Alumni

amyhuestis.com

Amy-Claire Huestis is a Canadian artist whose interdisciplinary practice explores relationships between people and the natural world through drawing, painting, walking, performance, and creative writing. Her work investigates ecological awareness, ritual, and our connections with more-than-human environments. She has participated in residencies including the UCLA Art|Sci Center, the Bothy Project in Scotland, and J.M. Gray’s Cottage in British Columbia. Huestis teaches drawing and painting at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia.

Andrew Ortiz is a third year transfer student in the Design Media Arts Department. His recent work involves building abstract refractive projection devices. These machines consist of precise arrangements of lights, mechanisms and optics, allowing for the manipulation of light and shadow in real time in such a way that is not possible with digital projection. Aside from using light as a medium, Andrew often works with ink, creating both large and small scale abstract environments. These are sometimes executed with various drawings tools, from garbage scraps to designed, 3D printed pen-like objects. His work blurs the line between realistic textures suggesting natural forms and simple lines that decay one by one, resulting in dynamic compositions often appearing three dimensional and having qualities of optical illusions, while also appearing quite unstable and like they make break apart at any moment. SciArt Counselor, Assistant Instructor, currently Instructor Event + Exhibition Coordinator

pelling.co

Andrew Pelling is a scientist, entrepreneur, and inventor whose work bridges biotechnology, materials science, design, and creative innovation. His research explores unconventional approaches to biological engineering and the translation of scientific discoveries into practical applications. Through his startups and collaborative projects, he has helped develop technologies in the life sciences while advising emerging companies and interdisciplinary initiatives. Pelling is also a frequent keynote speaker and advocate for curiosity-driven research and innovation.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Angela Yang attended Pasadena’s Westridge School for Girls, but explored her eclectic scientific and artistic interests over the summer at UCLA’s Nanoscience Lab and Sci|Art Nanolab Summer Institute, the U.S. Naval Academy’s Summer Seminar, and Columbia University’s Materials Science and Nanotechnology Program. Additionally, she works as a research assistant for the Minnich Research Group at Caltech’s Mechanical Engineering Department. This fall, Angela will be joining University of Pennsylvania’s VIPER Class of 2021, a dual-degree program specializing in energy research. In her free time, Angela likes to explore her surroundings through food and document her adventures on Instagram.

Anne Niemetz

An Art|Sci Center alumni—will be joining us at the end of the quarter as the Bermant Foundation Resident. Anne is a media artist and designer working in the fields of wearable technology, interactive installation and audio-visual design. She is particularly fascinated by the convergence of art, science, design and technology, and she pursues collaborative and cross disciplinary projects.

Audrius "Odo" Avizienis is a researcher whose work explores nanoscience, unconventional computing, and interdisciplinary collaborations at the intersection of science and technology. As a member of UCLA's research community, he contributed to early work on atomic switch networks in the James Gimzewski laboratory and participated in projects connecting scientific research with the UCLA Art|Sci Center

Blanca Buić is a photographer and artist whose work explores perception through the intersection of image, sound, and scientific inquiry. After studying music and economics, she joined the UCLA Art|Sci Center in 2009, where she began developing interdisciplinary projects inspired by art and science. Her work has been exhibited as part of UCLA Art|Sci exhibitions and collaborative research initiatives.

http://www.clarissaribeiro.com/

Clarissa Ribeiro, Ph.D. in Arts, M.Arch, B.Arch, former Fulbright Scholar in Arts and Science, LASER talks’ chair in Brazil. With an interest in generative strategies in nature and in the algorithmic realm of computers, Clarissa Ribeiro explores form, effectiveness and consciousness as emergent phenomena in the most diverse systems and scales in both media arts and architecture. In her artistic practice and teaching, she navigates the universes of morphogenetic design in dialogue with robotics and digital fabrication, visual/media arts in dialogue with bioart/art and science strategies, exhibiting and working in collaboration with other artists, scientists, research groups and art collectives in her home country and abroad.

David S. Robert is a filmmaker, writer and graphic designer. Born and brought up in Hyderabad, India, he moved to Los Angeles to make feature films for international audiences and to study film producing at UCLA. He studied Life Science in undergrad, and in grad school he double majored in Business Administration (Marketing) and Public Relations (Advertising). He has a diploma in Multimedia Arts and is well-versed in New Media. He extensively worked as an art director and creative director in film and Theatrical Poster Branding and Advertising besides writing and directing several feature shorts. He loves dogs and horses.

dawnfaelnar.com

Dawn Faelnar is a Media Art Scientist with special interest in innovative projects that promote the beautiful collaboration between Art, Science, Design and Technology. Since graduating from the Design|Media Arts program at UCLA (minor in Neuroscience), and with nearly a decade of exposure to design development, new media and interactive technology, Dawn has been extensively involved in multimedia projects throughout the globe. Dawn spends her spare time obsessing over novelty paper, experimental music & cupcakes, and managing the continuing fundraising effort she co-founded for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan—Rebuild Cebu.

Dustin O'Hara is a scholar, design researcher, and educator whose work explores the intersections of human-centered artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, digital heritage, and collaborative computing. He is the Director of the Internet Studies Center and a Senior Instructor in the Department of Computer Science at Western Washington University. A UCLA Art|Sci Center alumnus, O'Hara has contributed to interdisciplinary research and education connecting technology, design, and culture.

Eli Joteva is a Bulgarian intermedia artist and researcher based in LA. With a practice rooted in photography and digital media, she is deeply influenced by contemporary research in the fields of quantum mechanics, neurophysics and machine vision. The core of her current research explores organic and computational memory systems in relationship to imaging processes of the past and future. Joteva’s work has been exhibited at Culture Hub LA (2020), SPRING/BREAK Art Show (2020), xCoax (2020), DA Fest (2019, 2017), Ars Electronica (2017), Sariev Contemporary (2018) Fischer Museum (2013) Queensland Center for Photography (2013) among others. She holds an MFA from UCLA Design | Media Arts, a BA in Fine Arts from USC Roski and most recently completed The New Normal post-graduate research program at Strelka. She has been a resident artist at Vermont Studio Center, ACRE, Photo+Sphere and an active member of UCLA Art Sci Center | Lab since 2016. She is currently a curator for SUPERCOLLIDER Gallery in Los Angeles, a procedural animation artist and a director of virtual galleries for multiple online exhibitions.

Ellen Ferranto is a SciArt alumna and will be sharing her fascination with scientific and technological applications of origami in a group workshop entitled “Paper Planes: Basic Folds, Structures, and Movements." Her interests include physics, history, and paper sculpture.

Hsinyu Lin is an artist / researcher / educator who studies the modes by which internet shape and gets shaped by social, cultural, economic, and political dynamics. She co­-founded voidLab, an intersectional feminist collective for women, non-binary, gender nonconforming, trans and queer people to express individual identities through arts and technologies. Lin received her M.F.A. from UCLA Design | Media Arts and is currently a Visiting Professor at Loyola Marymount University. Lin’s work had been exhibited at the Hammer Museum, IndieCade Festival, Machine Project, and Gene Siskel Film Center.

http://inaconradi.com/

Ina Conradi, Associate Professor at the Nanyang Technological University Singapore, School of Art, Design and Media, is an award-winning digital new media artist living and working in Singapore. Her works innovatively span several disciplines: digital painting, experimental stereoscopic animation, installation, architecture and new media. Ina’s research interests are in new media art investigations through art form that redefines the wide spectrum of what painting can be. Her explorations define the new pictorial experiences that translate traditional physical act of painting into variable media spaces, innovatively employing digital animation, VFX, and since 2010 stereography.

https://arkfrequencies.com/joel

Joel Ong (PhD, MSc.Bioart) is a media artist whose works connect scientific and artistic approaches to the environment. His recent works explore the visibility and audibility of ambient phenomena with a particular focus on the wind and the atmospheric microbiome. His individual and collaborative works have been shown at festivals and galleries internationally such as the Currents New Media Festival, Nuit Blanche Toronto, ISEA, the Seattle Art Museum, the Gregg Museum of Art and Design, the Penny Stamps Gallery and the Ontario Science Centre. Joel is an alumni of SymbioticA, the Centre of Excellence in Biological Arts in Perth, Western Australia, and holds a PhD from DXARTS at the University of Washington. He was a recipient of the Petro-Canada Young Innovators Award in 2020 and is currently an artist with the Biofrictions Creative Europe transdisciplinary research project. He is Assistant Professor in Computational Arts and Director of Sensorium:The Centre for Digital Arts and Technology at York University.

John Carpenter is an artist, designer, and educator whose work explores interactive visualization, gesture-based interfaces, and emerging technologies. His interdisciplinary practice bridges art, science, and design through projects involving data visualization, immersive environments, and human-computer interaction. A UCLA Design | Media Arts alumnus, Carpenter has collaborated with institutions including HRL Laboratories, the California Institute of Technology, and USC, where his work connects scientific research with creative technologies.

Kelsey Kong is a product designer whose work combines design, technology, and cognitive science to create intuitive digital experiences. She earned her B.A. in Design | Media Arts with a minor in Cognitive Science from UCLA and participated in the UCLA Art|Sci Center, where she explored interdisciplinary collaborations at the intersection of art, science, and design.

Kimberly Townes is a filmmaker, visual artist, and designer whose work explores the intersections of art, science, and storytelling. A graduate researcher with the UCLA Art|Sci Center and an alumna of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, her films and multimedia projects have been exhibited internationally. Her award-winning thesis film Zero premiered on HBO after being selected as a finalist for the HBO Short Film Award.

Marissa Clifford is a writer, artist, and creative director whose work spans digital media, visual art, and storytelling. A UCLA alumna, she studied Art History and Digital Humanities and contributed to the UCLA Art|Sci Center as Social Media Manager. Her interdisciplinary practice explores the intersections of art, technology, and culture through writing, multimedia projects, and creative collaborations.

Mary Tsang is a hybrid of sorts, specialized in both Biology and Art from Carnegie Mellon University. She dabbled a lot in rainforest research and self-taught hydroponics, and has developed a passion for "do-it-yourself" biology, citizen science, and open source learning. Since graduation, she has co-initiated a documentary web-series on DIYBio and Bioart called DIYSECT, analyzing the social-political uses of biotechnology through the lens of biotinkering. She now wavers between observer and doer, using documentary video to explore the worlds she's interested in.

Noopur Goel is a designer and artist whose work explores the intersection of design, technology, and sustainability. A UCLA alumna with a B.A. in Design | Media Arts, she participated in the UCLA Art|Sci Center while developing interdisciplinary projects that connect visual communication, environmental awareness, and emerging technologies. Her professional work focuses on creating thoughtful digital experiences through product design.

Osman Trieu is a second year undergraduate NanoEngineering student studying at University of California, San Diego. He was a part of the Sci|Art program in 2014. When he is not hovering over textbooks during the school year, Osman loves to keep up to date with the latest technology news, ski, and travel around the world. He has worked with medical and innovation companies in the information technology field and research & development for the past two years, and will continue doing so with a major petroleum company this summer. He is interested in the incorporation of smart technologies into everyday lives, at both the nano and macro scale. Osman is very excited to return this year for his second time as a NanoLab counselor.

Peter Rand is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the relationships between technology, human perception, and collaborative learning. Working across installation, interactive media, public art, and game design, his practice investigates how digital systems shape human experience and social interaction. A UCLA Design Media Arts alumnus and Art|Sci collaborator, his projects bridge art, science, and emerging technologies through research-driven creative practice.

Phorum Sheth is a biochemist and interdisciplinary researcher whose interests span biology, medicine, and the performing arts. She earned a B.S. in Biochemistry with a minor in Theater from UCLA, where she participated in the Art|Sci Center's interdisciplinary collaborations. Her work explores the connections between scientific research, creativity, and human health, with a focus on biomedical research and science communication.

Pinar Yoldas is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, and researcher whose work explores the intersections of biological sciences, neuroscience, ecology, and emerging technologies. A UCLA Design Media Arts alumna, she combines art, speculative design, and scientific research to imagine future ecosystems and examine the relationship between humans, technology, and the environment. She is currently an Associate Professor of Visual Arts at the University of California, San Diego.

Ruth West is an artist, scientist, and creative technologist whose work bridges art, biology, immersive media, and data visualization. A UCLA Design Media Arts alumna and longtime Art|Sci collaborator, her interdisciplinary research explores virtual and augmented reality, sonification, scientific visualization, and interactive experiences that transform complex data into engaging artistic environments. She is a Professor at the University of North Texas and directs the xREZ Art + Science Lab.

Sanglim Han is an interdisciplinary artist who focuses on the dialogue in, on, and around bodies. She explores and looks closely at our bodies through creating installations that incorporate with video, 3D animation, virtual reality, and real-time media performance. Her works have been presented internationally in various festivals and galleries including IDFX; Matadero Madrid Contemporary Art Center; Biennial Symposium for Arts and Technology. She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently a candidate for the MFA at UCLA DMA and a student researcher at UCLA Art Sci.

Sarah Popelka studies cognitive science at UCLA and is interested in video games and films -- how they affect the brain, how to make them better, and how to play and watch them more.

Silvia Rigon is an Italian visual artist, designer, and educator whose work explores the intersections of art, biology, and emerging technologies. A UCLA Design Media Arts alumna, she combines drawing, sculpture, installation, and digital media to investigate the human body, natural systems, and scientific research through artistic practice. She currently serves as Director of the UCLA Design Media Arts Summer Institute.

Steven Amrhein is a digital artist, designer, and creative technologist whose work explores interactive media, experimental games, and physical computing. A UCLA Design Media Arts alumnus, he has collaborated with the UCLA Game Lab and Art|Sci Center on projects that combine art, technology, and playful interaction. His practice spans game design, installation, animation, and interactive experiences.

Theresa Liu is a graphic designer and visual artist whose work explores cultural identity, anthropology, urban studies, and sociopolitical narratives. A former graphic designer for the UCLA Art|Sci Center, she combines research-driven design with contemporary visual communication across print, branding, and digital media. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is included in the permanent graphic design collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).