Undergraduate Visual Art

Analog Memories, 2023 is a collection of film negatives taken from my family’s archive. They were scanned and edited digitally, revealing the fuzziness that can come from childhood memories. It also explores the idea that childhood “memories” might just be knowledge and remembrance of the documentation. 

WHEREHASMYAURAGONE? Self-Portrait, 2023 is a video compilation of home videos and self portraits. These videos and photos have gone through a system of transformations, reproductions, glitching through data manipulation, which includes programs such as Touchdesigner, or through the actual text file of a visual image. Home videos have been captured through an old IMac capturing the video from the original MiniDV tapes. Audio in the video has been pulled from the data or self-portraits and transformed into sound. This piece includes contradictions of media and systems. Media is transformed into others just to be transformed back, never being able to get back to the original— questioning the concept of ‘Aura’ from Walter Benjamin.

Fresh Cut Grass, 2023 is a multimedia piece, using candles, old home videos, and a final video as documentation. This work is based on the connection between scent and memory. Using my own experience, I chose to pay homage to the weekend getaway where I’d go in Upstate, New York. Whenever and wherever my nose catches the scent of fresh cut grass, I’m immediately transported to all the weekends at that house right off route 10. I created three candles, all scented like fresh cut grass. They all contain wire sculptures. The first, Route 10, represents the mountains and winding roads of Route 10, passing through Jefferson. The second candle, On the Tractor, is an abstract line drawing of little me on a tractor. Finally, Duck!, a candle that contains a mini badminton net, warped to the shape from when my childhood friend rode under with the ATV, getting his nose caught in the net. 

Rooted In, 2023 is a video piece created in collaboration with fellow artist Qianjing (Gigi) Li. It depicts a strange and repetitive dream sequence, receiving much inspiration from early experimental film artist Maya Deren. The two films stand on their own, but when watched together give into plots and imagery that connect.

Musical Hallucinations, 2023 is a video art piece inspired by the writings of Dr. Oliver Sacks on the neurological condition of musical hallucinations. These auditory hallucinations can include loud, repetitive sequences of notes and music. Although there are similarities between patients, there is a range of possibilities with each case.