RISD Graduate Study Poster 2018/19

Graduate Study

Leekyung Kang / Printmaking

A. Gavin Zeitz / Landscape Architecture

at Luci Jockel / Jewelry + Metalsmithing

Marie Otsuka / Graphic Design

David Waite / Architecture

Xiaohan Li / Digital + Media

Anjuli Bernstein / Textiles

Karin Forslund / Glass Jay Simple / Photography

Nick Durig / Furniture Design

Christian Ruiz Berman / Painting

Dave Pittman / Industrial Design

Ziyao Wang / Interior Architecture

Nicholas Oh / Ceramics Ellie Tomlinson / Sculpture

Rhode Island School of Design risd.edu

Erick Medel / Photography

Anina Major / MFA in Ceramics

graduatestudy.risd.edu

Liat Berdugo / MFA in Digital + Media

Graduate students spend most of their final year at RISD making a significant body of work that presents a personal point of view.

At the end of spring semester, final work is shown in the Grad Show, a much-anticipated exhibition open to the public.

Each graduating student is given space for showcasing their work and a complementary exhibition at RISD’s Sol Koffler Graduate Student Gallery offers the opportunity for additional public engagement. A number of departments also sponsor discipline-specific thesis exhibitions in New York to give new graduates an opportunity to connect with a wide range of art enthusiasts.

I like the space between the digital and the analogue, the virtual and the physical, the technically precise and the messily imprecise. I like to throw unexpected things together and let art be the spark across poles of apparent contradiction—a spark that unhinges, recontextualizes, provokes and delights.

Writing helps me to clarify my thoughts and make decisions about materiality, technique and the message I want to convey through a piece. At a time when inclusivity matters so much, I am inevitably contributing to that discourse.

Julia Gutman / Sculpture

Rhode Island School of Design

Writing is an essential part of graduate education at RISD, with a final written thesis considered a natural extension of studio practice. In the process of organizing and articulating their thoughts in writing, students are often better able to clarify the core concepts and basic rationale underlying the work.

Graduate Student Work

Ultimately, the goal of a written thesis is less to explain the work than to help students clarify and articulate the thinking behind it. Each student’s thesis book becomes part of the collection at the RISD library, contributing to a publicly shared repository of new knowledge.

Working with a thesis advisor and review committee — generally a RISD faculty member and outside professionals from a wide variety of fields — helps provide a rich and rewarding environment for critical dialogue. Students also often turn to peers and professionals in the Center for Arts & Language for additional assistance in thinking through a final book.