UMass Amherst Department of Art 2020 BFA Thesis Catalog by hertergallery

2020 BFA THESIS CATALOG

CONTENTS Acknowledgements 6

Letter from the Chair, Department of Art: Shona Macdonald, Professor

Letter from the Undergraduate Program Director: Robin Mandel, Assistant Professor

Other Acknowledgements and Thesis Committees

Bfa Candidates: Works & Statements 14

Amanda Baldi

Daria Lee

Daria Bobrova

Liping Lin

Chloe Bordeau

Angela McNamara

Kayla Correa

Betsy Mitchell

Alice Erickson

Vivian Nguyen

Caroline Flynn

Vy Nguyen

Allison Gaines

Hannah Peck

Isidora Germain

Kam Sinopoli

Julianna Hardiman

Navin Sundaramurthy

Ani Jermakian

Jillian Thomas

Jazzy Kophengnavong

Grace Nu Vo

Ziyan Wang

Bfa Candidates: Bios 60

About the Artists

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS From all of us here in the Department of Art at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, warm and sincere congratulations to you, the graduating class of 2020! Our faculty are so proud of your work and scholarship, especially in light of the current pandemic - which did not blight your spirits or diminish any of your achievements. I am especially grateful to my colleagues in the department for their superb mentorship, selfless dedication and skilled teaching which has shepherded you through your senior year. I am also thankful for the office and technical staff who fill out all the forms, tick all the boxes, maintain our studios and equipment, and take care of us. Mostly, my profound gratitude goes out to you, the class of 2020. You have chosen to study in a field not known for financial stability or the promise of a steady job. You chose to study art for the right reasons: because thinking about and making art is what you love doing the most. As you graduate, you are now a part of this long, cultural lineage. All of you know how art opens us up to a constellation of experiences and ways of understanding the world. As a repository for universal emotions, it knows no geographic boundaries. Thank you for deciding to become an artist in our department. Good Luck, stay in touch and keep making art! Professor Shona Macdonald Chair, Department of Art 23rd April 2020

Swimming

I was in my first year of graduate school for sculpture, and I was struggling. I didn’t know what I should be making; in fact, I didn’t even know if I wanted to continue with graduate school at all. Nothing seemed solid or clear to me, and all my uncertainties were manifesting in my work. I was caught between what I expected from myself and what I thought others expected of me, and every path forward in the studio seemed like a dead end. I sat down with my advisor and tried to explain my thoughts to her as best I could. She calmly took all this in. And then she described a scene to me, drawing an analogy so vivid that it has stayed with me ever since. She told me: you are swimming in the sea of doubt. You are alone in the middle of deep, cold water, with no land in sight, and you have to keep swimming. This is what being an artist is, a lot of the time, she said. Isolated in your own thoughts, not knowing where you are, or where you will end up; and yet deciding, in the midst of this terrible uncertainty, to keep on going. Resist the temptation to go back to where you started, or simply just to succumb and sink. You must swim on through the sea of doubt. Occasionally, of course, you will find an island. Projects come to resolution, and you can kiss the sand, and catch your breath, and explore that island of certainty for a while. But you will always have to go back in the water. Your job as an artist is to learn to live in that sea, to become comfortable in uncertainty, to function and to thrive, but most importantly just to proceed, in the midst of your own doubt. This image of the sea of doubt has become deeply embedded in my artistic consciousness. In my own studio, when a project seems lost, I can close my eyes and feel the water up to my neck. And as a teacher, it is an analogy I have used time and again with my own students, when they inevitably come to me wracked with their own doubts. It is at once unnerving and oddly reassuring in its simplicity. What should I do? Will it be good? How can I know? Keep swimming. Why does it have to be this way? Why is doubt so central to the artist’s endeavor? I think it is because for us there are never any right answers; there is only what you love enough to want to see in the world, the thing that’s never existed before in exactly this way. And those things do not yield easily to the imagination. They cannot be conjured whole. They are distant and hidden; they exist as fragments, each needing to be found. They are out there. Keep swimming. 8

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am sure that all of the students featured in this catalogue have experienced this kind of doubt. As artists, they know what it means to press on when the future is unclear. They know how it feels to want to get somewhere, and yet not know what course to chart, nor what the destination will look like. This is an ability that artists cultivate, by necessity. And this is why I feel confident that our students are in fact uniquely prepared for the current moment. It is April 2020, and we are in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has thrown so much of our daily lives into uncertainty. Economically, politically, scientifically, and in seemingly all other ways, we are immersed in doubt. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know where we are anymore, or where we may end up, and this uncertainty can be deeply troubling. I recognize that the doubt we experience in the studio can seem small when compared to the profound unknowns that this virus has laid bare. Not knowing how you will pay your rent is different from not knowing what to paint. But habits of mind are powerful, and are transferrable to new contexts. Studying art has afforded our students the ability to navigate uncertainty, to persist creatively in the face of doubt. That is an important and valuable skill in any era, and especially so right now. Every one of the faculty in our department was once an art student. And though I can only speak for myself, I would bet that none of us, as students, ever had to deal with the kind of disruption and upheaval that our own students have had thrust upon them this year. I have such deep admiration and respect for our students, who have continued to make art, to think deeply about it, and to share those thoughts with each other and the world. And I feel doubly so about our seniors, and their wide-ranging, moving, and insightful work featured in this catalogue. But even beyond the considerable accomplishments of these final projects, of which they should be very proud, it is their time and work and effort in our program that will surely serve them well in this new and changing world. Robin Mandel Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Program Director April 2020

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A big thank you to Professor Copper Giloth for her guidance and constant support in organizing this publication. We are also grateful to Herter Gallery Director, Procheta Olson, and graduate student, Cima Khademi for their monumental work on producing this catalogue and to Colleen Keough, Lecturer in Art, for the idea. Finally, we are deeply indebted to the labor and mentorship of the faculty in the Art Department who served in multiple committees, working individually with students to help realize their thesis projects.

The 2020 BFA Thesis Committees are: Amanda Baldi Chair: Juana Valdes Cynthia Consentino

Julianna Hardiman Chair: Susan Jahoda Mahwish Chishty

Vy Nguyen Chair: Colleen Keough Copper Giloth

Daria Bobrova Chair: Alexis Kuhr Juana Valdez

Ani Jermakian Advisor: Jana Silver

Hannah Peck Chair: Mahwish Chishty Young Min Moon

Chloe Bordeau Chair: Jenny Vogel Copper Giloth Kayla Correa Chair: Patricia Galvis y Assmus Colleen Keough Alice Erickson Chair: Alexis Kuhr Jenny Vogel

Jazzy Kophengnavong Chair: Copper Giloth Procheta Olson Daria Lee Chair: Patricia Galvis y Assmus N.C. Christopher Couch Liping Lin Chair: Susan Jahoda Young Min Moon

Caroline Flynn Advisor: Jana Silver

Angela McNamara Chair: Susan Jahoda Jenny Vogel

Allison Gaines Chair: Alexis Kuhr Susan Jahoda

Betsy Mitchell Advisor: Jana Silver

Isidora Germain Chair: Susan Jahoda AJ Liberto

Vivian Nguyen Chair: Patricia Galvis y Assmus N.C. Christopher Couch

Kam Sinopoli Chair: Jenny Vogel Jeff Kasper Navin Sundaramurthy Chair: Jenny Vogel Jeff Kasper Jillian Thomas Chair: Shona Macdonald Robin Mandel Grace Nu Vo Chair: Alexis Kuhr Mahwish Chishty Young Min Moon Ziyan Wang Chair: Alexis Kuhr Cynthia Consentino

Amanda Baldi Vibe Check is a series of ceramic works and prints which explore the ways in which I process my emotions. Through this work, I hope to arrive at a better understanding of our lived experiences. Vibe Check encourages self-reflection and creates a space where viewers can form their own connections based on my experiences and the experiences of those around me. The works in this exhibition, explore the complex dimensions of mental health and illness – specifically my own struggles with anxiety and depresion. Often feeling an urge to just do something to express what I am feeling, in this work I ask the questions how do we process our emotions? What are the recurring thoughts and feelings that promote the need to create?

BFA Studio Arts BA Anthropology Ceramics www.instagram.com/amandabaldiart/

Heavy explores this need and the peculiar feeling of heaviness that I, like many others, experience when feeling overwhelmed or sad. Beginning in the pit of my stomach, it feels as if I have eaten a million little pebbles which weigh me down all the way through to the lower half of my body. Over the past few years, I’ve become familiar with this sensation. It seems as though the only way to lighten the weight of the rocks is to make art – allowing ideas to be realized. Creating these pieces facilitates the recognition of emotion and thus acts as a catalyst for processing them. Heavy also functions as an interactive piece. The viewer can physically move the rocks, and thus, symbolically, help change the feeling. Similarly, other works in the exhibition involve public interactions which allow for healing and a place for the viewer to explore their own emotions and actively shift them.

Amanda Baldi Heavy, ceramic with stone accents, 20” x 40”

Amanda Baldi Still Blue, linoleum print, 15” x 21”

Amanda Baldi Recharge Lights, ceramic with full spectrum lights, dimensions variable

Amanda Baldi Comfort cyanotype on fabric, 40” x 63”

Amanda Baldi Bitch Co. Drink slip cast ceramic, 2” x 4”

Amanda Baldi Playful Processing ceramic, metal, and wood, 18” x 48”

Daria Bobrova Homefront: The civilian population and the activities of a nation whose armed forces are engaged in war abroad My work grapples with unseen traumas through the lens of the people of the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia. Homefront equates the domestic realm to a psychological space that serves as a battleground for each individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s struggles. Through a series of mixed-media paintings on wood panel, I have explored the enduring nature of sorrow and loss, and the ways in which issues larger than ourselves permeate our personal lives. Figures in my works occupy a transient state between history and the present, the real and the imaginary, borrowing moments from personal memory and inherited narrative. The enclosed interior spaces reflect the anxiety of uncertainty and subvert the expectation of domestic safety. BFA Studio Arts BS Applied Mathematics Art History Minor Commonwealth Honors College Painting www.instagram.com/dariavbobrova

I have found stories to be a visceral way of sharing an ephemeral experience, therefore each painting has originated from personal journal entries dealing with themes of motherhood, safety, religion, and death. Growing up with my grandmother, who was born in 1941 at the very beginning of World War II, I have acquired a thorough understanding of, as well as the emotional distance needed to reflect on the ways war and totalitarian rule have impacted the Russian population. Learning the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;historical traumaâ&#x20AC;? gave me new perspective, revealing why I care deeply about the lives of my ancestors and why events that never directly happened to me elicit an emotional response. In historical portraits, monarchs and the elite are often depicted in an interior environment, surrounded by objects that speak of their status, wealth or accomplishments. I have appropriated this tradition to portray the home as a space of psychological trauma by presenting personal objects as an archive of lived experiences. The interiors in my paintings are populated by household items selected from many sources and from a variety of time periods.

Some are loosely painted and meld into the background, others are imposed, such as the collaged photographs and the linoleum prints that hover on the surface. The paintings resist being situated within a specific moment in time and instead flicker between memory and reality. Inspired by my journal entries and writings on childhood; the paintings depict everyday life disrupted by historical events through a lens of innocence and naivety. I incorporate surrealist elements into each work, to mimic the nature of childhood memory, where the line between imagination and reality isn’t yet defined. From this fantastical realm comes the recurring image of the tropical bird. Throughout western culture, birds are frequently depicted as a symbol of hope, freedom or a divine apparition. Embodying these roles, within my work, the bird serves as a messenger or watchful presence from another land or time and, unlike the people depicted, it isn’t trapped within a particular narrative. Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and the genre of magical realism, where illogical, but symbolic and poetic occurrences coexist alongside everyday life, offered examples in which trauma is addressed through inserting the mythical into the otherwise mundane. The realm of the domestic is inherently tied to women’s traditional roles. So too, women often become the bearers of family trauma and are expected to provide emotional support. Like domestic labor, this critical role is usually dismissed and ignored. During World War II, most men of the Soviet Union were at the front and women filled vital civilian roles at home, expanding the scope of domestic work. Their unseen labor during wartime, as well as their unacknowledged emotional labor within embattled homes have inspired the research and exhibition that comprise Homefront.

Daria Bobrova Flood oil and collage on panel, 36â&#x20AC;? x 48â&#x20AC;?

Daria Bobrova Mama oil, collage, and linoleum print on panel, 36â&#x20AC;? x 48â&#x20AC;?

Daria Bobrova If I’d known oil, collage, and linoleum print on panel, 36” x 48”

Daria Bobrova New Years 2011 oil, collage, and linoleum print on panel, 36â&#x20AC;? x 48â&#x20AC;?

Daria Bobrova Digital Sketch for Impression digital collage, 9â&#x20AC;? x 12â&#x20AC;?

Daria Bobrova Impression oil, collage, and linoleum print on wood panel, 36â&#x20AC;? x 48â&#x20AC;?

Chloe Bordeau As an artist, I feel most at home in digital media. Using software allows me to be flexible in my practice and I find that there are less limits on what I am able to do and accomplish with my art. Most of my projects include 3D rendering or video art, or a combination of the two. I am fascinated by the surreal and work to create pieces that explore physically impossible phenomena happening to real-world, commonly used objects. The other-worldly aspect of my work is amplified by its visual aesthetic. I often use bright, artificial colors that aren’t found in the natural world. I also place my subject matter into minimalist and undefined spaces, further removing any reference points to the natural world for the viewer.

BFA Studio Arts Animation https://vimeo.com/411759128

In Time Isn’t Real, I examine the way that time is perceived differently by each person, despite the fact that we are all physically experiencing the same rate at which time passes. In this way, time is both a universal and individual experience. We are both united by our collective perception of time as a society and set apart from each other through our own unique interpretations. My focus in Time Isn’t Real is on the bizarre sensations and discomfort of reconciling the difference between our individual accounts of the passage of time compared to the universal reality of it.

Chloe Bordeau Time Isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Real, video still, 5:49 min

Chloe Bordeau Time Isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Real video still, 5:49 min

Kayla Correa My work explores very personal narratives that focus on identity and self-discovery. I am interested in expressing complex emotions and allowing others to be conscious of their own doubts and feelings. Using animation and digital imagery, I capture and articulate the thoughts and emotions that I experience during episodes of self-doubt and apprehension.

BFA Studio Arts Spanish Minor Animation www.kaycoart.weebly.com

Turbulence, a digitally hand-drawn animation, is a stream of consciousness narrative about my personal experiences with anxiety. The work is hand-drawn frame by frame in Adobe Photoshop, and is 2 minutes long. The work aims to encourage discussions about mental health with young adult audiences in mind. Due to the personal and isolating nature of mental health, it is a particularly difficult subject matter for anyone to talk about. The work provides the viewer with an intimate glimpse into the mind of someone who struggles with a generalized anxiety disorder and hopes to create a sense of resonance and empathy with others in a similar position. Turbulence aims to rid the negative stigma around sharing oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s struggles with anxiety, and allow for others to create a community that is open about mental health.

Kayla Correa Turbulence, 2D hand-drawn animation, video still, 2 min

Kayla Correa Concept Art, digital painting

Kayla Correa Turbulence 2D hand-drawn animation, video still, 2 min

Alice Erickson In my BFA thesis project Dust or Daughter, I confront personal, cultural, and generational traumatic ruptures. My work explores the fraught experience of inhabiting the female body in contemporary American culture. Victorian domesticity and vintage aesthetics, folklore and fairy tale, feminist theory and religious thought inform my investigations of these issues. I engage in an ongoing dialogue with the tangible and symbolic, the emotional and analytical, and the temporal and spiritual. By merging the visual languages of female performativity, domesticity, and sacred spaces, my work illuminates the private worlds of feminine trauma while offering a trajectory of healing and hope.

BFA Studio Arts Art History Minor Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Minor Painting

Through installation, painting, and performance I excavate the hidden reality of women’s lives, building a visual testimony of resilience and renewal. The figure of the miller’s daughter from Grimm’s fairy tales serves as the central subject and feminine archetype for this work. Three installations function as sacred stations: monuments to girlhood, wifehood, and motherhood, with my own position as a mother and a daughter holding the space between generations. Staged separately are performances reflecting upon the “impossible task” often bestowed in fairy tales and myths, representing the transformational nature of hardship and endurance. The Miller’s Daughter (9 iterations) introduces viewers to the themes of the exhibition. Nine portraits of a girl are displayed in a grid with a half-circle drawn in chalk on the floor before them. In the Grimm’s fairy tale, The Girl Without Hands, the miller’s daughter draws a chalk circle around herself to ward off the devil. In this installation, the chalk circle asserts a personal boundary, safeguarding her and asserting her innate value. The portraits of the miller’s daughter are intentionally cropped, focusing on details such as hands, ears, mouth, and eyes. Multiple renderings of the same girl represent a whole individual, embodying the archetype of the maiden, evoking innocence, naivete and protection.

Situated in a separate gallery space, Map of Tears is a performance site featuring a white metal daybed with an old mattress. The bed evokes associations of privacy, isolation, rest, and intimacy. In Rend/ Repair, the first performance piece, vintage bedding exhibits wear and stains representing the desecration of womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bodies and referencing acts of sexual violence. My ritual tearing of these sheets is methodical, aggressive, anguished. This systematic task slowly becomes an exercise in grief, railing at the enormity of both personal, repeated sexual trauma and the systemic oppression, objectification, abuse and exploitation of women and girls. Chain knitting the torn strips, using only my fingers, serves as an act of reclamation embodying the personal healing work and social process of mending that comes after destruction. In the second performance Cartographerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dilemma, the white metal daybed with its old mattress serves as a platform, stage, and stand-in for the body. In this performance, red-topped quilt pins are pushed into the mattress in an organized grid mapping personal and collective histories of psychological, physical, spiritual and sexual violence. Each row of pins progressively limits available space, restricting my ability to move on the bed, much like the cowed posture adopted by abuse victims. Eventually this constriction forces me from the bed allowing new modes of interaction with the space, and transitioning ultimately to an empowered stance. Cartographerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dilemma serves as an allegory for healing: reclaiming agency and personal power through radical acceptance.

Alice Erickson The Miller’s Daughter (9 iterations) acrylic on panel, hay baling twine, chalk, approx 67” x 90”

Alice Erickson Rend/Repair, scissors, vintage linens, antique piano shawl, vintage devotional items, durational performance

Alice Erickson Cartographerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dilemma, 1600 red-tipped quilt pins, durational performance

Alice Erickson Cartographerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dilemma 1600 red-tipped quilt pins, durational performance

Caroline Flynn

BFA Studio Arts Art Education www.instagram.com/bycarolineflynn

I am a painter that works in a variety of media, most often painting with oil on canvas. I spend most of my time living on the coast of Massachusetts. I am drawn to imagery from nature and the sea, whether it is the familiar or that which is far below the oceanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vast surface, such as the Venus comb murex shell distorted in my painting Venus Comb. I think of both painting and nature as being personal and peaceful, and often combine the two to express myself. I know making art to be a liberating and joyful act, and I believe art can impact everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life positively. I am currently completing my undergraduate studies in Art Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As an art teacher, I hope to build a community within the classroom in which young people find inspiration, learn to think and make creatively, and grow to be thoughtful, compassionate, and imaginative members of society.

Caroline Flynn Venus Comb oil on canvas, 16” x 20”

Caroline Flynn Hot Cheetos, oil on masonite, 24” x 24”

Caroline Flynn Portrait of a Man oil on canvas, 18” x 24 “

Caroline Flynn Hands graphite and gouache on paper, 10â&#x20AC;? x 22â&#x20AC;?

Caroline Flynn Chair graphite on paper, 18â&#x20AC;? x 24â&#x20AC;?

Caroline Flynn Reimagining of The Queen by Gertrude Abercrombie oil and image transfer on canvas, 22” x 24”.

Allison Gaines In my BFA Thesis, ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER, I explore my fascination with the female experience. Through abstract as well as figurative paintings, video, and sculpture, I confront my own femininity and the roles that are expected of myself and women in historical and contemporary contexts.

BFA Studio Arts BA Arts Management and Marketing Art History Minor Painting www.allisonhannahfay.com

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER drips with irony and satire. Taking inspiration from the concepts emerging from the feminist art movement of the 1970’s, this autobiographical exhibition functions as a magnifying glass that sheds light on the tragicomic realities in my own life. The observations I present in my body of work are made with wry humor and wit. As reflected in my thesis title, ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER initially appears with an abundance of confection, but soon turns overripe, unveiling a hidden trauma beneath the sugar coating. Moving from cherry flavoring in candy, to childhood tales of wasp stings, to the pressures of child bearing, ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER borrows subject matter from personal, pop cultural, and historical imagery, irreversibly intertwining the portrayal of women in the media with the way I portray myself. Drawing upon my fears of intimacy and uncertainty about the future, 69 deconstructs and reinterprets the still-life genre through an assemblage of playing cards, wasps, lemons, and traditional decorative patterns. Filled with hidden meanings, the work rewards the viewer who knows what to look for. Women’s Work, a wall hanging, is a hand stitched childhood comforter that reads “I THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS THE ONLY WAY.” partially bunched on one side to resemble an unmade bed. The title acts as a double meaning referencing both the act of stitching and embroidering and also the pressures of intimacy. Itty Bitty Trauma is an ongoing project that uses humor to shed light on my personal female experience. Whether it is my own

thoughts, things that have been said to me, or a third-party conversation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; these anecdotes and snippets are used to create an honest portrayal of my own female experience. The nature of the project allows for exploration of ongoing personal documentation, especially as we now face a global pandemic. Sparked by the strange sexualization of cherry flavoring, YOU TASTE LIKE is a looped video that explores the cultural phenomenon by using color to reference popular candy flavors while displaying the female body in laughably exaggerated sexualized positions. Each vignette is interrupted by a black screen showing the artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quiet internal monologue.

Allison Gaines 69, acrylic, oil, silver leaf on canvas, 48” x 60”

Allison Gaines Women’s Work twin bed comforter, yarn, 63” x 87”

Allison Gaines Red Circle, acrylic on canvas, 36” x 24”

Allison Gaines YOU TASTE LIKE video still, 1:09 min

Allison Gaines Ovulation, acrylic on canvas, 20” x 16”

Allison Gaines Itty Bitty Trauma, varied media, dimensions variable

Isidora Germain 2304: Into the Forest is an installation consisting of three mixed-media sculptures constructed with found and recycled materials. The project imagines the emergence of new species after planetary mass extinction. Coincidentally, prior to completion, the world began to change drastically due to a global pandemic. I originally began working on 2304: Into the Forest out of a place of deep anger and sadness over the climate crisis. The realities of violently shifting landscapes, collapsing ecosystems and the catastrophic impact that this was having on the planet gave me a feeling of helplessness and impotence. Trying to remain hopeful, I wanted to envision a future of survival for all living beings.

BFA Studio Arts Sculpture www.instagram.com/maneaterart

All three of the sculptures in the installation are made from nylon, plastic bags, chicken wire, sculpey, faux fur, and latex. Each of them have names derived from plant and animal genera. The first sculpture, Ophiopotan, was inspired by carnivorous plants and pitcher plants that use a mucus to trap and eat its prey. The second sculpture, Koeloculi is a nocturnal predator that uses its short size to sneak up on unsuspecting prey. It has an insect-like antennae that it uses to feel what is in front of it. My final sculpture, Brizbelnn, was made over a much longer period of time. I left it outside for over two years to degrade, with the intention to create a being that could host other living beings. Clover and other plant matter gradually lodged in its crevices. These sculptures provide an insight into a fictitious ecosystem, giving the viewers an opportunity to look into the future.

Isidora Germain Koeloculi. Common name, False Face, mixed-media, 2’ 3”

Isidora Germain Ophiopotan, mixed media, 4’ x 2’

Isidora Germain Brizbelnn mixed media, 6’’ x 3’

Isidora Germain Helierd Bones clay, 4 ½”, 5 ½ “, 3 ½“

Isidora Germain Scudder’s Collection installation, 4’ x 1”

Isidora Germain Koeloculi, mixed media, 4’ x 1.5’

Julianna Hardiman Intimately Disconnected consists of five watercolor paintings, each being 48 inches by 33.5 inches. The project is inspired by a series of silver gelatin photographic prints that I made a year ago that focused on intimacy, loss, and grief. The paintings are large-scale versions of selected photographs and are more personal as my hand is visible in the production of these works.

BFA Studio Arts Painting www.instagram.com/herartbyhand

In the photographs, images of hands were layered over one another. I felt as though these images began to speak to the relationship between an intimate moment and the tensions held within that moment. In Intimately Disconnected viewers can see the brush strokes, the mistakes, and the details. Within these hands you can see my hand. They are personal, yet completely impersonal. In the layering of hands, one over the other, next to the other, or intertwined â&#x20AC;&#x201C; none of them appear to be truly in contact with the others. There is a disconnect. The hands are tense at times, longing to touch one another. They desire the intimacy of being hand to hand, palm to palm. They are reaching out to grasp what cannot be grasped. In my drawing and painting process, I move from a gestural mapping to a finer attention to detail. Moreover, the colors in these paintings range from faded gray and blues to nudes or browns. These reference the process of bleaching and toning that I applied to the original series of analog prints. In this manner, I create a conversation between the two mediums I engage in, namely photography and painting.

Julianna Hardiman Untitled 1: part of series Intimately Disconnected, watercolor on paper, 48â&#x20AC;? x 33.5â&#x20AC;?

Julianna Hardiman Untitled 3: part of series Intimately Disconnected, Watercolor on Paper, 33.5â&#x20AC;? x 48â&#x20AC;?

Julianna Hardiman Untitled 2: part of series Intimately Disconnected, watercolor on paper, 48â&#x20AC;? x 33.5â&#x20AC;?

Julianna Hardiman Untitled 4: part of series Intimately Disconnected, watercolor on paper, 33.5â&#x20AC;? x 48â&#x20AC;?

Julianna Hardiman Untitled 5: part of series Intimately Disconnected, watercolor on paper, 33.5â&#x20AC;? x 48â&#x20AC;?

Ani Jermakian

BFA Studio Arts Art History Minor Art Education www.instagram.com/artworkbyani www.facebook.com/artworkbyani

From a young age, I’ve found a great interest in the artistic movement of Realism. Whether it’s graphite portraits or painting Still Life in oil, bringing people or objects to life in my art has been one of my biggest passions. Abstraction was outside of my comfort zone for some time, but this skill began to strengthen in high school, specifically while creating my AP Portfolio which concentrated on the Armenian Genocide - personally significant due to my cultural history and its continued lack of recognition. This issue continues to be frequently addressed in my work through which I tell my family’s personal stories. While continuing to work in realism, I started borrowing from the language of abstraction to create narratives in my work. This is how I hold onto my passion for realism while also exploring the power of storytelling through art. Storytelling took on many forms in college while exploring several different mediums such as printmaking, ceramics, installation, and photography. No matter the medium — from painting to sound and digital media — all my work usually ends up having a tie to my family history in some way. This is a testament to the significance of how my personal narrative is the primary inspiration for my art. As I graduate this semester from the Art Education Program at UMass Amherst and pursue my goal of becoming an Art Teacher, I hope to allow my students to tell their own stories through art.

Ani Jermakian Survivors: A New Beginning, lithography print, 12â&#x20AC;? x 18â&#x20AC;?

Ani Jermakian Sculpture Bust: Self ceramic, 10” x 18”

Ani Jermakian Significant Objects watercolor, 15” x 22”

Ani Jermakian Self Portrait chalk pastel, 18â&#x20AC;?x 24â&#x20AC;?

Ani Jermakian Still Life, oil paint, 12” x 16”

Jazzy Kophengnavong I draw inspiration from social media and how it functions as a platform for communication and a common ground for suppressed opinions about trending topics or events. Social media allows me to avoid the bombardment of information from daily news and instead focus on the nitty-gritty, captivating specifics of individual narratives. Through my work, I investigate these opinions and construct visually aesthetic spaces, while exaggerating the nature of the topic in question. A previous project, The Material Society, dealt with perceptions of the super-rich and was inspired by tweets from an outraged public after the richest man in the world, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, donated 98 million dollars to help the homeless â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a mere .09% of his net worth.

BFA Studio Arts Animation www.jazzyk.myportfolio.com

In Headspace, I visualize the way anxiety manifests inside the mind and body with specific reference to symptoms like overthinking, hypervigilance, and lack of control. The viewer finds themselves trapped in a labyrinth of mirrors, surrounded by an intensifying ambush of sporadically moving red balls that disappear and reappear on a constant loop. The repetitive and claustrophobic nature of the work embodies the characteristics and feelings of acute anxiety. I am fascinated by the universal understanding of anxiety I observe online. While memes, jokes, or other posts gain a lot of traction on social media, anxiety is not often specifically referenced. Headspace considers this effect and uses an abstracted space to represent these ideas.

Jazzy Kophengnavong Headspace, 3D animation, still, 1:56 min

Jazzy Kophengnavong Headspace, overhead shot of the mirror labyrinth, 3D animation, still, 1:56 min

Jazzy Kophengnavong Headspace, installation plans (exterior of the viewing space), 3D animation, still, 1:56 min

Jazzy Kophengnavong Headspace, 3D animation, still, 1:56 min

Jazzy Kophengnavong Headspace, installation plans (interior of the viewing space), 3D animation, still, 1:56 min

Daria Lee

BFA Studio Arts Commonwealth Honors College Computer Animation https://vimeo.com/darialeedl

The popularization of television sets within the average American household led to a higher consumption of animated media starting in the 1950s and continued to gain popularity in the following decades. With the rise of television, generations of American people were presented with 2D cartoons that would ultimately influence the entertainment industry and production of animated media for years to come. As animation technology production processes have evolved, the visual designs of cartoons have changed drastically. Jumbles is a collection of digital illustrations and traditional pencil sketches that, when viewed together, show glimpses into the story and relationships between characters of a potential cartoon series. By creating concept art for Jumbles, I investigate the design process for animated cartoons while taking into consideration how changes in design appeal, production convenience, and efficiency have influenced the process throughout the history of the animation industry within the US. While popular cartoons from prior decades act as some of the visual influences, the designs of the illustrations are primarily based on what I find to be most visually appealing while also responding to contemporary aesthetics. The work depicts the relationship between character and environment. It highlights the aesthetic importance of contrast, light, shape, and color in designing cartoons while also acknowledging the various visual influences referenced in Jumbles. In addition, each of the characters in Jumbles vary in personality but are ultimately an extension of myself, the people around me, and the cartoon characters I have come to favor throughout the years. Jumbles as a whole studies the idea of visual aesthetics, the subjectivity of aesthetic appeal, and the impact that animated television production has had on the process and legacy of making cartoons.

Daria Lee End of the Day, digital illustration, 18” x 24”

Daria Lee Page 50 of The Art of Jumbles, digital book, 9” x 12”

Daria Lee The Search Mission, digital illustration, 18” x 24”

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Daria Lee Down the Hall digital illustration, 18â&#x20AC;? x 24â&#x20AC;?

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Daria Lee Page 53 of The Art of Jumbles, digital book, 9” x 12”

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Daria Lee Page 19 of The Art of Jumbles, digital book, 9” x 12”

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Liping Lin My practice is shaped by a desire to trace my roots and reflect on my experiences of being between two cultures as a Chinese American. Through a process of archiving, What Remains explores mundane household objects and forgotten memorabilia to uncover that which is culturally inherited and that which is preserved. It traces memories and honors the traditions and skills that are slowly disappearing amongst younger generations of Chinese immigrants.

BFA Studio Arts BDIC Advertising and Graphic Design Intermedia www.lipinglinart.weebly.com

This body of work consists of a video, a series of photographs and some text, all of which address the relationship between objects, family, and memory.Â I began by interviewing and collecting stories from my family. I asked them questions like the following: What do you remember bringing to the U.S.? Was there anything that you wished you could bring with you but was not possible? Did you bring anything that is significant to you? Where are they now? By talking to my family members about the things they had to let go of, or keep, I hope to gain a deeper insight into what they valued and how they imagined those possessions would support them in their new lives in the United States. The video, on the other hand, is split into four fragmentary excerpts to emphasize the various domestic rituals and practices my mother engages in everyday, such as gardening and sewing, as well as her personal joys and beliefs. Together with the photographs and texts, it investigates the intersection of the personal and the socio-cultural.

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Liping Lin What Remains, video still, 15:30 min

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Liping Lin Old Photographs, photomontage, digital flipbook, page 8 of 34

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Liping Lin English Learning Book, digital flipbook, page 10 of 34

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Liping Lin Cigarettes, digital flipbook, page 12 of 34

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Liping Lin Pajamas Mom Made, digital flipbook, page 14 of 34

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Angela McNamara

Through a combination of image and text my work often deals with ideas of womanhood, what it means to be a young adult in the 21st century, as well as themes of isolation and loneliness especially in a digital, and hyper-connected, world. Across a multitude of mediums, I have found solace in making work about being isolated from the outside world. Situated in this context, Letters to My Ghost is a series of digital prints that specifically address issues of â&#x20AC;&#x153;self-worthâ&#x20AC;?, especially those related to internalized gender biases. Each of the 8 prints contains a different text, addressing different junctures in my personal life. They are intended to reference posters and commercial print media. The image created for each text is intended to both encapsulate and subvert the original context of the words.

BFA Studio Arts BA Communication Commonwealth Honors College Intermedia www.angelamcnamara.com

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My intention with Letters to My Ghost is to create images that could be, at a glance, interpreted as posters or advertisements when viewed in a metropolitan context, such as a bus stop advertisement. I am interested in seeing how meanings change as the presentation of the prints changes. If the print is encountered in an urban public space as opposed to a gallery, how does the setting change the way the viewer interacts with it? I hope for viewers who spend more time with the work to interpret the text in ways that relate to their own lives and to discover their own meanings from it. In making this work I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. It is my hope that the viewer will experience that same sense of catharsis in engaging with this piece.

Angela McNamara What Are You Working Towards? from Letters to My Ghost mockup for bus shelter installation, approximately 48â&#x20AC;? x 69â&#x20AC;?

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Angela McNamara Letters to My Ghost, Series of 8 Posters digital print on archival paper, 18â&#x20AC;? x 24â&#x20AC;?

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Angela McNamara What Are You Working Towards? from Letters to My Ghost mockup for bus shelter installation, approximately 48â&#x20AC;? x 69â&#x20AC;?

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Angela McNamara Letters to My Ghost, series of 8 posters mockup for gallery installation, 18â&#x20AC;? x 24â&#x20AC;? each

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Betsy Mitchell I frequently find myself inspired by new materials, methods, techniques, and processes. Because of this, I consider myself to be somewhat of a dabbler who is constantly seeking new ways to be creative. I work as a make-up artist, I make illustrative chalk menus for bars and restaurants, I love to cook and bake, and I was even a tattoo apprentice for a year. My giant collection of various art materials reflects my rapidly changing interest in creative practices. However, above all else, painting with oils is my passion. I have always been interested in making realistic depictions of the world around me and I am inspired by bold colors and variations in texture. I like to set up small still-lifes with objects that explore these elements and photograph them before I start painting.Â I get satisfaction watching my paintings come to life as I add more layers and details. BFA Studio Arts Art Education

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After a lifetime of artistic exploration, I decided that the best path for me would be to share my knowledge of the arts with future generations and I am proud to be graduating with my bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree from the Art Education Program at UMass Amherst. Art is an essential piece of a well-rounded fundamental education because it fosters ingenuity, perceptiveness, and emotional awareness. I am looking forward to spending my career educating the youth to develop and nurture their artistic abilities and provide them with tools to aid in their pursuit of future endeavors.

Betsy Mitchell Donuts, oil on canvas board, 8” x 10”

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Betsy Mitchell Self-portrait woodcut print, 18” x 24”

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Betsy Mitchell Flubbs oil on canvas board, 5” x 7”

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Betsy Mitchell Berries n’ Cream oil on canvas board, 8” x 10”

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Vivian Nguyen I am interested in human psychology, specifically the ways in which it relates to the intimate details of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life, such as life lessons, childhood memories, and hopes and dreams. Hearing such stories from friends and even strangers helps create a sense of connection with people. Everyone, I believe, has a story to share, and as an artist, I want to be the one that will create the bridge between people helping them to connect and understand each other. I hope that people can identify a bit of themselves and their experiences in my work.

BFA Studio Arts IT Minor Animation www.viviannguyen.com

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Inspired by my childhood, Bean and Ari is an animated short film that tells the story of a friendship between an imaginary friend and a young girl who will inevitably grow up. The work itself is about three minutes long and is digitally hand-drawn with some three-dimensional models and assets. The short film explores themes of imagination, friendship, coming of age, loneliness, and the concept of ideals versus reality. Significantly, the most important aspect of this film is the recreation and recollections of memories. As humans age, their earlier memories gradually fade until they are completely forgotten. As the film progresses, the audience are encouraged to contemplate the importance of memories as a way to remind them how they were in the past as well as elucidate who they will become in the future.

Vivian Nguyen Bean and Ari, 2D hand-drawn animation, video still, 3 min

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Vivian Nguyen Bean and Ari 2D hand-drawn animation, video still, 3 min

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Vivian Nguyen Bean and Ari 2D hand-drawn animation, video still, 3 min

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Vivian Nguyen Bean and Ari 2D hand-drawn animation, video still, 3 min

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Vy Nguyen Through various digital mediums, my work explores the impact of sex, class, and culture on the formation of identity. As an Asian-American immigrant, my life experiences provide the fuel for my work. Using a combination of technology and art-making, I explore the timeless struggles that are still present in contemporary life.

BFA Studio Arts Animation https://msha.ke/juicebox.xx/

Juice Box is a multimedia installation that simulates a product showroom. It consists of an interactive, three-dimensionally rendered virtual showroom, an Augmented Reality filter, an Instagram profile, and a website. While the title refers to the portable carton of juice otherwise known as a “juice box,” Juice Box takes on a different meaning. In vulgar slang, the term “box” may be used to refer to the vagina, and “juice” may refer to bodily fluids -- usually vaginal lubricants produced within the body. Thereby, Juice Box is defined by the bodies of those who menstruate. Through this project, I investigate the inequalities pertaining to sex, class, and culture demonstrated by the regulation of menstrual products. In the United States, government and corporate control of menstrual hygiene products and their availability, as well as the gender-based tax levied on them, demonstrate the irregularities and unfairness of our culture. Specifically, these taxes have a harder impact on women from lower income households. Furthermore, there is a sense of shame attached to needing and procuring these items and to menstruation itself. Access to menstrual products is not a luxury, it should be a right. My intention with Juice Box is to increase digital awareness of the problems of Period Poverty, which is a term that encapsulates the inadequate access to menstrual products and education. This is achieved by the many digital platforms that Juice Box resides on. Moreover, I intend to break the stigma of menstruation which I do in this work by expanding the conversation to the public through user interface design and social media.

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Vy Nguyen Juice Box, digital illustration, 8” x 15”

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Vy Nguyen Tampon, digital illustration, 3” x 3”

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Vy Nguyen Sanitary Pad, digital illustration, 5” x 5”

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Vy Nguyen Showroom Still still image from interactive virtual environment, dimensions variable

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Vy Nguyen Controls digital illustration, 33â&#x20AC;? x 72â&#x20AC;?

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Vy Nguyen AR Effect Preview composite image of Augmented Reality effect, 2” x 3”

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Hannah Peck My work explores the female form and energy through different media, especially painting and sculpture. Whether it is through paint or welding, I test the limits of the material I am working with to recreate the female body in beautiful but disorienting, naked but not sexual, intricate but not explicit ways.

BFA Studio Arts Painting www.instagram.com/hannahpeckart

As an extension of my interest in the feminine and the body, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always been intrigued by the small, bright objects women use to adorn themselves, such as hair clips, jewelry, and body piercings. I am particularly struck by the ubiquity of metal in these adornments and the ways in which its physical qualities echo the complex dimensions of the feminine. It is easily manipulated and yet very permanent when untouched. It can be used to make anything, from gigantic skyscrapers to guitar strings and earrings. We can reside in structures built with it, hear sounds set in motion by it, or embed it in our flesh. In Trophy, I consider how these dynamic physical properties and the functional scope of metal resonate with the feminine, specifically the female body. Using steel to create a self suspending human head which hangs in isolation, I explore the space between ornamenting the body versus the body as an ornament. Through an exhaustive engagement with the material, I push, pull, bend, and weld steel rods to complicate the interplay of space, shape, line, and form. It is important that this work be viewed in a three dimensional space whenever possible, as each vantage point reveals new intersections where the material connects with itself to create intimate moments for the viewer. I love the hard yet tactile quality of steel and it is my hope that the viewer would see evidence of my engagement with the medium. I invite them to look closely and wonder at the process through which these rugged, yet intricate forms emerge.

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Hannah Peck Trophy, steel rod and mig welding, 5’ x 2.5’ x 3.5’

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Hannah Peck Dance Party wire and earrings, 16”x10”x6”

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Hannah Peck Line Drawing #12 sharpie, acrylic wash, 2’x4’

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Hannah Peck Expectation steel rod, acrylic paint, 2’x8’x6”

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Hannah Peck Summertime acrylic on canvas, 3’x4’

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Hannah Peck Duct Tape Painting #1 duct tape, 4’x5’

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Kam Sinopoli I have been taking antidepressants for nearly half of my life, and by far, the most debilitating side effect of my medication has been the terrifying dreams it has given me. This is not unique. The side effects of pharmaceutical treatment for mental illnesses are copious, and yet, so rarely explored. After suffering silently through these dreams, I felt it was time for me to speak my truth, so I started illustrating my dreams in graphic novels. My most recent work, Fluoextine, is a non-linear graphic novel with four chapters. Each chapter describes one nightmare. The dreams in this project are both from my own experience, and from others who have experienced similar side-effects of the drug. Although with disconnected narratives, the four chapters contain similar themes of terror, dread, and anguish. BFA Studio Arts Animation 20mgfluoxetine.com

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I like to work in the format of graphic novels because in addition to my own personal attachment to them since childhood, they also mimic the way I remember my dreams - in fragments and vignettes. These nightmares are distinct from other dreams in that they remain in my mind the way memory does, and so, recovering from the trauma of these dreams is a long and difficult process. Speaking about these dreams in my graphic novels has both a cathartic effect and has helped me to build a community with others in similar situations.

Kam Sinopoli Fluoxetine cover illustration, digital drawing, 8â&#x20AC;? x 11â&#x20AC;?

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Kam Sinopoli You Took From Me Until I Was Only Bones, page 1 digital graphic novel, 8” x 11”

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Kam Sinopoli You Took From Me Until I Was Only Bones, page 2 digital graphic novel, 8” x 11”

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Kam Sinopoli You Took From Me Until I Was Only Bones, page 3 digital graphic novel 8” x 11”

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Navin Sundaramurthy You have your magical cardboard sword with you. Your rather worn stuffed animal right-hand man is by your side. Are you ready for an adventure into the unknown that generations will continue to tell, even after you have passed away? You could dive into a world that has always been unique to you, and a skill that has been second nature since childhood. Imagine if you could share this experience with someone else... or even the entire world!

BFA Studio Arts Animation zephora.herokuapp.com

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In my work I am interested in world-building games to explore how play can help us understand differences in culture. Zephora is an interactive net-art piece that invites visitors to collaboratively build worlds based on step-by-step prompts. The project explores creativity under pressure and the exchange of ideas through developing cultures. The visitors are participants, explorers, and diplomats that are asked to build and represent a world as they go through the steps of the exercise provided. With each progressive step, they take more notes and sketches to help others understand and learn to appreciate their own cultures. This work encourages making connections with others as visitors grow their communities and begin to interact virtually despite the current pandemic sweeping the world.

Navin Sundaramurthy Zephora, Gallery Submissions page, netart

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Navin Sundaramurthy Zephora Home page, netart

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Navin Sundaramurthy Zephora, About page, netart

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Navin Sundaramurthy Zephora, Start page, netart

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Navin Sundaramurthy Zephora, Start page Open, netart

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Jillian Thomas For my thesis project, Tattoos and Taboos, I experiment with the art of tattoos in order to dispel the stigmas around them and the people who have them. In this series, the materials I use stand in for skin and each new marking process forms a response to that material as well as the painful, indelible nature of tattooing. Part of what contributes to the negative response to tattooing is that it is both painful and permanent, but these are aspects of the art that I find beautiful and worthwhile, so I aim to capture that visceral essence of mark-making in the processes I use, such as carving, burning, or scarring.

BFA Studio Arts Painting www. instagram.com/paint.w1tch/

Nature has been a prominent theme in my work, specifically plants and the human body. These concerns have since evolved into an interest in the artistic study of spirituality and witchcraft. Although I am naturally drawn to vibrant colors, high tonal contrasts, and dense compositions, a recent discovery of my passion for tattooing has had a big impact on the way I approach line and composition. Tattooing, with its insistence on line-work and drawing, forms a bridge between studio and decorative, body art. Since becoming more mainstream it’s evident that people from all walks of life get tattoos, and for countless different reasons, defying the idea that they are solely adorning the arms of ‘low-lives’. Instead, each artwork in my thesis references a different motive or reason for getting a tattoo — to beautify, to commemorate, to protect oneself such as with a talisman. Although it has undergone numerous transformations, the practice of tattooing has existed for millenia and in cultures all around the world, from the Celts to the Maori. It is an ancient human practice that boasts of beauty, storytelling, memory, and community. This project makes tangible the feeling of wonder I have for tattooing and recontextualizes the language of its process and medium to display its more subtle aspects in a new light.

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Jillian Thomas Grounding, clay, underglaze, 12”x 28”

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Jillian Thomas Untitled clay, underglaze 4â&#x20AC;? x 17â&#x20AC;?

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Jillian Thomas Memory, canvas, twine, gel medium, 25”x33”

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Jillian Thomas untitled faux leather, tattoo ink 5â&#x20AC;?x7â&#x20AC;?

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Jillian Thomas autonomy wooden chair 33”x33”x34”

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Jillian Thomas untitled faux leather, tattoo ink 7â&#x20AC;?x9â&#x20AC;?

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Grace Nu Vo Since my childhood, and continuing to this day, my family has shared a traditional American meal in the morning we call “Sunday Family Breakfast.” There always is crispy golden hash browns, fried yellow eggs, and a heaping plate of oily bacon and sausage. We gather around the table to eat, now awake from the bustling kitchen duties and fragrant breakfast foods. One thing I always notice at the end of my meal is my empty plate. This is not a generic white plate, but a rich red plate designed with white, green, and teal flowers and Chinese characters. After I eat my American breakfast I am always left with an intricate and beautiful array of Chinese characters, designs, and colors.

BFA Studio Arts Art History Minor Painting, Multimedia www.gracenvo.net

Inventing the tradition of Sunday Family Breakfast fulfilled my parent’s chosen social obligation to impart American culture to me and my sisters. But as I grew older and became aware of my surroundings, I realized I was treated differently because of my ethnicity. I did not feel integrated into society but instead merely tolerated. I felt tolerated because I practiced using my American name over my Vietnamese name, and accentuated American traditions over Vietnamese ones. While these compromises sustained me in society, it made it very clear to me that I was living a life of cultural hybridity, constantly navigating two identities: my Vietnamese side and my American side. Today, I embrace this hybrid identity and it influences my desires and needs. For my BFA Thesis, I have created a space to express my feelings about my Asian and American identities and the challenges they pose. I work in multimedia, using traditional and non-traditional materials while considering how space and surface can alter the significance of a piece of work. My thesis exhibition consists of large scale paintings on walls, drawings, as well as several paintings on canvases. Now working within the constraints of the pandemic, I have continued to explore the narrative of my hybrid identity through a series of illustrations and collages culminating in an artist book, The Space Between.

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Grace Nu Vo Say, acrylic on canvas, 24” x 18”

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Grace Nu Vo The Space Between, artist book, pencil, pen, acrylic, photo transfer, name tags on tea-stained bristol, 8.5â&#x20AC;?x 6.5â&#x20AC;?

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Grace Nu Vo Think acrylic on canvas 24” x 18”

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Grace Nu Vo See acrylic on canvas 24” x 18”

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Grace Nu Vo Untitled mixed media on studio wall, 10’ x 7’

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Grace Nu Vo Untitled mixed media on studio wall, 10’ x 7’

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Ziyan Wang In my artwork, I wish to deliver a hopeful message for the future of our environment and encourage lifestyle changes that will benefit the planet. Through a metaphorical representation of the harm we have done to the planet, I hope to erase the distance between our busy lives and the reality of global warming. To show the seriousness of climate change, I have created dramatic ceramic sculptures of mountains melting and cracking. To indicate the planet is “bleeding”, the sculptures sit upon a tabletop of red “melted ice.” In a second series, I have also created mountains, this time depicting another aspect of climate change. The edges of these mountains are wavelike, suggesting flames and the ongoing forest fires brought about by global warming. Ashes rest at the base of the mountains representing the burnt bodies of animals and plants. BFA Studio Arts BBA Management Ceramics, Painting

To bring the urgency of climate change closer to people’s lives and to encourage action, both series of ceramic mountains are installed on a long dinner table with chairs placed at both ends. The sculptures are at eye-level, allowing the audience to “face” the issue directly, from their dinner table and through their daily lives. Ceramics is an apt medium for this project. Clay is made of the most abundant elements in the earth’s crust - silica and alumina, the same matter that forms our mountains. Clay, despite being fired twice, is still delicate and can be broken. We need to be careful with it. Like our environment, which has been subjected to many abuses by humans, it needs protection. It is time to pay attention to it.

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Ziyan Wang Mountain Series, unglazed ceramic, 32” x 140” x 30”

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Ziyan Wang Glacier Series 01 unfired ceramic, 38’’ x 24’’ x 16”

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Ziyan Wang Mountain Series 02 unfired ceramic, 48’’ x 24’’ x 16”

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Ziyan Wang Mountain Series 03, unfired ceramic, 24’’ x 24’’ x 28”

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Ziyan Wang Glacier Series 02, unfired ceramic, 38’’ x 24’’ x 16”

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Ziyan Wang Firing & Melting, oil on canvas, 24’’ x 10’’

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS A

manda Baldi will be graduating from UMass Amherst with a Ceramics BFA, an Anthropology BA and an Art History minor in 2020. Amanda has received the College of Humanities and Fine Arts Achievement Award, studied for a semester at the Michaelis School of Fine Art in South Africa, and interned at A.P.E. Ltd. Gallery in Northampton, Massachusetts.

aria Bobrova was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, and emigrated to the United States with her parents at the age of five. She spent her childhood traveling between the American East Coast and her grandmother’s northern Russian hometown, Severodvinsk. Bobrova is set to graduate from the University of Massachusetts in the Spring of 2020 with bachelor’s degrees in painting and applied mathematics.

hloe Bordeau is from Pittsfield, MA, and is a Studio Art major with a concentration in Animation. She works digitally, primarily with a combination of video and 3D animation, to explore the potential of the surreal in everyday objects. Her work has been screened at SCREEN 2019, Screen in Studio Arts Building, Amherst, MA.

ayla Correa is an animator from Leominster, Massachusetts. Her animation and digital media work explore topics of identity and self-discovery. Her media of choice is 2D traditional animation. Being from a Puerto Rican family, Kayla draws from her hispanic background to inform her art. Kayla Correa studied Animation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

lice Erickson has lived in the Southwest, Midwest and across New England, encountering diverse social groups and subcultures. This formed her wide-lens view of the individual’s struggle for survival, belonging, and authenticity. She weaves her lived experiences into her work, creating narratives of shared strength and hope. Erickson currently lives in central Massachusetts with her long-term partner and three children.

aroline Flynn was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1998. Under the mentorship of her high school art teachers, dedicated to and encouraging of their students’ creative success, Flynn decided on a path in art education. Graduating this spring with a BFA in Art Education and Minor in Art History, she hopes to inspire students of her own to fulfill their creative potential.

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llison Gaines is a painter and intermedia-artist who grew up in a small town on the north shore of Long Island. Drawing from history, media, and pop culture, she reinterprets personal experience through a female lens. Set to graduate in Spring 2020, Gaines is a BFA candidate in Painting, a BA candidate in Arts Marketing and Management, and a minor in Art History.

sidora Germain was born in 1996 and is an artist based in Western Massachusetts. Having received an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts from Holyoke Community College, Germain is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Studio arts, with a concentration in Sculpture, at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Their work is influenced by speculative biology and the beauty of the natural world.

ulianna Hardiman is a painting major graduating from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. From Wakefield, MA, she works primarily in watercolor and analog photography. The two mediums tend to influence and inform each other in her process. Her work typically draws from her personal life experiences.

ni Jermakian is an Art Education Major from Wilbraham, Massachusetts. In addition to visual art, Ani also has a passion for singing and hopes to use both these talents to give voice to the voiceless and create awareness on lesser-discussed issues. You can find Ani’s work on her Facebook and Instagram page, Artwork by Ani, a business she started at the age of 12.

azzy Kophengnavong is set to graduate from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a B.F.A. in Computer Animation in the Spring of 2020. Although having a core practice in 3D animation and modeling, she enjoys working in digital multimedia – finding interesting or unique ways to combine different techniques into a single work.

aria Lee is an artist from Boston, Massachusetts, graduating in May 2020 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation) from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is also a member of the Commonwealth Honors College. Daria works in both 2D and 3D animation, focusing on concept art and visual development for commercial work.

iping Lin emigrated with her mother and sister from China to join their father in the United States at the age of twelve. Liping is set to receive her BFA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in the Spring of 2020, with a concentration in Intermedia, Advertising, and Graphic Design. 183

ABOUT THE ARTISTS A

ngela McNamara is from Andover, MA, and is currently a Studio Art major with a concentration in Intermedia. Although originally from Massachusetts, she has lived in several states and countries. She works in multiple mediums, primarily design and photography, to explore ideas of isolation and womanhood; her work is informed by her travels and a constantly evolving worldview.

etsy Mitchell is an Art Education major at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, currently living in Northampton, Massachusetts. As someone who loves making art in many different forms, her passion lies with painting. Betsy likes to paint with oil and gets satisfaction from painting the meticulous details of ordinary objects. Betsy aims to extend her knowledge and passion for the arts to younger generations.

ivian Nguyen was born and raised in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and is an animation major and IT minor who is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Vivian hopes to use this medium as a way to connect with people to share stories from her personal experiences.

y Nguyen was born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and immigrated to the United States at the tender age of three. She currently attends the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and can be found taming her flames with food and Photoshop.

annah Peck is from Cambridge, MA, and is currently a Bachelor of Fine Art Painting major at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Peckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work explores femininity and the body through large scale exploration of media and form. She is primarily interested in the tactile and energetic experience of working with materials and testing their limits to reveal their unique qualities.

am Sinopoli was born in 1998 in Boston and is set to receive her BFA in Studio Arts in the Spring of 2020 from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her work explores representations of the human form, sexuality, and emotions. While her art is frequently heavy, cathartic, and dark, she also enjoys making occasional fan-art, drawings of her friends, and studies of canonical art.

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avin Sundaramurthy was born in 1997 in Gardner, Massachusetts, and aims to use art as a medium for building communities and to prove that anyone can be creative. True to the term animation, he â&#x20AC;&#x153;gives it lifeâ&#x20AC;?. In the Spring of 2020, Navin is set to receive his BFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Studio Arts with a concentration in Animation.

illian Thomas was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in a small rural town in southern New Hampshire. Growing up, she spent most of her time outside in nature, which went on to inform and inspire her artistic career. She is graduating in Spring of 2020 with a BFA in painting.

race Vo is an inter-media artist based in eastern Massachusetts. Her research and work explore the intersection of personal experiences and Asian-American racial, cultural, and societal identities. Through museums and arts organizations, Vo is also pursuing a curatorial practice in traditional and non-traditional art spaces. In 2020, she is set to receive BFA Degrees in Painting and Art History from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

iyan Wang was born in Shenyang, China, and came to Lexington, Massachusetts, in 2012 for her secondary education. In fall 2020, she will be graduating from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a BFA in Ceramics and a BBA in Management. She intends to use her business and art degrees to pursue a career in arts management.

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