Static Physical Projects

This is a gallery of all the physical projects I have worked on with no moving pieces, ranging from functional to purely aesthetic undertakings.

Splintering

Wood and String

To me, to be nonbinary is to feel pulled constantly between two sides of the self. Caught in a push and pull, it is almost impossible to feel at peace. This sculpture, approximately 4 feet tall and constructed from wood (both new and scavenged) and delicate red string, is meant to capture the divisive feeling that characterizes my experience in discovering my identity.

Object Gratifying to Handle

Given the assignment to create an object gratifying to handle and a block of wood, I meticulously shaved away any protrusions putting pressure on my hand using a spindle sander and belt sander, resulting in a shape that melded perfectly with my palm. I then hand-sanded the final form to 1200 grit over the course of multiple weeks.

Green House

Steel, Aluminum Foil, Fake Plants

Made of a welded aluminum frame, aluminum foil, and fake plants, I wanted this piece to represent a “queered” apartment building. Queer people often form communities in urban spaces, and I wanted to create a hypothetical environment in which they could share space with each other and with nature. This is both a queer utopia as well as an answer to how we can have a future while climate change looms.

DESIGN 60: Visual Expressions

A compilation of projects created for DESIGN 60: Visual Expressions.

Visual Expressions is a hands-on exploration of the grammar of imagery. The elements (line, shape, space, texture, color) and principles (dominance, balance, unity, contrast, proportion, rhythm) of visual design are experienced and interrelated through in-class exercises and homework projects.

VIRTUAL TEXTURE AND OPTICAL COLOR

Prompt: “Using only three colored inks, cyan, (cool) red, and yellow, create three different textures, one orange, one green, and one violet. Do not mix or overlap inks. This project is concerned with the nature of visual texture, as well as the color potential in fibrous or cellular structures.”

PHYSICAL TEXTURE

Prompt: “Many designed products must be grasped or handled as well as seen to be experienced. With this in mind, create six textures that feel and appear distinctly different from one another. Textured surfaces can be produced through subtraction (carving), addition, or other means, but the same media should be used for all six textures. (Wax, soap, and Styrofoam are not appropriate media here due to their surfaces’ overbearing tactile natures.)”

COMPOSITION

Prompt: “Create a non-representational black-&-white composition where the two colors take turns being foreground and background. The composition should:

have an overall sense of unity
use one or more types of contrast
use dominance to subordinate the contrast
be balanced but not symmetrical
use no actual lines”

COLOR RELATIONSHIPS

Prompt: “Establish a basic composition such as a mosaic of squares, triangles, or other shapes that will enable you to construct a color progression from the center outward (or left-to-right, top-to-bottom, etc.).

In plate 1 make the center areas saturated, progressing unit by unit towards an unsaturated perimeter.

In plate 2 make the center light and move progressively toward a dark outer band.

Each plate should contain at least 100 distinctly different colors, with the same colors used for each plate.”

ARCHITECTURE

Prompt: “Design and construct an architectural model. Through its particular qualities of space and form, your design should address one of the following needs:

Prayer/Meditation — Museum — Drama (Theatre) — Recreation — Transportation Hub —Commemoration”

I chose prayer/meditation, and designed this foamcore structure to emulate a Gothic Church.

TEXT AS GRAPHICS

Prompt: “Successful graphic design often exploits letters and words as graphical elements (shapes). Choose a word and design the letters and/or the overall appearance of the word to visually support, comment on, or otherwise relate to its meaning.”