Nathan Kromer

/

Nathan Kromer

When it comes to the human race and technology, there is a natural divide between the two. However, I see it in a slightly different way as a balance between them. In my artwork, I represent both sides in abstract ways using various materials. For the human side, I use materials such as napkins, a sock, my arm, a paint roller, and other miscellaneous objects to describe the inherit chaotic nature of humanity. The technological side uses more rigid materials such as office supplies, coat hangers, and simple objects that leave distinctive lines behind. As for the meaning of the artwork, while it’s presented in an abstract form, shows that the two sides need each other as one wouldn’t exist without the other. The chaotic nature of humans, gives way to the structured, more rigid forms of technology. This creates a slight harmony between the two, even though they are different from one another.

A balance between the chaotic side of humans and the rigid, structured side of technology. Uses many different materials to show the meaning and symbolism of the artwork. Black paint as the main medium of use, with various other materials used to provide the abstract nature of the art.

Kenny Le

/

Kenny Le

ig: @KencilArt

Kenny Le's series is a set of three mockup comic covers alongside concept art of the displayed character within the covers. The goal of the series is for Le to display works relevant to his goal in working in the comic industry through showing an example of his ability to create character and cover designs. The first part of the series is a character sheet displaying the front and back of a designed character. Character design work is common within the comics industry and is usually accompanied by a character sheet to display the character's outfit and appearance. This is used as a reference for artists to ensure they accurately portray characters within the interior pages of a comic and its cover. The other part of the series is to display the ability to create visually interesting covers and pinups depicting the character. The mockup covers are inspired by the diverse variety of covers within comics, like how one piece converts the character's usual outfit into a modern streetwear look, something that can be seen in many variant covers, and another piece focusing on using negative space. Each cover in the series will be unique in design from one another to showcase a variety of different aesthetics that is common in cover work.

Yujung Lim

/

Yujung Lim

ig: @YuJung_Lim

Art has always been in my life for the longest time from childhood up until where I am today. Now as a designer I am able to create my works digitally and visually communicate with people. I like to create cute art styles because it represents myself in a way as a unique person.

For the senior project I wanted to convey my Korean culture in a way that can get people's attention while at that same time giving information. That's when I have the idea of making stickers and create a sticker website. Everyone of all ages loves stickers because they are cute and visually attract attention. The stickers themselves will show Korean culture that people know and didn't know. The website will provide information about what each sticker represents and everyone will be able to interact with it.

Angel Linares

/

Brian Linares Obando

/

Brian Linares Obando

https://xzbelo.myportfolio.com/ // ig: @xzbelo

The project is based on connecting an element with a folkloric Bolivian Dance. Tinkus connects to earth with its earth-shattering dance style and Diablada Connects to fire with its devilish masks and vibrant colors. This project is to make the audience aware of the Bolivian Community around the area and to give a unique spin on the outfits used in the annual Bolivian Festival. In addition, by scanning the posters and cards using the Artvive app you can immerse yourself and experience art like never before.

Steven Luu

/

Steven Luu

http://www.stevenluuart.com // ig: @4art4food4travel

My artwork is a vessel for my healing. During my childhood, unlike many other kids with beautiful and happy memories, I endured hardship, poverty under Communism, and the unforgiving sea during our escape from Vietnam. Later in my adulthood, I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as a medic and the theme of death continued traveling with me. I turned all my memories into living experiences through art. The materials I used for my "Abundance of Expressions" project are items that accompanied me while serving in the military and casual everyday objects.

My artwork is a vessel for my healing. During my childhood, unlike many other kids with beautiful and happy memories, I endured hardship, poverty under Communism, and the unforgiving sea during our escape from Vietnam. Later in the adulthood, I enlisted to the U.S. Air Force as a medic and the theme of death continued travelling with me. I turned all my memories into living experience through art. The materials I used for my "Abundance of Expressions" project are items that accompanied me while serving in the military and casual everyday objects. As an artist, I have chosen the process of transformation, reinvention, and repurposing of materials to articulate my inner voice and a way to seal painful memories as bookmarks. I began my first ‘expressions’ by tracing the profile of my own head on paper, then cutting around it to construct a ‘head-looking’ box. I placed the objects into this box and sealed them with epoxy resin to enclose them. Resin is a rigid substance; it comes as two inactive liquid compounds that need to be mixed to activate them and form a solid block. The process of encasing objects became a ritual for healing my trauma. I completed this project with 128 heads. They are stacked in a long rectangular form, so viewers can recognize and listen to each specific testimony of my life.

Tina Ly

/

Tina Ly

ig: @Ly_arte_

My artwork such as creating portraits, I love to create expressions, whether subtle or very exaggerated. Something about being able to recreate and paint how someone is feeling through just slight movement of the mouth or eyebrow fascinates me. It somehow gives me a better connection with the person I’m painting, even if I haven’t had a conversation with them. The mediums that I use are oil paints, acrylic, pastels, graphite, and watercolor. My work also consists of bright colors and fantasy-like illustrations. These bright colors help bring out the mood in what I’m trying to portray, but are also very eye-catching. I like my work to be not only realistic but also out of this reality. It shows both sides of me. I am grounded, but sometimes I would like to separate myself from the world and just be imaginative.

Taryn Lyons

/

Taryn Lyons

https://www.linkedin.com/in/taryn-lyons-65a1b5225 // ig: @lyonsdesign.co

Taryn Lyons is a designer committed to curating authentic, unique, and modern brand identities. After graduation, Taryn plans to pursue a Master’s degree in art education where she will apply her design skills to teach art & design in the future. Over the last seven years, she has worked her way up to the Program Operation Manager at the Silo Center where she lead students and developed art curriculum for their programs. As a designer she is excited about creating content for brands in need. As a future Art Educator, she is excited to teach students how to express themselves by communicating through their art.

I have created an interactive conversation card game intended for elementary aged kids and their parents. The game intends to provide a safe space to learn about emotions, discuss them constructively, and bridge the gap between parents and children. The card game will include: conversation cards, parent guide (instructions), and a workbook.

Alan Maldonado

/

Alan Maldonado

ig: @mal_design98

From a young age the show Dragon Ball Z had captivated me so much to the point that I felt compelled to create my own battles between two stick figures. Drawing became my muse and form of escapism throughout grade school. By the time I graduated Highschool I took it upon myself to buy an anatomy book focused on figure drawing to take my skills to the next level. Upon my arrival at George Mason I realized there was so much more to learn and I saw the opportunity I had to grow as a fine artist. After my first year, I decided to switch my concentration from drawing to graphic design, as I acknowledged I had absolutely no digital art skills. As a fine artist, my line work does most of the heavy lifting, my style varies from cartoony, realistic, and a mixture of both. As a designer I enjoy using expressive typography, dynamic angles, and opaque or saturated colors.My goal is to place my artwork out in the real world. Specifically, in unconventional places or areas where you typically wouldn’t see artwork. Placing my work in a context such as a subway station creates a mysterious and alien effect which fits a lot of the visual design you can see in my work. I create posters that have a futuristic and extra-terrestrial tone them.

“Influence” is a story about my journey in the workforce. The narrative is told visually through photography and typography. My first few jobs were primarily in food service where I was paid astronomically low for the amount of arduous labor I provided. Following the pandemic I was let go from my retail job and ended up working mall security, a field of work I never anticipated. After half a year of working I transferred to Tyson’s Galleria where the pay was significantly higher.

Not only was the pay higher, but so was everything else. Price ranges of 5k to 20k, countless entitled characters, transactional relationships, body modifications, all the stereotypes I only saw on the internet we’re walking right in front of me.

My book aims to capture my thoughts and perceptions of transitioning into this type of environment and how I came to terms with it. My goal is to have anyone vicariously experience my journey and to have a small window into the world of High Fashion Retail.

Kevin Maldonado

/

Kevin Maldonado

tw @MAL_DESIGNS

For as long as I can remember, I have always been infatuated with visually stunning forms of art and media. Growing up as a first generation Hispanic kid with a single mother who was working two jobs 5 days a week, I had to use my own curiosity to teach myself many things and discover the world around me little by little. Along the way, I was always in awe staying up late at night watching anime, cartoons, playing video games, and watching youtube animations. I took in all of that knowledge and found myself trying to recreate what I saw. Eventually that enabled me to build a style fully focused on being professional, intentional, and dynamic.

During the pandemic I had found myself working at a car dealership. In that time I grew a strong passion for the automotive world. One thing that stuck out in particular was the Japanese scene and how much it has influenced car culture today. Drifting is the highlight of the Japanese automotive world and In this project I wanted to bring light to it by putting together a book that goes into detail of the car drifting scene from it's conception to what it is currently. The book contains history, famous drift cars and racers, and some good old 101 sauce on how to drift. This book was an opportunity for me to showcase what I enjoy visually and the dynamism that is captured in the automotive world aesthetically.

Grace Markley

/

Grace Markley

@gracieartsie

I am a mixed media artist and I create colorful and vibrant images. I go for runs and am sparked with vivid moving images that pierce my mind and become the blueprints of themes and images in my work. I work with vintage magazines, acrylic, oil, and watercolor paint, ink, and printing blocks or screens. I use material to give an aesthetic of looking into memories. Images I subconsciously chose are special to the current experience of present time. I have retrieved memories from my subconscious that I had suppressed years ago by looking at a collage I did in the past. In my work I explore themes of human suffering, male violence against women, unity, escapism, and environmentalism. I obsess over the experience of suffering and healing only to find I must overcome once again similar to the practice of enlightenment. The human experience of being here right now leads me to find that achieving peace over and over again is crucial to my work. Since I was little, I have gone through life experiencing and observing. I do not take action to change any situation. I let it happen and analyze later however traumatic or beautiful the experience may be. I realize whatever is happening in the present moment was supposed to happen or else it wouldn't have. Art has been an outlet in communicating with the world around me and understanding life.

This piece is a farewell letter to my life as a student and all the skills my hands and eyes have learned through these four years. Themes that stuck out to me in life have been how good or evil humanity can be, as well as our ability to tune into other realms of consciousness. Each panel is a perspective that represents my observations through life on earth. A place I go to for comfort and escape, a place I always hoped the world would be, and a place I see in the world today. I am meditating on a better way of living and expressing environmental anxiety as well as the isolation and division caused by modern technology. The purple panel represents my mind palace, unconfined by time and space where anything can happen. It is an escape to a healing place to deal with great issues I would like to change about the world we live in today. It is unbearable to see the wildfires, landfills, wars, poverty, animals displaced, and plastic habitats. The green panel represents duality and the good that people can do with love and sustainability, to leave our planet better than we found it as consumers. The red panel may seem like a sci-fi post-human world, however it is merely a collage of all the things I see happen every day. Buildings replace the landscape and drones replace the stars. Construction orange fills the city. A texting driver throws his cigarette out the window.

Fernando Martinez

/

Fernando Martinez

http://tribeonedesigns.com // ig: @Tribe_one_art_usk

Solo Los Muertos Saben La Verdad!” (Only the Dead Know the Truth). As a Latino of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, this statement encompasses the spirit of Fernando’s art. Fernando “TRIBE” states, “Death for Latinos is celebrated and embraced, we have an intimate relationship with death.” This is commonly expressed using the symbolism of the “Calavera” or “Sugar Skull”, which is one of the recurring themes in much of his work.

Born in East Los Angeles and raised in California’s San Fernando Valley, TRIBE first took notice of graffiti at about the age of twelve. At that time, the letterforms he had seen throughout the city became a constant vision in his head. TRIBE started writing his own graffiti on the streets of the San Fernando Valley, bus stop benches, grocery store shopping carts, and street signs throughout the city. He drew inspiration from graffiti writers such as RISK, SKILL, HEX, and SWAN. Through graffiti TRIBE has been able to create mixed media filled with intense color and vibrant patterns that are reflective of his heritage and culture.

TRIBE’s work celebrates a mixture of styles that characterize the comic art style of the 90s. He paints Calaveras on canvas, using contrasting as well as complementary colors by way of both enamel spray paint and acrylic brush paints or soft pastels. Using tie wire, he creates three dimensional sculptures of life size Calaveras. These Calaveras represent a perspective of the unknown; for him they are an emblem of what death may or may not be, and a glimpse for his viewers into what he envisions it would be like for skull and bones to come back to life. Tribe has been exhibited at the virtual exhibit “Fear in Technicolor” at the Anxious Tomato Online Gallery from Oct 1, 2021, through Oct 31st, 2021, at “Rewired” a George Mason and NOVA Juried Exhibition at the Gillespie Gallery in 2021, and at the Newhall Community Center Group Show, “Around the World Holiday Traditions” Nov 1, 2021- Jan 7th 2022. Tribe can be reached by email at Tribe@tribeonedesigns.com or from his website Tribeonedesigns.com

The "Vandal Kit" is the start of and a glimpse of a larger project. The Kit will contain a carefully curated array of tools often used by graffiti writers. The motivation behind creating this box is to expose the viewer to graffiti writers and their mediums. By extension this collection can be used to ignite a conversation about the necessity of providing public art spaces where socio-economiclly disadvantaged youth can grow and develop their skills in a safe and encouraging atmosphere.

Kelly Miller, Jr.

/

Kelly Miller, Jr.

kmillerjr.myportfolio.com

Through my multidisciplinary journey as a designer, I’ve found myself very drawn to UX/UI and web design/development. I feel that these two areas engage the analytical side of myself, along with possessing the potential for artistic expression and creative problem-solving. Using my love for music and lifelong admiration of illustration as wells of inspiration, I consistently aim to create designs that build connections with others.

There are many musicians that are looking to start a band or find other musicians to collaborate/play with, whether it be professionally or casually, and there are many bands looking for musicians to fill a vacancy in their lineup. As a musician myself, I understand that finding other musicians or potential band members can be a challenge for some, and is something that I've struggled with over the years. Using my and others’ experiences as a guide, for my senior project, I designed Polyphony, an app that can help musicians and bands find and connect with each other, whether it be locally or worldwide. I went through the UX research process to help define the app's purpose and features, including user goals, user research, competitive analysis, and sitemapping, culminating in an interactive prototype. I also made a small UX case study booklet/website to help give the app some context in a gallery setting.

Jocelyn Moore-Gayles

/

Jocelyn Moore-Gayles

https://jaemg.myportfolio.com/ // ig: @kurohtak1 // tw: @kurohtak1

12 years of work, and what do you have to show for it? What can you look forward to? Was it all for nothing? "Is This The End" is an end-of-goal memoir written and illustrated by Jae Moore-Gayles. It recounts their final thoughts as a college senior. Exploring their understanding of gender, sexuality, neurodivergency, and finding self-worth outside of the capitalistic grind. Through the eyes of a Black Nonbinary Lesbian, they finally get to ask themselves, “Is this the end?”

Gaelin Murphy

/

Gaelin Murphy

https://caoilin8murphy.wixsite.com/astra-knights // ig: @astra_knights

Connection is an especially important part of my art. I want to form a connection between the viewer and the art in a personal way. To create that relationship with the viewer, I focus on storytelling and creating a story itself through set dressing, such as what items are in the room or what the culture of fashion dictates based on the subject’s clothes, and what I allow the viewer to see verses what they do not see. The stories are often bold in nature, focusing on subjects and issues that I don’t see explored commonly in artwork. Such as the struggles of dealing with the guilt of terrible actions and the growth no one sees and carrying the weight of trauma that makes living unbearable.

I approach these subjects usually with digital 2D animation or video art, due to how personal these subjects are. I tend to stay close to my comfort zone with my medium and style of choice since I’ve been doing it for over 6 years. I present these subjects similarly to chucking a baseball as hard as you can at someone’s face, with desperation to get the negative feelings out with little regard to how it affects the person on the other end. Often, I feel alone in my own headspace, and I use art to connect with others. I’m awful at expressing how I feel with words. I feel desperate to get my feelings out even though while making the art, nothing would make me feel better than to give up. The connection I’m searching for isn’t as skin-deep as I stated at the start, I’m looking for a connection that makes the pain more bearable. The connection between like-minded people. The connection with those who don’t understand but are scared for me. Any connection would be the connection I want. Me being seen as I am and making a connection with others is all I want.

Guilt is something we carry with us years after the fact. It continues to haunt us and taunt us with what we had before and what we lost because of what we did. Sherwin is in the middle of a major depressive episode that has been going on for months after his girlfriend, Lanie, left him and as a matter of consequence she was assaulted by Sherwin’s closest friend. Wracked with guilt, he has lost all sense of time after the event and is haunted by severe hallucinations of past events leading up to Lanie’s assault. He awakes everyday to go through the motions of hallucinations to punish himself in his own personal form of hell. He wishes to constantly remind himself of the good he had and how it was his fault Lanie left and how it was his friend who assaulted her after she was no longer his, making her assault indirectly his fault. Sherwin’s inability to let go of the guilt of his past actions is a cautionary tale of the dangers of allowing your guilt and past mistakes manifest in a self-destructive way. I have the stance that if you feel guilty for your past actions, you have already grown past the person you once were.

Larry Nguyen

/

Larry Nguyen

I believe storytelling is an art form that effectively draws out emotional responses from its audience. Books, films, and even games can make us cry or laugh because of its story. The stories I create are in the form of comic books because I mainly draw. The themes of my stories relate to the human spirit such as its strength and flaws. What I want for my stories is that they become vehicles that can withstand the onslaught of time to reach readers from all over and resonate with a part of their soul. I have so many ideas that come to me spontaneously that I struggle to write them all down. Few of them become fleshed out but am compelled to bring all of them to life. The reason behind my motivation is that I love a good story. I love characters that remind me it’s ok to have flaws because that’s what being human is. The great emotions I want my readers to feel are emotions I have felt when I experienced great stories. Good stories can outlast many things, including the creator. I hope that as people remember my stories, they will also remember my name as a form of life after death. Every time I draft up a comic with my pencils and pens, I remember what my favorite stories did for me. They gave me the strength and courage to pursue my passion and I hope my stories will do the same for someone else.

What if a digital person were to create a physical comic? What would it be or look like? How would it be received by a physical audience? How would a physical audience react to a digital creator? This previously one-sided physical relation between creator and comic now flipped brings forth possibilities on what could be real or not real. A dog in a comic is not real to us but is real to the characters that interact with it. So, does that mean a digital person creating physical work can produce something that is real to us but not themselves?

The physical relation between creator and comic is one-sided. The creator is always physical and the creation could be physical or digital. Because of this, people tend to favor physical creations and some would ask “Will print media die?” as technology advances into our daily lives. I believe that it does not matter how a story is presented. If the story can capture the hearts and minds of people who experience it, then it transcends both of those two states and its existence becomes immutable.

Luan Nguyen

/

Luan Nguyen

ig: @lululauncelot

Luan Nguyen is an aspiring concept artist who creates digital illustrations of imaginary objects, environment, and characters. For the senior Project, Luan is designing three character concepts for an internship at Riot Games. To challenge himself, he is narrowing the themes of the characters down to a nautical theme where each character represents a different culture and aesthetic. The goal of the project is to combine real world element with existing culture or historical design. For example the first character is a shark with pirate motifs and the second character is inspired by polynesian aesthetic combined with manta ray motifs. An additional part of this project is to document the entire process of character creation. This includes sketches, iteration, research, and the final illustration. The project is formated like an industry standard character sheet. With this project, Luan will use these character to apply for internships within the video game/ entertainment industry.

Michael Nguyen

/

Michael Nguyen

My name is Michael Nguyen, I come from a family of artists; one is a musician, one is a film guy and one is a writer/dancer and so visual arts is my forte. All of our inspirations come from storytelling in film. We love how a story can be told through film so each us chose a discipline to tell our stories in; that is my goal every time I create.

One of my friends told me to do this project based on something that I love. Martial arts has been a part of my life for so long so this was the perfect subject to do my project on. When the UFC first debuted in November 1993, fighters from various martial arts came together to compete and see who was the better fighter and what was the better style. This trend dominated the sport in it’s early years but as the sport grew, athletes became more well rounded, rather than being single style specialist.Casual fans of the sport still see this as an eclectic sport, where its style vs style. My project will show that this is a transcendent sport, where it transcends the component martial arts into an entirely new skill set: Shootboxing: Integration between striking and takedowns in the open position Clinchboxing: Integration between striking and takedowns whilst locked in a standing clinch Fenceboxing: Integration between striking and takedowns whilst propped on the fence Grappleboxing: The skill of striking, positional exchange and submissions whilst on the ground.

Phillip Nguyen

/

Phillip Nguyen

https://pqnguyen00.wixsite.com/my-site-3 // ig: @_phillipnguyendesigns_

Hello, my name is Phillip Nguyen and I am Graphic Design major. I am disciplined and creative professional with many years of high value hands on experience with graphic design, handling several simultaneous creative design projects, brand guidelines, animation, and visual impressions.

Mental health is one of the popular topics that pops up constantly within the ages of 16 - 25. What I wanted to create is something that will motivate you moving forward instead of just a "game" to escape sadness only for you to return to that specific emotion. This will help long term goals and strengthen your mindset for your purpose.


Jenny Ong

/

Jenny Ong

jennostudio.com // ig: @jennostudio

Hi! I’m a versatile graphic and web designer dedicated to achieving timeless, authentic solutions for design issues. During my time at Mason, I have made lifelong friends, discovered my passion, and grown a love for typography. I am incredibly proud of myself and my peers for everything we’ve accomplished here. Moving forward, I aim to be an established, respectable designer recognized for branding, packaging, and web design.

To connect with my roots, I designed a mooncake packaging set to honor my culture and family. This project holds great intimate value to me as it embodies and merges my cultural identity, family, and passion—the things that are most important to me. I enjoy seeing my work exist in the physical world, so packaging was the perfect form for this project. Each mooncake box has a unique message dedicated to my mom, dad, older sister, and myself. I adore that I am able to give each of them a piece of this project, expressing affection while also sharing my passion with them.