my body language and poses, and at times incorporate childhood memorabilia. I include a very intimate set of photographs in my childhood bedroom, further exploring my past and present existence. My influences include Botticelli’s Renaissance paintings; the fluidity in the positioning of his figures have inspired the way I try to create tension in my poses. Other important influences include Keith Haring, Nan Goldin, and Catherine Opie. All three made very powerful queer artwork and have inspired me to be vulnerable in front of my camera. By sharing my body, I hope to not only educate my audience but to push forth a new perspective within the genre and space of twenty-first-century self-portraiture. Now more than ever, with so many anti-trans laws being passed, there needs to be a change in the way the world views trans lives. We deserve to exist, just like everyone else.

Email kaikamaliortiz@gmail.com

Website kaiortiz.com

Instagram @recklesslyliving

Tongues Tied, 2020-23

Tongues Tied is an intimate portrait of my working-class Chinese American family. During the 1990s, my mother and father moved to New York City from Guangdong, China, with very few resources. They made ends meet through hard labor, and devoted their lives to the betterment of their children. Growing up in an environment constantly strained for resources, every life decision, no matter how trivial, was dictated by money. Desiring candy turned into a lecture about the need to save for a better future. Learning the violin to become a private tutor was a plan B in the event that my career flopped. The consequences of their decision to leave home linger within me and my sisters. Generational trauma whispers softly into our ears, and the privilege of self-actualization weighs heavily on us as we try to navigate our own lives.

This body of work was compiled over the span of three years, through meticulous documentation of my mother and father during their day-to-day lives, and hours of research into our family archives. The work is a physical manifestation of my desire to resolve the many interpersonal conflicts between my parents and myself. Using nostalgia as a powerful learning tool, I relive certain moments of my life to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of my existence. This work is ongoing and grows more complex as time progresses.

Email sunnyou99@gmail.com

Website sunny-ou.com

Instagram @sunny__ou

Jennifer Palomino

Ma & Mami, 2022-23

Ma & Mami is a series of artworks that explore the bond between a grandmother and a mother, and the impact of that relationship on their family and community. Both have been guiding forces in my life, and this project is a tribute to their strength, resilience, and love. The artworks use a variety of materials, including archival images and portraits. These materials were chosen to reflect the complexity and richness of my family’s history and the ways our identities are shaped by our heritage and experiences.

The parameters of my thesis project required me to create a cohesive body of work that tells a story of intergenerational relationships and family dynamics. To achieve this, I focused on the themes of memory, legacy, and identity, and explored these ideas through a range of visual and textual elements. My technical and logistical choices were guided by the need to convey a sense of intimacy and connection. I used archival images, intimate locations, and other techniques to lend a personal aspect to the series.

Through this project, I hope to shed light on the often-overlooked role that women play in shaping our families and communities and to celebrate the enduring strength and resilience of women across generations. I explore cultural and religious rituals that give families hope and aim to achieve greater familiarity with my grandmother’s life experiences.

Jennifer Palomino

Jennifer Palomino

Jennifer Palomino

Pieces, 2022

My works are an expression of my innermost emotions, thoughts, and experiences. I use self-portraits as a medium to communicate my deepest feelings and to explore my personal growth and transformation. I use a variety of mediums and techniques, including photography, painting, sewing, and damaging photographs, to create works that are visually engaging and emotionally evocative.

The central theme in my work is the trauma that I experienced during my childhood. Growing up in a dysfunctional family, I was plagued with fear, anxiety, and depression. My family’s failures made me feel inadequate, and I lacked confidence and self-improvement skills. However, as I left my family and gained more experiences in new environments, my previous notions were shattered. My art became a way for me to heal and transform myself.

Through my art, I aim to encourage others to explore their own potential for self-transformation. I want my work to be a catalyst for change, inspiring others to confront their fears, embrace their vulnerabilities, and take control of their lives. By transforming the visual chaos in my work, I can edit and transform the self in the image. This process is cathartic and healing, helping me to confront my fears and overcome my limitations.

Email tazusapan@gmail.com

Website azusapan.com

Instagram @azusapan_photography

Tingxi Pan

Ziyue (Serena) Peng

Health Code and Quarantine, 2022

My photos intend to draw attention, awaken numbed people, and encourage them to speak up. I make series about ongoing social issues, underrepresented problems that I want to make visible, to impact my audience and gain empathy from the public. Art is a subtle way to fight against injustice or reveal ugly facts. My impactful visual works can be the access point for others to start being curious about the social issues presented in them.

I choose subjects based on my experiences and what I see in the media—from official news reports, like CNN, to social media posts— including the current global situation and what is happening in China, my home country. Growing up in a communist country, I kept thinking about my social position and my place in society. I conduct research before shooting and use mind maps and storyboards to clarify my thoughts. I enjoy expressing my opinions on contemporary life in a performative, conceptual style: a 16:9 frame ratio, cinematic lighting, and the ambiguity of the subject’s identity are recurring elements in my work. Photographers who have influenced me include Barbara Probst, who explores multiple perspectives of a simple scene, and Duane Michals, whose photographic series of subjects in motion inspired me to develop the narrative potential of still photographs.

Email pengziyue2303@gmail.com

Website ziyuepeng.myportfolio.com

Instagram @serenaaaa.peng

Ziyue (Serena) Peng

Close at Hand, 2021-23

I grew up in a small Massachusetts town and spent many of my formative years with my father and a circle of his close friends, who are connected through their occupations in traditional handcrafts and their passion for the surrounding landscape. These pictures are a portrait not only of these people but also of their collective lifestyle.

Although I have photographed these men together and individually, their spaces offer an alternative portrait of their identity and values. My dad and his friends occupy a world that is, in many ways, outside modern society. They have amassed collections of objects and ephemera that are testaments to the richness and peculiarity of their specialized work and unique interests.

In making this series, I primarily used a large-format camera, engaging with techniques almost as old as the medium. In doing so, I position myself alongside these men, valuing tradition as well as craft and technical mastery. Although this community started out as my father’s, I consider myself a part of the group. They are all paternal figures to me, but also figurative brothers. I have increasingly aligned myself with this circle of men and their self-reliance, commitment to hard work and tradition, and their support for one another. Through observing and spending time with them, I realize the possibilities of my own becoming.

Email wapremru@gmail.com

Instagram @willpremru

Rhoad

Masculine Vulnerability, 2023

I explore the significance of self-portraiture in my journey of discovering my masculinity. This process has involved navigating the complicated societal stereotypes that come with being a “man,” which often lead to unhealthy behaviors. My self-portraits are a visual exploration of the struggles and triumphs I have faced in this process. I attempt to balance the traditional expectations of masculinity and the vulnerabilities and complexities that come with being human. Through these portraits, I hope to better understand myself and contribute to a broader conversation about masculinity and its effects on mental health.

There were moments of frustration and self-doubt as I struggled to do this in a way that felt true to myself. Through trial and error, I discovered that the healthiest approach was to embrace my uniqueness and individuality rather than conforming to external standards or ideals. Thus, I was able to create self-portraits that reflect not only my struggles but also my resilience and growth. I have learned that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to masculinity and that the journey toward self-acceptance and self-love is a continuous process. I am committed to continuing to explore and embrace my masculinity in a healthy and authentic way while also challenging the harmful social norms that perpetuate toxic masculinity.

Aleksandr

Aleksandr Rhoad

Aleksandr Rhoad

Aleksandr Rhoad

Alexis Salas

In Seek Of, 2021-23

In this series, I explore the interpersonal dynamics of intimate relationships. Drawing on personal experiences of loss and codependency, I am fascinated by the implications of desire and love. To explore the intricacies of intimacy, I began photographing strangers, whom I had met online, in their private spaces, capturing the nuances of their relationships as an observer and witness. I aim to reveal the complex interplay of power, worship, and desire by observing the subtle shifts and changes that occur in moments of intimacy. This series is driven by reflections on my own past relationships and connections that have come to an end.

Email asalas@sva.edu

Website alexissalas.co

Instagram @alexiossalas

Alexis Salas

Alexis Salas

Alexis Salas

Victoria Shin

Women in Street, 2022-23

My work is a mix of photos from Fashion Week and street style photos focused on women. Watching people from a distance and capturing an individual’s style is one of my greatest joys. I try to capture my subject’s sartorial preferences, personality, and mood and I enjoy waiting to randomly meet subjects on the street.

During Fashion Week, photographers fill the streets trying to take photos of the guests or models in a show. Many of them end up depicting the same subject from different angles. I try to find other times to approach the subjects in different places. I arrive at the locations earlier, stay later, or find another exit from the show to get a different shot and focus more on the looks than names. This doesn’t always work, but it’s worth a try. I love it when they are surprised that I noticed them when there is no one else around. These small conversations play a big role in my portrait works.

There isn’t a particular way to look at my photos. They highlight the choices that individuals make before leaving their house for the day. I hope viewers enjoy every look and find the joy I’ve found while capturing my subjects.

Email victoriashin.phot00@gmail.com

Website v-tori-a.squarespace.com

Instagram @victoria.s_photography

Victoria Shin

Vamika Singh

Devī (/ˈdeɪvi/; Sanskrit: देवी), 2021-23

I experience constant inner conflict regarding my identity as an upperclass/caste, privileged Hindu woman in my society, and how even my toxic privilege doesn’t offer the stature of a man. I am aware of how much duress I have been spared due to my standing in the community, but I also think about the duress that is normalized in terms of my gender. Being the eldest among my three sisters, I represent what it means to be a femme in charge of the household and responsible for continuing the family lineage and name.

My work revolves around the idea of having a “man’s shoe on my head.” First, my father’s shoe, and in time, it will be my husband’s. In my portraits, I am a performer, subject, and victim. There’s a silent conversation happening around the rigid system of arranged marriages in my society— an alien concept in the West. I address the anxious feeling of not knowing with whom one will be starting their family. The notion of feeling overpowered by the traditions that make one feel plunged and muted.

My family archives serve as the spine of this ongoing project. More than a visual project, my pieces are the outcome of submissive experiences I have witnessed looking at other matriarchal figures in the family, as well as myself. These portraits are strongly connected to my cultural fondness for textiles, colors, and religion.

Vamika Singh

Vamika Singh

Vamika Singh

Mark Sorace

Glass Age, 2022-23

A world that once sang in color became hard and clear like glass when my mother died—and I studied the change. I learned about the rarity of good health and the certainty of death. Photography and poetry informed this insight. In these photographs, glass is a metaphor for fragility and fruit is a metaphor for impermanence—I am a drifter between the two. The self-portraits in this project depict a boy laboring for perfection and control of his queer self, while unraveling in the enigma of existence. This work is fashioned entirely in domestic spaces with a tilted and seductive perspective that expresses confusion, pain, lust, and exhilaration. It is influenced by the vision of certain French filmmakers, the wit of feminist poets, and the pulse of disco musicians. Working on this project has taught me about my sensitivity and strength, life’s gentleness, and sheer trepidation. I learned that the world and the relationships I develop in it shimmer and shine. The world is made of glass.

Email markosorace@gmail.com

Website marksorace.com

Instagram @marksorace

Rebecca Steighner

Fashion Stories (2021-2023), 2021-23

When I photograph someone wearing clothes, I don’t document garments, I construct a fantasy. The clothes are merely costumes for a performance happening within the frame. My thesis is a collection of fashion stories that focus on the conversation between unconventional styling and juxtaposed locations; this tension is a pivotal element in eliciting desire. After feeling the magic that occurs when working on location, I zeroed in on exploring how simultaneously atypical yet enticing each scene could be.

As a dancer of ten years and a queer person, drag has always been an influential theme in my work. Drag is about realizing a vision and commanding your audience to believe it. Fashion photography can produce the same possibilities; when it’s good, no one questions it. In my practice, desire is subverted, as I seduce you with the worlds I build rather than the clothes themselves. The images are theatrical, and the styling is campy and maximalist, featuring eccentric and offbeat garments. Through this work, I reveal my own sensibility, highlighting fashion through my queer lens. My photos aren’t meant to be relatable; they’re intentionally conflicting, yet mystifyingly attractive. I want the viewer to abandon their expectations about what they think has the potential to be fashionable. The surreal combinations and dramatic lighting create tempting environments, coming together to reify a space with such allure that you cannot stay away.

Email becsteighnerphoto@gmail.com

Website becsteighnerphoto.com

Instagram @becsteighner

Rebecca Steighner

Rebecca Steighner

Rebecca Steighner

AANSHA TANDON

Memoir, 2023

My childhood left me vivid memories of the beings in my household who are no longer alive. Going back through the archives of hand-written notes, images, and fabrics—which used to smell familiar but are now lifeless— has led me to make this body of work deeply connected to my bond with those people.

The collages and compositions represent the loss of individual kin and the roles they played in the family. I wish to cherish their legacy by mending the broken fragments of my memories of the experiences that we shared. My process of cutting, pasting, and recreating helps me trace these fading visions from that period in my life. By looking at their photographs, I am able to recall their echoing voices and my perception of the world from a child’s viewpoint. These recollections are the backbone of this project.

It’s a memoir of separate pieces, bound into one. A memoir that comes from a different language, culture, country, and generation.

AANSHA TANDON

Jenna Thomas

Hometowns have a way of staying in our hearts. Memories live in the places where we grew up and first experienced life. For me, I remember the way the stairs creaked with every footstep, the arrangement of my room from when I was ten, and the way sunlight gleamed through the foggy windows. These memories carry associations of trauma, routine daily life, and healing. There is also the fear of reliving past events that still feel so alive that you cannot run away from them. It is home. I have accepted these feelings just as my house accepted my living in it.

My series combines scanned cyanotype prints, calotype prints, and 35mm black-and-white film photographs to show the internal tension that occurs when I revisit the familiar settings of my home and hometown. Within the series, there are recurring patterns of shadows, windows, and bare trees— all of which contribute to a mood of melancholy and feeling of emptiness. There is tension in the sense of stillness, as if nothing will ever change. The tree standing in the field alone, the sunlight hitting the stairs in the afternoon, and the reflection of the bushes on the window are formally minimal scenes that are nonetheless charged emotionally, serving as testimony to my alienated experience of the familiar.

Home//Sick, 2022-23 Email

Jenna Thomas

Pumipat Usapratumban

Mirage of Dreams, 2022-23

Inspired by psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott’s 1953 concepts of “transitional objects” and “transitional phenomena,” my photographs investigate the multifaceted areas of human experience that exist between internal reality and the external world, while also considering the notions of fact and fiction in photography.

An image of a human-like individual, a man perhaps, is depicted across different photographs. This individual possesses the physical characteristics of a person: an upright body, a face, and two functional hands. However, there is something unsettling and uncanny about the figure that might make the viewer question its authenticity. This idea of an intermediate state between subjective perception of the world and objective truth informs my photographs. Winnicott introduced his concepts to the public through his research on infants’ inability to perceive reality and their growing ability to accept it. These types of illusions manifest in adult life through exposure to cultural constructs such as art and religion.

It is my belief that conspiracy theories are a direct result of the conflict between objective truths and subjective perceptions. My work investigates the conflicts between fantasy and reality, while questioning the function of photography as a true representation of reality. What is more important, what you believe to be true or what is presented in front of you?

Email pumipatten@gmail.com

Website pumipat.com

Instagram @pumipattt

Pumipat Usapratumban

Leiya Wang

Embodiment, 2022-23

Created from an experience of personal trauma, these images delve into sexual power dynamics, conveying both a sense of unwanted violence and conflict and a desire for other bodies. Influenced by Viennese Actionism, the action of explicitly presenting bodily wounds, scars, and pain probes the viewers’ boundaries. With an unsettling, greenish cast, the images register both a feeling of anger and sensual precision, suggesting a psychological conflict between rationality and unbridled emotions. A sense of catharsis and forgiveness is suggested through metaphors, soft lighting, and careful composition: the subject matter and this project have arrived at a peaceful ending.

Email leiyawang4@gmail.com

Website leiyawang.com

Instagram @_slowdie_

Qingyuan Wang

If there is after life, please don’t be a mother again., 2023

While women in the US are losing their right to abortion due to anti-abortion laws, Chinese women are under pressure to have forced abortions. Such societies, where women do not have control of their own bodies, shock me. This body of work addresses the violence my mother suffered, my experience of knowing that I was almost aborted because of my gender, and my condolences to my lost little sister.

Instead of making the work documentary, I made this a fictitious world, using monsters and eggs as metaphors to tell the story. There are broken eggs and monsters sitting in the corner. The monster’s head has the shape of a vagina. The monster has picked up the broken egg countless times, trying to swallow and repair it. In the second video, a powerless insect figure, inspired by Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1915), moves like a child, with a decaying flower sticking out of its hand. It is trying to reach out, but no one responds.

I hope to draw attention to the injustice suffered by Chinese women. What I want to show is not the story itself, but the feeling of having no control, of being torn between life and death because of one’s gender. I wanted to show my mother’s courage in fighting patriarchy by herself. I wish to show the world the bravery of all those women who silently fight for their life. They may not be able to speak out or protest, but by living, and remaining, they are winning the fight.

Qingyuan Wang

Qingyuan Wang

Yiling Wang

Imperfections, 2022-23

My project features a portfolio of printed photos and a video showcasing the unique features and imperfections of the human body. Half of the images depict full-body figures, while the other half highlight special features such as moles and scars. The goal of my work is to challenge the narrow definition of beauty, promote body positivity and acceptance, and encourage viewers to embrace their imperfections.

I explore the idea that beauty is not limited to perfection. I believe that everyone is beautiful in their own way, and no one should be judged by their appearance. I want to convey this message to my audience and inspire them to see the beauty in their unique features.

I use bright light for the portraits of figures, emphasizing the beauty of body lines and muscles. Meanwhile, I use dark light and spotlights to highlight moles and scars, features often considered “imperfect.” By doing so, I aim to show that these features can be just as beautiful as any other parts of the body.

The idea for this project came from a former classmate recognizing me by the birthmarks on my leg and a mole on my eye. It inspired me to create photographs that encourage others to embrace their imperfections and see the beauty in their unique features.

Yiling Wang

Yuchen Wang

Ficciones, 2022-23

Photography is understood to be a completely visual art form. To challenge this, I wanted to try creating photographic works that do not serve the visual. I chose the perspective of visual impairment, and determined the shooting parameters (including aperture, shutter speed, and ISO) through research into visual disability, including medical texts.

I thought about the dreams of blind people, and what they must be like, which led me to this project that takes visual impairment as its starting point. My content comes from Jorge Luis Borges, a blind writer. Borges was genetically visually impaired and by the time he became famous, in middle age, he was almost completely blind. When a person loses their sight, the basis for their writing must come entirely from imagination and memory. There are a lot of dreamy, surreal images and elements in Borges’s works. I took those aspects of his work and made a table based on the timeline of his life. The three different stages of the ISO also change according to the year in which he wrote the text I am drawing from. What I want to convey to my audience is that they can use my blurred and abstract works to pay attention to their own thoughts and doubts. Now that I have blurred the perceived importance of the visual, the audience will focus more on their own imagination and memory.

Yuchen Wang

Cyle Warner

Notes from Disidentification, 2022

I am an artist committed to the exploration of my concept I refer to as “Dis.” Inspired by West Indian culture, it’s a way of viewing the present through remnants of the past. Dis serves as the conceptual framework that guides my work to honor the devotion and labor of my family, ancestors, and the Afro-Caribbean diaspora with work that refuses simplistic representation when serving as a document of our complex history. At the heart of my process are textiles and photographs from family and mentors: burlap from my father’s workplace; fabrics and clothing gifted to me by influential women in my life; and family photographs that represent an archive embedded with experience, memory, and touch. The works serve as documents of disidentification while creating sites for a fragmented approach to history. As the son of West Indian immigrants, the physicality and tactility of my process—cutting and tearing, connecting and sewing by hand and machine, and sometimes shifting colors—demand that I consider history but confront the improbability of some material and historical interactions as I mine sites of rupture. The (re)composition, achieved through texture, color, and form honors the legacies and experiences of generations whose stories and memories are imbued within cloth, serving as a place of rest and an embrace for the entanglements of these histories.

Email cylewarnerstudio@gmail.com

Website cylewarner.com

Instagram @cylewarner

Cyle Warner

Cyle Warner

Kaya Warshawsky

An Otherwise Disparate World, 2022-23

As a photographer, I create worlds for the individuals in my photos to exist in. These worlds are a way for me to represent my thoughts and ideas in a visual space that does not exist in real life. My subjects become characters in a story for which I create scenes and stages. I work with references from domestic life and popular culture. I am influenced by the world around me, my upbringing, and familiar and foreign places.

I combine bright colors, intricate sets, and complex lighting to create highly staged scenes that explore my relationship to modern society and experiences growing up in both Israel and the US. Unsuspecting spaces are a key element to bringing my work together. I use unremarkable locations and props to alter and shift the perspective of familiar space. This stems from my obsession with how society deems what is special and what is not. I also create studio scenes that bring aspects of the real world into an exploration of artificial space. Artificiality is always present in my work, whether through the set, character, or conceptual storyline. My photography is a critical take on the absurdity of the mundane.

Email kayawarshawsky@gmail.com

Website kayawarshawsky.com

Instagram @kaya.faye

Kaya Warshawsky

Desired Path, 2022-23

I was raised in the United States, but lived in Jakarta, Indonesia, from age ten to fourteen. Growing up Muslim, there is a constant pressure to be pure and perfect. Upon returning to the United States, I became interested in connecting more with my family’s cultural and religious views, but in my own way. As an Indonesian Muslim American, I desire to express my Islamic beliefs more freely, while examining these values. This work explores my experiences living in both traditional and liberal countries and the isolation I feel from my worldview not being fully represented in the United States. Rather than passing judgment on traditional religious rules, I want to open up conversations about the complications and beauty of Islam, including the hierarchy of gender roles and ritual. Based on my own experience, I create a space for Asian Americans who lack representation amidst the complications between their religion and Western views.

Email katwidodo@gmail.com

Website kairawidodo.com

Instagram @kittyfiles

Bigai Wu

Here, Then, 2023

At times, I feel at home when I’m in New York but as summer arrives, I realize I’m far from my home in Guangzhou. I reexamine the familiarities with fresh eyes to reorient my perception of time and space. A picture of a park in New York is similar to one in Guangzhou. The photographed space reveals its “having been here.” A photograph provides existential proof that a place once came into being, even if it might disappear.

Here, Then is an experiment that enlarges time-space, using Mylar surfaces as a canvas and ink as paint to reconstruct tangible images. Different scenes dissolve into numerous biomorphic lines, contours, and chunks of watery ink, leaving feathered, blurry clouds of chaotic, rambling patterns on the original print—until everything is washed away. Through shifting the medium to physically transform the concrete and tangible parts of the image into something ethereal and intangible, time is visualized, preserved, and reconstructed as a new, linear, chronological structure that embodies the “here-now” and “there-then” categories of my cultural identity.

Email billwbg@gmail.com

Website bigaiwu.com

Instagram @bill_wbg

Keyi Jocelyn Wu

eating, 2022-23

As a video artist, I am fascinated by the intricacies of split personalities and the diverse range of experiences that come with it. My inspiration stems from my own life and the world around me, particularly the strange and unsettling feeling I get when my emotions become unstable, and I feel as if there are different people living inside me.

As a lover of dark and horror films, I often incorporate a dark aesthetic into my videos to evoke a sense of unease and discomfort in the audience. Through this style, I aim to explore the complexities of split personalities in a way that is both thought-provoking and visually compelling.

I believe that it is important for viewers to have the space to think and draw their own conclusions from the work. For this reason, I incorporate open endings into my videos, allowing viewers to bring their own perspectives and interpretations to the table.

My work serves as a platform for reflection and dialogue regarding the diverse experiences of split personalities, with the hope of increasing understanding and empathy for those who live with this condition.

Keyi Jocelyn Wu

Keyi Jocelyn Wu

Keyi Jocelyn Wu

Yujie Wu

The Roundabout At The Next Crossroad, 2023

In this series, I speak to the conflict between freedom and equality, a classic question posed by Western philosophy, in which these concepts are diametrically opposed. The more you have of one, the less you have of the other. On the one hand, any attempt to create equality will result in the subjugation of people who have advantages over others. On the other, the pursuit of freedom can also lead to social disparities. How society balances freedom and equality is not clear or straightforward; everyone has a different concept of an ideal society.

When people give up freedom, it is not because they love tyranny, but because they believe in a greater good, such as equality and justice, which are worth making sacrifices for. Overthrowing an authoritarian government requires only the overthrow of a ruling party, while maintaining social stability requires restraint from all sides. Changing a society without causing its collapse is a slow, step-by-step process, and includes its share of trial and failure.

Both freedom and equality are core values that must be upheld to have any semblance of democracy. The pursuit of extremes doesn’t help society; we must find a reasonable balance. I hope my work will make people step back and think about changes that are best for different societies. Finding suitable paths requires thoughtful deliberation and compromise.

Email lukewood224@gmail.com

Website lukewugallery.com

Instagram @lukewu0224

yesterday’sfountainandtoday’scurrency, 2020-23

1. The macro world for these photographs is not a linear superposition of its micro world.

2. Through these photos, the photographer perceives the world in a microscopic dimension, not to understand its structure, but to understand how it affects the macroscopic world.

3. In photography, one way to observe and solve problems is to infer the nature of the microcosmic world through macroscopic phenomena, and then use these essential rules to solve the issues in the macroscopic world.

Email lannixia@gmail.com

Instagram @lanniixia

Carina Xiao

I wandered lonely as a cloud, 2022-23

Through my artwork, I bring attention to the ordinary moments and overlooked scenes that are a part of our daily lives. I seek to capture the beauty and significance of these seemingly insignificant moments, which are often forgotten or ignored. In doing so, I aim to create a sense of the “everyday anomaly” in the mundane and commonplace.

This work explores the fleeting nature of our existence and the futile attempts we make to categorize and structure our lives. Countless times, these attempts are defeated by vulnerability and chance. I want to highlight the fragility of these attempts, and to reveal the deeper patterns and connections that exist beneath the surface of our everyday lives.

We make all kinds of plans and schemes throughout our lives, but these plans are just as ethereal as clouds. I intend to show the beauty and fragility of this ephemeral nature and encourage viewers to embrace the impermanence and uncertainty of the world rather than trying to hold on.

Carina Xiao

Carina Xiao

Zhilang Xu

Temporary Shelter, 2022-23

I use the term “temporary shelter” to refer to the rental place I lived in during my years of education in America. The traditional Chinese understanding of home or “家 (Jia)” contains a special sense of permanency and is deeply associated with one’s family and birthplace. I long for a reunion with my home, so every day I make my apartment into more of a “home.” This craving to recreate a sense of home seems to be part of the very nature of humankind. Thus, the longer we long, the blurrier the boundary becomes.

I started to photograph others who share the same situation. I use a largeformat and a Polaroid camera to photograph them and their rental spaces, and I ask them about the motives behind each change to their space and the meaning behind each belonging. This project is more of a study than an art project. I create a photographic profile for each subject, focusing on their adaptation to and alteration of their surroundings. Once I know the length of each lease, I am curious about their attitudes and relationships. By comparing the resemblances and differences between them, I hope viewers and I can come to a renewed understanding of “home.”

Email zxu9@sva.edu

Instagram @zhi_lan.g

Zhilang Xu

Ma 妈, 2022-23

Who am I without my mother? I asked myself this question intensely in 2020 when I went home for almost a year during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was the longest I had lived with my parents since 2014. I created a series of works about my mother based on my observations of my family functioning in quiet chaos. Ma is a short word for a vital and complex relationship that one might think about for one’s whole life; the name of the series reflects this intensity.

When I parted from my mother, at fourteen, I was left with guilt over leaving her behind, guilt that she had me when she was only twenty-three, and guilt over taking her life away.

I altered my whole identity to try to give her what her world could not and what I thought she hoped for from a daughter: to be a woman who acknowledged her pain and what she went through. I dedicated my whole self to her and became her. I stopped being me.

When I was twenty-three, in 2022, the same age as her when she became a mother, it was time to create a work for us both. My seven photos include powerful symbols: daisies, shattered objects, and red drapes represent my mother. Daisies are her favorite flower and represent death and funerals in Chinese culture. Empty rooms refer to the loneliness and isolation of my childhood. The photos mark an end to years of trying to please my mother and losing myself, but they also honor her.

Email yukassie@gmail.com

Website kasyuart.com

Instagram @burgundybluegum

Andrea Zambrano

Donde Empezamos, 2022-23

My work harbors a tribute to a long line of Latin ancestry and serves as an ode to my Ecuadorian and Puerto Rican heritages as a second-generation Latina born and raised in the United States. I use color to symbolize music and culture, while traditional clothing represents the intermingling of ancient practices and dances. My work also serves as an entry point for the topic of colonization, as there are subtle hints to religion and the idea of “purity.” The poses I create translate as the reminiscence of the history of colonization and the spreading of Catholicism. Handmade clothing and jewelry counter the history of colonization and highlight the hidden undertones of Latin ancestry that are slowly being erased from the United States.

Email arosezambrano@gmail.com

Andrea Zambrano

Andrea Zambrano

Andrea Zambrano

Christopher Zarcadoolas

Signal Loading..., 2022-23

In this work, performative self-portraits are fused with still life to portray a hyper-realistic and fractured construction of domestic space. Drawing from a personal archive of household objects and using techniques of prismatic distortion and fragmentation, I create studies of light, objects, and self that are steeped in the quotidian but suggest metaphysical mystery. A sense of confusion and absurdity coexists with a feeling of anxiousness and vulnerability. Jarring tableaux, achieved through imaginative and intuitive play, incorporate in-camera effects. The process exposes deep emotional layers embedded in a mutable sense of self. The puzzles of form and content within my work push the viewer through a maze of geometries to arrive at clarity. The balance of light and color offer a space for analysis and reflection inside the tension that exists between revealing and concealing.

Email

Christopher Zarcadoolas

Shōjo, 2022-23

I draw and make pictures. One day, I realized that my photographs were disturbingly empty, so I got the urge to fabricate a figure. Inspired by traditional animation techniques from the twentieth century, I create mixedmedia assemblages with layered images superimposed onto clear film and photographic paper. I explore the virtual within reality by inventing and digitally illustrating my subject—a young, female Asian character. She occupies my photographs and performs various roles in different contexts. My installations encourage viewers to consider multiple perspectives.

In my eyes, young girls are constantly changing beings, with their souls in a flexible and oscillating state. While I shape my protagonist subjectively, she is also influenced and formed by my photographs. Undeniably, a part of myself is preserved in her, allowing me to convey emotions and discuss the complexities of empathy and symbolism in art. Maybe the viewer will share my sense that in meeting these highly generalized and symbolic characters—if we feel certain emotions—we will question what parts of them evoke our true empathy.

Email ai2work@yahoo.com

Website aizhang.cargo.site

Instagram @a.i.2.k

Ai Zhang

Mengyu Zhao

Sentimental Wave, 2023

Sentimental Wave is a photographic series that explores memory and the subjective experience of time. I delve into my sensations of déjà vu. Through the spontaneous creation of images, I attempt to capture the range of emotions that have resurfaced in my consciousness: from feelings of loneliness and melancholy to joy and tranquility. The resulting images are fragments from the past that were made into a small accordion book, images arranged chronologically with writing on matte, textured paper. Through this process, I have not only recorded my emotions but also created a new version of my personal history, one that is informed by my current perspective and emotions. By capturing the fleeting emotions and sensations, I hope to provoke a deeper understanding of the ways in which we construct our own realities.

Email peterzmy0710@gmail.com

Website nonsense0710.com

Instagram @nonsense_fotopage

Mengyu Zhao

Xiyue Zheng

All the Nights We Spent Together, 2020-22

Growing up as an only child in a conservative environment, I’m naturally drawn to the eccentricities and rebelliousness of New York City. I explore youth culture through photography, painting, and writing.

In my pictures, models are given the freedom to be exactly who they want to be. I enjoy photographing the same people over time and building a relationship with them through my lens. A lot of my images document emotions that are often suppressed in our lives, such as loneliness and anxiety. As a result, I treat my work as a secretive and intimate visual diary, honoring my own early adulthood as well as that of people I meet and come to know.

Email xzheng5@sva.edu

Website xiyue88.me

Instagram @x.yue.z

Muxi Amy Zhou

Her, 2022-23

My practice communicates deep emotions, sensations, and even intense daydreams through photographs. Through a feminine lens, I aspire to close the infinite gap between the mind and the eyes and tell a complete story in pictures.

The visuals are often about shared girlhood visions between me and my muse. When this project began two years ago, I did not expect to develop such a close relationship with my subject. It resulted in a devoted collaboration as we kept making new discoveries together. Making art with her expanded my understanding of myself. The photos are an entryway to a mysterious, exciting, and new dimension that leaves some room for imagination and opens up the subconscious. These photographic images are prayers, holy songs, and they are powerful, youthful, and intense, with glamor, intimacy, and spotlights. Everyone should be able to understand the pictures differently, as if they were in a cinema picking up remnants of a story and creating their own version of the mystery.

My images transcend the genres of fashion, beauty, and portraiture—which means they can exist in many different places. From magazine pages to gallery walls, this exciting voyage can never be confined to one place. I hope my images evoke joy, serenity, sadness, and many more emotions as we feel the images and their presence in each of us and our worlds.

Email zhoumuxiamy@gmail.com

Website amylikescake.com

Instagram @amyz.cr2

Muxi Amy Zhou

Muxi Amy Zhou

Sting, 2023

Sting is a series that brings fantasy to fashion, inspired by jellyfish. Jellyfish are beautiful creatures, they come in different shapes and colors and are almost surreal. They float around in groups called “blooms” and even glow. There are some negative stereotypes surrounding jellyfish, and a lot of hatred towards them. Even though they don’t always mean to harm humans, they do so to protect themselves. Despite looking pretty and limp, some jellyfish have a nasty sting. A single tentacle can have thousands of microscopic stingers, each stinger holding venom. They can cause a lot of issues for humans, like filling up fishing nets and clogging power plants. Jellyfish can cause trouble, but they also play an important role in the marine ecosystem. Some animals use them as means for protection from predators. My project is a collection of beautiful, ethereal jellyfish women, each with a different kind of beauty and charm. I create a new world inspired by reality but without rules or expectations to hold us back. The women in these images are all women of color, who often must deal with negative stereotypes attached to them. They play an important role in this universe and can cause a lot of trouble and damage when tested.

Email yuemoonlai@gmail.com

Website yuemoonofficial.com

Instagram @yuemoonofficial

box projection, 2022

Light is a three-dimensional phenomenon, but the way we perceive it is limited to its two-dimensional characteristics. We cannot perceive the depth or volume of light directly, as we do with solid objects.

box projection transforms how we experience light. The installation creates an illusion of depth and volume by projecting moving dots, lines, squares, and characters onto fog. By illuminating the fog, the installation reveals the hidden dimensions of light and invites viewers to explore its interaction with space. The two-channel screen offers an inside and an outside view of the box, allowing viewers to observe it from different perspectives and appreciate its volume.

Email

Photo & Video

Senior Thesis Catalog 2023

Front Cover Image

Ziyue (Serena) Peng

From Health Code and Quarantine, 2022

Front Cover Flap Image

Pumipat Usapratumban

From Mirage of Dreams, 2022-23

Back Cover Image

Qingyuan Han

From She Walks by Water, 2022-23

Back Cover Flap Image Kai Ortiz

From Revelation, 2022-23