Limbo
Work from the 2021 graduating class of the Illustration Program at Parsons School of Design
Loop Santo
I wrap around the block again. My fingers, toes and strands of hair Could not keep track of how many times I’ve done that. Cupping my hand beneath The wide mouth of the faucet I draw a bath to Erase the only new thing in my life: My cells. I cannot remember your kiss, Much less the way your arms wrapped Around me. The parts of me that remember have been Scrubbed and swirled away. Electricity, glass and metal, That is all I have to see you once more The heaven I experience Is one click away from hell. Maybe you smell like honey, It is hard to recall. Or maybe the phone rings true and Smell like nothing at all.
Ruminations in Limbo Madds Ellis
The tragedy is in the unknown. It almost always is, for there can be no certainties for a humankind so vast, especially when empathy is conflated with submission. We’ve learned that now. Some had already known this, but now the rest of us have caught up. Parts of the human experience—that many-limbed figure—shy from decision, from the definite, from black and white; they stay still, suspended, drawn into themselves. The tragedy is in the bigger picture. Staticity implies different things for different people; sometimes one implication is worse than another. And it’s impossible to know how to help, how to level the playing field, how to fight fair. And perhaps the answer is that there is no answer. Maybe that’s the reality and we’re simply delaying its solidification in our collective truths. The tragedy is how quickly we’ve become acclimated to discomfort. It’s how prepared we are to lay down on our swords. It’s how recklessness becomes hypocrisy, how it becomes aggression, how it becomes hurt. We acquiesce to the idling engine. We take comfort in its sputtering and aborted churns, for this means that we can finally be done. We’ve tried our best, given our all, but the car simply will not go. And isn’t that fantastic? It’s not the answer we wanted, no, but it’s an answer, and it’s an order: give up. Try again later. But the great thing about limbo—and it really is great—is that the unknown has no rules. No expectations. The clammy hand pressed into the middle of our backs draws away, unsure which direction to push us, and so we propel ourselves. We break apart and become something new, something we’ve built ourselves, something we can be proud of. We learn new words, watch new movies, listen to new music, read new books, draw new things, make new discoveries. We learn things about ourselves that we hadn’t had the time to learn in the rigamarole of Life Outside the Home. We were too busy. It’s saccharine, painfully so. But now our car has been stalled on the side of the highway for over a year, and we’ve noticed that, past the guardrails, a field stretches out toward the horizon, and flowers creep onto the pavement, and cows mull over the land lazily, and beyond the sun, behind it, maybe, there is the secret knowledge that life has been going on all along.
Amyra Atheefa amyraatheefa.com
Barbara Batista Something in the Water Instagram: @_barb_art
Gina Beneduci Nemophilist ginabene.myportfolio.com Instagram: @gina_bene
Lia Bidó Féliz limomelon.com Instagram: @limomelon
Allie Budd Vacant alliebudd.com Instagram: @allliemations
Ashley Chen Moth Speak tinyratlet.com Instagram: @tinyratlet
Crys Chen Limbo snayke.ink Instagram: @snayke.tattoo Twitter: @snayke.tattoo
Marvin Cheung Limbo
eric Cipriaso The Truth Instagram: @spaceprinceeric
Serina Clemente Liminality: The Misrememberings of Locus Amoenus artstation.com/untitled_pixel Instagram: @untitled.pixel
Jenazia Conway L I M B O Instagram: @0dd.Ball.artt
Charlotte Damson behind within charlottedamson.com Instagram: @charlottedamsonart
Sehej Dasan sofa sweetheart Instagram: @sehejdasan
Jah’china de Leon
Adriana De Paz Drifting Instagram: @myhandsonfire
Aquina Dicha aquinadicha.com Instagram: @aquinadicha
Hana Dizdarević Instagram: @frog_gremlin
Nicole Domhoff Round and Round nicoledomhoff.myportfolio.com Instagram: @mississippimilf
Madds Ellis Maybe Something In Between maddsellis.com Instagram: @blodnas
Geng Feng fengg214.wixsite.com/illustration Instagram: @gengfenganimation
Hannah Gao hannahgao.com Instagram: @hanalita
Liv Garber In The Middle of Growing Up livgarber.com Instagram: @giantpenpal
Philippa Gaughan Weeknights/7:30pm EST Instagram: @philippagaughan.art
Sebastian Hanlon LIMBO sebvio.com Instagram: @sebastian_vio
Zidie He Falling arabellahe.wixsite.com/arbl Instagram: @arbl_art
Adrianna Helfrich Revolving, Revolving askingmarks.com Instagram: @askingmarks
Leah Huang Unknown leahcatherinehuang.com
Santo Your absence surrounds me. santojacobsson.myportfolio.com/santojacobsson.com Instagram: @santojacobsson Twitter: @jacobssonsanto
Rosalía Jiménez Do you know what’s next? salianez.com Instagram: @salianez
Divyakshi Kedia Toward an image of home divdoes.com Instagram: @div_does Twitter: @div_does
Jun Kim Rise/Fall Instagram: @jkim_illust Twitter: @jyeowa
Tiffany Lai Instagram: @tifflai.tattoos
Hayley Legon In the basment of an undisclosed location legoh419.wixsite.com/website Instagram: @hayleylegon
Jenny Li Departure dewpearlart.com Instagram: @dewpearl_art Twitter: @dewpearl_art
Georgia Lim Mangosteen georgialim.com Instagram: @georgiadraws.jpg
On Shun Lo slowness onshunlo.com Instagram: @olosaysello
Ryann Logeais ribskitch.com Instagram: @ribskitch
Alyssa Markowski Zoom Waiting Room alymarkz.wixsite.com/illustration Instagram: @weirdlilguys Twitter: @alymarkzart
Reilly Metz
Ginny Munson mechanical drift Instagram: @ginny.munson
Agnes Ning how low can you go? agnesusan.myportfolio.com Instagram: @aneggmess
Rosalie Occhino borrowed time rosalieocchino.com Instagram: @rosalieocchino Instagram: @bugwithnoslug
Alexia Papavasilakis The Sticky alexiapapavasilakis.com Instagram: @ale.x.art
Natalia Petrykowska Oblivion Instagram: @n6t6li6petrykowska Twitter: @t6lly
Anirudh Pi anirudhpi.com Instagram: @anirudhpi Twitter/Instagram: @axrudh
Liv Porter Waiting livporter.com Instagram: @maitlandporter Twitter: @ohmaitland
Lily Kim Qian House of Mirrors lilykqian.com Instagram: @lkq.art
Caitlynn Ra wander Instagram: @saeheera
Taira Rice justusgirls.nyc Instagram: @tigggrrraa
Mckenna Ryan Waiting For The Rain mckennna.com Instagram: @mckennna Twitter: @mckennadryan
Morgan Saavedra-Friedman The City That Forever Sleeps morganfriedman.com Instagram: @cptcrossroadart
Sarah Velandria Judgement Instagram: @sveaterpunk
Karina Liz Velez Something vaguely cryptic velezk5.wixsite.com/karinav Instagram: @Anirak_Zel Twitter: AnirakZel
Gaby Verdooren Dualities gabyverdooren.com Instagram: @b.ruja
Joshua Washington What Am I? Instagram: @Joshua_Wahington_Art Twitter: @JoshsArt1
Katrina Wasserman Devouring katrinawasserman.com Instagram: @katrinavanalstyne
Kohana Wilson everything in the world becomes blurred when seen close up kohanawilson.com Instagram: @floralgunk
Willitao Purify willyanjiadi.wixsite.com/willitao Instagram: @willitaoo
Sung Won Yoon A question to myself
Cover: Natalia Petrykowska Title page: Zidie He Credit page: Lily Qian Design: Catrin Morgan Printed by Conveyor, Jersey City, NJ Special thanks to Hien Dinh, Jasmine Graham and Sam Morrison for your amazing support this year and to Divyakshi Kedia for checking and organizing all of the files for the publication. Finally, we would like to thank Scott Gannis, our wonderful advisor. Senior Thesis Faculty: James Bascara, Guy Billout, Amanda Bonaiuto, Jordin Isip, Nora Krug, Catrin Morgan, Chang Park, Lauren Redniss, R. Sikoryak. Senior Thesis Teaching Assistants: Nicole D’alessio, Michael Natriello.