My artworks are X-ray-equipped mirrors, capturing the reels of my life’s “movies.” I tell stories only I can share — who I am, what emotions I feel, and why. I wish to connect personal tales with universal emotions and broader societal implications.
But how do I make people care about these tales? First, the content is key. People loved Ben Kurre Land, my dystopian comic about a future world governed by statistics. That was because, according to my friend Willow, “the world-building feels real, but also surreal.” Willow is a double major in art and data science, and she sees “Ben Kurre Land people around [her] every day.”
My artworks are X-ray-equipped mirrors, capturing the reels of my life’s “movies.” I tell stories only I can share — who I am, what emotions I feel, and why. I wish to connect personal tales with universal emotions and broader societal implications.
But how do I make people care about these tales? First, the content is key. People loved Ben Kurre Land, my dystopian comic about a future world governed by statistics. That was because, according to my friend Willow, “the world-building feels real, but also surreal.” Willow is a double major in art and data science, and she sees “Ben Kurre Land people around [her] every day.”
Yet good content needs awesome presentation to feel magical. I believe the ways people experience art should either offer visualized contexts, put them in the protagonists’ chairs, or prompt them to reflect — they thus feel the story. Technology is deeply integrated into both my content and their presentation, ultimately becoming “invisible.”
Sometimes technology works in shadow to create the content. Walking into Self Portrait 2, you’ll see walls filled with doodles and four P.D.F. (Please Don’t Fall) columns of various shapes. You see audiences’ happy faces but few traces of tech. However, this joyful experience was built on a tech foundation: every inch of the project was designed digitally in Sketch, Freeform, and Photoshop and 3D-prototyped in Blender. I mean, I only had one shot at building it in the real world. I couldn’t afford to screw up! The freedom of iteration in digital software allowed me to make everything intentional — down to the color selections and placement of images. Hey, Self Portrait 2 is basically my Horcrux!
Yet good content needs awesome presentation to feel magical. I believe the ways people experience art should either offer visualized contexts, put them in the protagonists’ chairs, or prompt them to reflect — they thus feel the story. Technology is deeply integrated into both my content and their presentation, ultimately becoming “invisible.”
Sometimes technology works in shadow to create the content. Walking into Self Portrait 2, you’ll see walls filled with doodles and four P.D.F. (Please Don’t Fall) columns of various shapes. You see audiences’ happy faces but few traces of tech. However, this joyful experience was built on a tech foundation: every inch of the project was designed digitally in Sketch, Freeform, and Photoshop and 3D-prototyped in Blender. I mean, I only had one shot at building it in the real world. I couldn’t afford to screw up! The freedom of iteration in digital software allowed me to make everything intentional — down to the color selections and placement of images. Hey, Self Portrait 2 is basically my Horcrux!
At other times, technology forms the core of the experience. A stone corridor stretches on endlessly. Outside, sceneries shift and fade. Just as you almost reach the end, music crescendos, and clouds sprawl from nowhere, trapping you in the haze. You are the protagonist. You are lost. You need to make decisions. You’ve got to care. This experience is what only AR projects like Age Of Quest enable.
At other times, technology forms the core of the experience. A stone corridor stretches on endlessly. Outside, sceneries shift and fade. Just as you almost reach the end, music crescendos, and clouds sprawl from nowhere, trapping you in the haze. You are the protagonist. You are lost. You need to make decisions. You’ve got to care. This experience is what only AR projects like Age Of Quest enable.
Yet none of my work is the result of one discipline alone. New Intersection is a game but let’s count how many disciplines it blended in. The first step was composing a film-inspired story, which materialized through animation reels-inspired storyboarding. Then, watercolor sculpts fuzzy details from childhood, and cyanotypes visualize fading memories. I composed soundtracks in Logic. I love the one called “Sunlight Through Darkness” — the music crescendos as the main character finds hope. Eventually, I scanned the physical art, modified them, and combined them into a playable prototype.
People don’t notice all these media at first — and that’s how I like it. When the story takes center stage, all the media becomes a seamless part of the experience. After seeing New Intersection, my friend David said, “If you alone can do this, I can’t imagine what you could achieve collaborating with artists from all disciplines.” I feel the same way.
Yet none of my work is the result of one discipline alone. New Intersection is a game but let’s count how many disciplines it blended in. The first step was composing a film-inspired story, which materialized through animation reels-inspired storyboarding. Then, watercolor sculpts fuzzy details from childhood, and cyanotypes visualize fading memories. I composed soundtracks in Logic. I love the one called “Sunlight Through Darkness” — the music crescendos as the main character finds hope. Eventually, I scanned the physical art, modified them, and combined them into a playable prototype.
People don’t notice all these media at first — and that’s how I like it. When the story takes center stage, all the media becomes a seamless part of the experience. After seeing New Intersection, my friend David said, “If you alone can do this, I can’t imagine what you could achieve collaborating with artists from all disciplines.” I feel the same way.
People don’t notice all these media at first — and that’s how I like it. When the story takes center stage, all the media becomes a seamless part of the experience. After seeing New Intersection, my friend David said, “If you alone can do this, I can’t imagine what you could achieve collaborating with artists from all disciplines.” I feel the same way.
People don’t notice all these media at first — and that’s how I like it. When the story takes center stage, all the media becomes a seamless part of the experience. After seeing New Intersection, my friend David said, “If you alone can do this, I can’t imagine what you could achieve collaborating with artists from all disciplines.” I feel the same way.
Education
Education
BA, Art Practice · University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) · 2025
MFA, Art + Technology · California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) · 2027
BA, Art Practice · University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) · 2025
MFA, Art + Technology · California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) · 2027
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Fata Morgana · Senior Thesis Exhibition · 2024
Worth Ryder Gallery · Berkeley, CA
Bizarre Bazaar · Group Exhibition/Vendor Event · 2024
Platform Art Space · Berkeley, CA
Age Of Quest · Online Solo Augmented Reality Exhibition · 2023
Watch on youTube
Aloft · Group Exhibition · 2021
lead exhibitor & co-curator
G-Art Museum · Nanjing, Jiangsu
Fata Morgana · Senior Thesis Exhibition · 2024
Worth Ryder Gallery · Berkeley, CA
Bizarre Bazaar · Group Exhibition/Vendor Event · 2024
Platform Art Space · Berkeley, CA
Age Of Quest · Online Solo Augmented Reality Exhibition · 2023
Watch on youTube
Aloft · Group Exhibition · 2021
lead exhibitor & co-curator
G-Art Museum · Nanjing, Jiangsu
©Copyright 2024 Sierra Zhang and Lonely Corridor Studio.