Mason Gross Design Thesis Exhibition 2024
Where have you been? is an inquiry that melds time and location into a singular entity. It is a call to reflect on our interests, histories, and experiences that have shaped our voices. It is an explanation and celebration of the design class of 2024’s time stories as designers and individuals. We invite you take a look with us!
Mason Gross Galleries
33 Livingston Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ
Exhibition Dates
April 13 - May 12
Opening Reception
April 18
6pm - 9pm
Audrey Arias-Justo
Dedicado a los Abuelos Braceros y sus hijas y nietas.
The Bracero program, a significant chapter in American history, is often overlooked in U.S educational textbooks. Recognizing that this part of American history has been mostly secluded to higher education spaces, “398,850” challenges this confinement. The presentation of research findings and archives uncovers and spotlights underrepresented narratives of rich Mexican-American ancestral history, giving these untold stories the recognition they deserve. This journey is not solely about understanding the past; it's about igniting conversations, inspiring change, and honoring the legacy of my Abuelo Bracero and the thousands like him.
777 is a multimedia piece that looks at the way we indulge in fantasy + desire through romantic comedies and gambling. The viewer can partake in a slot machine that promises love + intimacy.
Disha Basu
Shriya Chanduri
Emily Arscott
Welcome to Sustainasip, our mission is to provide a sanctuary where people can gather, savor soothing drinks, and enjoy treats—all while making eco-conscious choices. Immerse yourself in the sensory experience as we proudly serve beverages in reusable clay pots made from red clay, contributing to the reduction of single-use waste. Sip sustainably, and take step back and enjoy the moments with a loved one while you help this mission.
Emma Cicala
“Now that I’m a woman, everything is strange.”
Amalthea, The Last Unicorn "Femme" is an exploration of femininity and the powers that be. It touches upon themes of watching and being watched, reclamation of the body, gender as a performance, among others. Overall, this project is a discussion of myself, my identity, and my relationship to womanhood and queerness.
Personified Product is an interactive box that mimics vintage brand packaging to show the symbiotic relationship between social identity and consumerism through a combination of nostalgia and contemporary commentary.The box itself serves as a metaphor for the packaging of identity within society, inviting participants to contemplate the ways in which external influences shape personal narrative.
Merardo Yanes III
"Cuban Collage Cars" examines the Classic Car Culture in Cuba as a collage of narratives of Cubans living in a Communist country. In Cuba, cars symbolically have given a sense of ownership, opportunity, and empowerment to the Cuban people. Since its invention in 1886, however, cars have become more expensive than ever, traffic has rendered them more inconvenient, and the fuel which powers them harms both human health and the environment. Reimagined, the car has the potential to solve many of the world’s problems. As such, this project also invites the audience to answer the question: how can we make cars great again?
Megan Jones
An embroidered tapestry including personal journal entries, images of hyperfixation, and reflections on neurodivergence which is suspended in the air such that both sides of the tapestry are visible. The nature of embroidery mandates a "front" side (on which the desired image is created) and a "back" side (a distorted, unreadable negative of the image which isn't directly controlled); I want to use this quality as an analog for neurodivergent thought.
Hope Fedun
Thoughts That Don't Rhyme is an installation representing observing intrusive and obsessive thoughts. The installation is intertwined with anxiety and humor and is meant to give the sense of chaos and ordered disorder.
Amrita Menon
Echoes of Home is a publication depicting how my connection with my home city and my relationship with my family has changed after growing up into adulthood and going out-of-state for college. Personal stories are shared using my own childhood photos and an in-depth conversation with my mother. It touches upon themes of memory, nostalgia, and displacement and their interconnectedness in my personal life.
Justyn Morris
Bleary Pavement of Joy, Pain and Metal Gates: A Silence Fair Project is an experimental exploration of a poetic design system. Birthed from concepts of the hidden, the silent, the obscured and the erased. Navigating through the world with these attachments or "LACK OF" to life, history, being, and personal function is what is observered and applied to this system. I am aiming to subvert the conventions of legibility and the structured, pushing forward what can be communicated through "meaning" alone. Through a fully fleshed out typeface, original poetry, a music piece and more, I pose the question: how do you shout what voice can not utter?
Ryan Morales
mr_fbaum.exe is a series of simply animated vignettes following a terrorizing journey through cyberspace. The work features multiple medium and styles of animation and can be experienced at the desk of Mr.Fbaum himself.
Ice You
Zines
Mikoto Ozawa
Languish, language and anguish of belonging - Ketu Katrak Two Peas of a Pod? explores the multivocality of cultural identity and memory through my complicated relationship with food. The culmination of this exploration is two publications—India Food Diary and US Food Journal—and an installation that contextualizes the environment that led to the creation.
Fiona Pan
Our Laundered Past
Brendan Saychaleune
"Regarding childhood with an adult sense of maturity."
'Toybox' is a surrealist self-portrait photography collection driven by the vision and creative direction of my inner child. Through the fusion of fashion, photography, and photo manipulation, I use my adult artistic expertise to materialize the vivid imaginations of my younger self.
Donna Roes
Scamair is a fictional airline that has been brought to life through the use of branding and design. Inspired by personal and honest experiences with air travel, Scamair is an airline like no other. By featuring different product mockups, a pamphlet, an audio piece, and posters, one will be insterted into the irritating yet intriguing world of Scamair.
Anabel Tejeda
The New(ARC) explores the architectural scene of the largest city in New Jersey and how it fits into the cultural life of Newark. Through a dual perspective (My own and historical), its audience will be able to get an insight into the city that has become a big part of my life as an immigrant.
A surrealistic animation where the protagonist travels through their subconscious as they dream, filled with symbolic imagery and landscapes. As they delve deeper into their dreams, they encounter past memories, their deepest desires and frayed emotions. This journey ultimately unveils paths to self-discovery and enlightenment.
Julia Varman
Henry Wang
Why do you create? What is your value as a 'creative'?
'Creative Capital' is a self-reflective thesis that can be played in the form of a card and board game for 1-4 players. It is designed to interrogate our reasoning for why and how we decide to be creatives. Under a capitalist society, the value that artists and designers provide often gets reduced to a commodity. I hate that reality, so how should I navigate around it?
Is the point of art and design just to make something look pretty and entertaining? Is it to sell for profit and grease the cogs of capitalism? How can we balance the art we make for ourselves and the audience that values it? How do we build a creative career so that we not only survive as creatives but thrive and protect the soul of artistry we all have? I don't know, I don't have all the answers, lol. But this thesis is a start!