Xavier Absalom is whatever Xavier Absalom wants to be. Xavier Absalom is an artist, writer, and musician, whose works focus on the evolution of human society. Xavier Absalom has an obsession with the future and the impossibility of understanding what it may hold.

JJ Abu-Halimah is an emerging chemistry researcher, with a passion for media and creative design. Having pursued a minor in Media Arts and Design alongside his Biological Chemistry/ Chemistry double major, he had the opportunity to pursue his interests in anime and video games. This creative approach to the arts translated in his pursuit of chemistry, particularly in the development of hydrogels for regenerative medicine as he draws inspiration from food science, namely boba teas and jellies for his research. Outside of chemistry and research, JJ created a diverse media portfolio, including vlogs, music videos, a Visual Novel, a Murder Mystery Game, a Tabletop Role-Playing Game, a Card game, designs for a Platformer game, and a Civilization VI modification design. Intertwined in these projects is a core part of JJ’s being: chaos. At every corner, JJ’s leverages life’s inherent disorganization to evoke whimsy in his works. Motivated by the narrative depth of anime, visual novels, and single-player games, JJ hopes to push his audience into chaotic nature of both his personal and creative narrative, making them feel connected to the worlds he creates.

k80 ambrose is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Media Arts & Design. She has always been curious about taste and technology. Following this interest has led her to work in neuroscience labs, kitchens, and ad agencies. She got her start in digital arts editing promotional videos for her high school’s admissions department and sports teams. Since then she’s continued doing freelance video and photography work on the side while working in research positions. At the Goldin-Meadow, Environmental Neuroscience, and Cognition Attention Brain labs, she helped conduct two research studies that utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a cutting-edge neuroimaging technique. She has also pursued independent research projects, presenting her theories about nostalgic internet aesthetics at the Smart Museum and the UChicago Undergraduate Research Symposium. She is the vice president of UCPsych, an organization that connects undergraduates with resources and research happening in the psychology and neuroscience departments. She has served on the board of the UChicago Bridge Club for the past three years. Outside of school, she works as a pastry assistant at the Rubenstein Forum.

In the last few years, Jillian Amsler has watched firsthand as live-streaming, esports, and video game content have hit all-time highs in terms of viewership and revenue. Going forward, she strives to be a part of the conversations that continue this trajectory and bring in those who have no idea what they’re missing out on-- especially the women and other marginalized gender gamers that these communities have historically ignored. Jillian was first introduced to the world of digital gaming and esports when she worked as a moderator and community manager for the YouTuber Technoblade, a Minecraft player who routinely drew tens of thousands of viewers to his livestreams and curated a community of passionate fans on Discord. This experience drew her to the startup Esporter, where she worked as a digital growth intern and gained more hands-on experience managing digital spaces and social platforms. Now, she brings this experience to her own channel, where she focuses on comedic, educational content on gaming and esports.

Sophia Balabanova-Gebreab is a multi-disciplinary artist lost in time and space who is studying media arts & design, astronomy & astrophysics, and digital studies of language, culture, and history. She has studied drawing, painting, and theater for as long as she can remember and is now embracing computers and other modern technology. She has studied data privacy and the intersection of science and art in her time at University of Chicago, though lately, she has had fiber and book arts, robotics, and puppets on the brain. Outside of school, she spends a lot of time on her zine, which she has been publishing with her friend since 2019, thinking about the “grand scheme of things”, and taping whatever she finds to her walls.

Yammile Barber is a writer born and raised in Tampa, Florida as the eldest of two sisters. Growing up, she was always more interested in reading a book in the library or playing a good video game than going outside and playing with the other kids. An early influence of idol music, animation, manga, and fantasy books has always colored her creative projects. She credits her primary influences to be Eichiro Oda’s One Piece and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. After exploring several potential career paths in STEM, Yammile now aims to become a published author and work in the entertainment industry. In her free time, she enjoys playing video games, cuddling up with a good book, going to hockey games, practicing singing, and spending time with her friends.

Ryan Baumgart is a visual storyteller from Phenix City Alabama. Before coming to the University of Chicago he was a Combat Camera Videographer for the United States Air force, where he created a wide array of videos that allowed him to hone his craft. Since being at the University of Chicago Ryan has continued to make a variety of videos and recently finished his first short film that has been accepted into multiple film festivals. Ryan is inspired by the work of many different directors such as Wong Kar-Wai, Damien Chazelle, The Coen Brothers, Yasujirō Ozu. and Wes Anderson. He wants to go on to be a film director or cinematographer and eventually win an Academy Award.

Manoj Bhagwat is a prospective medical student with a diverse artistic interest outside of STEM. When not spending time studying for classes or doing his thesis research, Manoj’s creativity manifests itself through his love for music production, Japanese animation/manga, and video/photo editing; he aims to craft a multifaceted identity beyond the limits of conventional scholarly pursuit—inspired by polymaths of the past and present. Manoj’s dedication to learning is not limited to just his academic endeavors, and this curiosity is a key tenant to his personality. Since a young age, he has been immersed in the Internet and was interested in the possibilities it has. He taught himself a number of skills through the use of the web, which ultimately helped craft his creative abilities into what they are today. His pursuit of knowledge and passion for creativity continues to drive him towards new artistic horizons.

Yaochu is a Class of 2024 member from the University of Chicago who holds a BA in Sociology, Computer Science, and a minor in Media Arts and Design. He aspires to create spaces and narratives, exploring the intricacies of a medium that is capable of integrating images, text, and other media to create something more than the sum of parts. As a lover of literature, film, and videogames, he is particularly interested in confusing and imaginary virtual spaces, reminiscent of Foucault’s heterotopias, that produce unique affectional-narrative experiences. Aside from artistic practice, he is also interested in how social spaces – especially in cities, and especially in Shenzhen, his hometown -- produce, retain, and revoke collective memories, and how they relate to socio-economic processes. He is still exploring and developing his artistic practice, which involves combinations of photography, writing, and spatial design. Currently, he is preparing to pursue a graduate degree in Architecture.

The maker of Bunny is a human reincarnate on planet Earth. They are deeply connected to the woods, the Earth and are interested in nature preservation and cultivation. They believe in giving back the land. The maker studied visual arts at a public arts magnet high school where they learned the importance of play and started storytelling, practicing in a studio setting for the first time. As an undergraduate student, they became interested in the history of hypertext, interactive fiction and other storytelling forms online. The maker of Bunny was highly influenced by their experience learning about and making Twine interactive games and Internet art in college and also by their own personal experiences playing computer games and being online in their childhood. Bunny as a project was designed for the maker's siblings and to pass on coding knowledge the maker had learned in college.

Giacomo is a writer and game designer who creates narrative based games, interactive stories, and explorable worlds. He strives to craft player experiences that promote deep engagement with a game world that hopefully helps people to reflect on our own. His recent work includes an eight chapter arch for an unreleased RPG title from Castix LLC, the surreal walking adventure "Chirico Simulator," and a narrative exploration game about a dung beetle navigating by the stars.

Steele Citrone has a wide variety of skills in both the humanities and STEM fields as his undergraduate degree focused mostly in the theory, creating, and writing of games, while his masters is heavy on topics of data management, quantative analysis, and machine learning. He has a personal passion for games and the studying of them: whether that be through writing, anthropology, or design, games often drive his creative desires and furthers his understanding of people and the world around me.

Silvia Craig is passionate about using data-driven economic and policy research as a means of creating opportunities for self-actualization. Silvia first understood the importance of studying resource allocation for socioeconomic mobility through her own multicultural family. This theme extended into her gap year with the Global Citizen Year Fellowship. During this time, Silvia lived with a host family in Senegal, West Africa for seven months and then spent quarantine in France. While at the University of Chicago, Silvia double majored with a BSc in Computational & Applied Mathematics (CAAM) and a B.A. in Economics. Silvia has focused on learning how to use quasi-experimental methods for the identification of causal effects and testing of model predictions. Through coursework and research assistant positions, Silvia has identified that she enjoys working on data-driven projects that challenge her to think critically and creatively on how to address structural issues. Silvia’s research interests include social welfare programs, social insurance, education, and labor. In the long term, Silvia aims to pursue a Ph.D. in Economics. Additionally, Silvia is curious about the balance between quantitative analysis and society. While quantitative methods are powerful, she is concerned about their limitations when it comes to addressing real world problems. Aside from her majors, Silvia has a minor in Media Arts & Design that specializes on the ethics and design of modern technologies.

Memphis Cutchlow is an multimedia artist based in Chicago interested in the relationship between the subconcious, nature, technology, and the self. She uses a combination of video collage, found objects, wood & laser cutting, and various textiles and media to create art centering the splintered human relationship with their environments, their senses of self, and what it means for both to inevitably decay. She is currently a fourth year at the University of Chicago studying Media Arts & Design and Data Science, using a background that is both creative and technical to explore what it means to create in a digital age and the impacts of data-driven values on our own worldviews.

Ashley Dai is a 4th year Business Economics and Media Arts and Design double major as well as an incoming Masters in Management student at UChicago’s Booth School of Business where she will be specializing in marketing. With her blend of interests in business and game development, she seeks to highlight that the commercial and the artistic can coexist by exploring the parallels between game design and marketing strategy. She draws artistic inspiration from animated works that employ a variety of styles and mediums such as Into the Spiderverse and The Amazing World of Gumball, as well as her favorite games which range from more commercialized competitive games like League of Legends and Genshin Impact to indie titles like Stardew Valley and Hades.

Jude Denning is an artist, author, designer, researcher, and activist. They enjoy exploring a wide variety of mediums with a sense of whimsy—everything from pixel art to candle-making. They are driven by a strong sense of empathy and a drive to find the connections between every living thing. Growing up surrounded by environmentalists, they were instilled with a healthy admiration for the beauty of nature. This beauty has continued to inspire their work, even as they were drawn toward the fantastical. Jude has always been the type of person to fully invest in the worlds they love: reading every field guide, following every path, unlocking every ending, devouring every scrap of flavor text. They fell in love with interactive stories from a young age, but it wasn’t until they ran their first game of Dungeons & Dragons that they learned to love telling those stories, too. At UChicago, they studied Psychology alongside Media Arts and Design. These programs balanced their appreciation for analysis and the arts, allowing them to engage in many of their interests at once and acquire a diverse range of skills. Currently, Jude is pursuing their passion for game design and user experience design.

Sara Hoggatt is a bioengineer studying how to better understand and control the immune system. One of the tools she uses to study the immune system is fluorescence microscopy, which involves shining different types of light onto immune cells to visualize different parts of them. Sara is fascinated by the images she collects from fluorescence microscopy, and she seeks to explore microscopy through the lens of a visual artist as well as a scientist. She strives to engage scientists in art and artists in science because she believes both art and science are driven by curiosity. As an artist, she is also interested in character art and design, and she wants to experiment with making electronic music from homemade sounds. She is excited to collaborate with other artists or scientists whose goals intersect with hers.

Jack Hoppus is a Los Angeles-based Game Designer with experience working on AAA titles. Jack, in his inter-disciplinary work, strives to create a perfect balance between simple to understand, but complex to master gameplay systems. Driven by player testing and research, Jack aims to create familiar yet challenging systems for users to delve in to. With his background in Computer Science ( B.S. ) and Game Design ( B.A. ), Jack can swiftly build and prototype systems for rapid iteration and prototyping. His work on the Multiplayer Game Design team on the live-season game 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II' has shaped his design role to focus on player systems. After college, he will continue to work as an Associate Technical Designer at Infinity Ward, drawing inspiration from a large genre of games to create a uniquely compelling gameplay loop for players to interact with.

Anna O. Katz is a filmmaker working in Chicago and Los Angeles. Their work centers on the reinterpretation of historical events and figures, often in discussion with queer identity. Anna’s career has spanned half a decade in Los Angeles. They have worked in literary management (at The Gotham Group and Fourth Wall Management), in artist development (at Film Independent), and in live-action creative development in comedy (at Comedy Central and MTV). They are currently focused on comedy representation and touring. When not reading scripts, making pitch decks, or sending producer notes, Anna can be found knitting, getting lost in museums, and hiking Starved Rock State Park.

A Chicago native, Lina Yaroslava Klak grew up immersed in the arts from an early age, exploring dance, choir, piano, and theater. At the University of Chicago, she found her niche as the Creative Director of the a cappella group Voices in Your Head. From reimagining the group's branding to spearheading innovative social media campaigns, Lina showcased her talents in directing, videography, choreography, and post-production. Motivated by the power of visual storytelling, she draws upon real-life experiences to portray memories and events that are commonplace, but not always amplified. Her past works include a mockumentary sitcom (“Sounds in Your Mind”) and a short documentary film (“It Was Everyone’s Dream”); one satirizing her time as a member of her collegiate a cappella group, and the other about Ukrainian Village, which is the neighborhood she grew up in. Lina is interested in further exploring videography as an art form, and aims to continue working on producing and post-production in the film or television industries.

Cal LeDoux, as both an artist and researcher, is interested in interconnected systems. In his artistic endeavors, this pushes him towards working at the interface between different tools, pushing them together to create interesting amalgamations. Recently, his interests lie in live coding interfaces and misappropriating scientific concepts and programs. In his scientific research, Cal works on modeling the relations between the systems of the Earth, hoping to improve our understanding of the feedbacks that govern the world, focusing predominantly on atmospheric and oceanic systems and their connections to climate change. Cal is a recent graduate of the University of Chicago with a B.S. in Geophysical Sciences. He is based out of Chicago and is working within the system as an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company.

Andy is a senior studying computer science and media arts and design. He is a multidisciplinary artist passionate about painting, photography, stop-motion, and, most of all, game development. Through his work, he aims to capture the beautiful, simple things found in everyday life. Andy’s projects are best summarized as a reflection of his interests and a collection of his childhood. His work is fused with the memories that he looks back upon and the interests that drive him forward.

You Li (she/they) is a multidisciplinary designer and creative technologist. Immersed in the realms across Technology and Design, You is passionate about exploring the dynamic intersection of media and new technology to create novel experiences. In order to seamlessly bridge the gap between the tangible and digital worlds, she actively explores the potential of multimedia interaction design through spatial interaction, robotics, game design, and digital fabrication. Currently, she is researching Human-Computer Interaction at the [Actuated Experience Lab](https://www.axlab.cs.uchicago.edu/), advised by Professor [Ken Nakagaki](https://www.ken-nakagaki.com/). Previously, she worked on Human-Robotics Interaction at [HRI Lab](https://hri.cs.uchicago.edu/), advised by Professor [Sarah Sebo](https://sarahsebo.com/). Originally from Nanjing, China, You is currently based in Chicago, US. She is graduating from the University of Chicago with majors in Media Arts & Design and Sociology and minors in Computer Science and Art History.

Tara's interests lie in using design as a vehicle to give voice to socially vulnerable groups, informed by both her urban studies classes as well as her own various identities and experiences with them. Her passion is in community cultivation, and her works aim to all reflect this in one way or another. When possible, her works especially love to emphasize a variety of textures and curves, a nod to her early fascinations with fiber arts, ceramics, and other traditionally overlooked women's work. Regardless, all of Tara's design work is consistently centered around the lived experiences of the individual. Her works are centered around the margins, and Tara finds herself inspired by readings such as John Lee Clark's "Against Access" and Alison Kafer's "Feminist Queer Crip".

Daisy C. Marshall (b. 2002) is a sociologist, visual artist, and all-around meddler from Boston, MA. A self-described fandom scholar, Marshall's practice aims to question what can be considered 'art,' what it means to be 'original,' and what creative works are worth taking seriously. With experience in technical theater, video production, and sculpture, Marshall strives to engage the educational dimension of the creative process, using their position as leader and instructor to encourage fellow artists to critically develop their own artistic sensibilities. Their largest artistic influences are conceptual designers and sculptors such as Tobi Wong and Lee Kun-Yong: Artists for whom one's relationship with their mundane surroundings is naturally generative of quixotic affect. In parallel, their sociological scholarship is informed by thinkers like Goffman and Butler, and the sentiment that one's identity is a highly performative act informed by interactive social roles; Marshall further applies this identity-play to the growing sociological study of online behavior and fan culture. Beyond their more professional endeavors, Marshall is the proud custodian of perhaps the world's best coffee cake recipe.

Kyla Mullaney is a senior astrophysics student and science communication enthusiast. She works at the intersection of art and science to increase our understanding of the universe and ultimately make science accessible and exciting to all. In her research at the University of Chicago, Kyla uses observational data, programming, and numerical simulations to research the atmospheres and compositions of far-away planets. In her art and science communication work, she combines these ideas with electronics, digital fabrication, and data visualization to communicate science and create new ways to interact with the physical world. By utilizing physical interaction and intuitive learning, she works to communicate knowledge without the need for a shared vocabulary and background that often pose barriers to understanding science. The cosmos belongs to us all, and her work strives to share the excitement of learning new things about our universe.

Noah is a new media artist based in California's Central Valley. Initially self taught in basic digital arts, he later obtained formal education from the University of Chicago in Media Arts and Design where he expanded his mediums and honed his creative processes. Noah's focus in glitch art is not just a departure from traditional mediums, but a testament to the beauty of digital (and physical) imperfections. Noah's work often embraces flaws and errors not as mistakes, but as opportunities to uncover a hidden beauty in the aberrations. It is in those “mistakes” that he finds raw, unfiltered expressions of creativity. He hopes his work allows viewers to experience the convergence of the tactile and abstract world, where traditional notions of beauty are dismantled and redefined through the lens of technology. When not creating art, he is a community advocate for the City of Avenal. He believes community to be his biggest motivator and inspiration for his work, and hopes to use his art and education to bring positive growth to the Central Valley.

Waigumo Njama, a burgeoning Kenyan artist, delves into the realms of music, the internet, and fashion with a keen interest in the cyclical and nuanced dimensions of art. She is fueled by intergenerational influences transcending time, and views herself as an evolving medium, not confined to a specific practice but rather immersed in exploring the artistic essence inherent in everything. Waigumo draws inspiration from the mundane aspects of the world, finding beauty in the simplest things. Her creativity is sparked by the observation of art in everyday occurrences, and she revels in the exquisite possibilities that arise from combining seemingly ordinary elements. In her artistic journey, Waigumo Njama seeks to weave a tapestry that reflects the intricate threads of life's diverse influences.

Maggie Ottenbreit is a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics with a minor in Media Arts & Design. Her journey began in middle school after excelling at the Spatial Test Battery (STB), an assessment of visual-spatial ability, for admission to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY). At CTY, she took a variety of physics and engineering courses, and her passion for civil engineering, architecture, and graphic design continued throughout high school and college. For the past two summers, Maggie has interned at Skanska, a top global construction and development company, in their NY office. She worked with teams in various disciplines, from design and engineering to project management and logistics. After graduation, Maggie will be returning to Skanska as a Market Strategy Coordinator. From shaping skylines to enhancing infrastructure, the construction industry possesses potential for innovation, leadership, and meaningful contribution. She hopes to take advantage of all the different opportunities Skanska has to offer.

Nayna, a student at the University of Chicago, dives deep into the realms of Data Science and Media Arts and Design. She's passionate about merging technology with creative expression, particularly fascinated by how AI can amplify her cultural voice. Her journey is all about blending tradition with contemporary flair, seamlessly infusing her cultural heritage into the modern landscape. Nayna finds inspiration in the everyday, seeing artistry in the ordinary. With a keen eye for detail and a thirst for innovation, she's constantly pushing the boundaries of artistic exploration. Nayna's quest is to honor her roots while pioneering new avenues of creativity in the digital era.

Bruno Pasquinelli is a Media Arts and Design student with a focus in games. His studies have centered on horror media and emergent narratives. He believes that the narratives of analog and video games are understood and examined separately and much can be learned if they are put in conversation with one another. As a game designer, he focuses on analog games and mechanical system balancing. Often designing for classes, his works feature solid gameplay loops and tight mechanical executions. In 2023, he co-founded Slandercast Studio, a game designer collective that has put out several unique games, such as 'Til Morning, a full-motion video game written and filmed in one weekend, and At Winter's End, a dice-rolling narrative game available on Steam. As he continues his game design journey, he is always on the lookout for intriguing visual spaces to put into his next project.

Fátima Patiño-Gasca is currently a fourth-year student at the University of Chicago studying Psychology and Media, Arts, and Design. Her primary area of work is in UX design, a field that embodies the thorough understanding of individuals and their experiences with specific products or concepts. She specializes in research that uncovers the potential for innovation and interpersonal connection, and she utilizes design methods to materialize change. Through this process, she aspires to advocate for others’ needs and drive tangible impact in creative and personalized ways. Her areas of interest in psychology include close relationships, cultural influences within mental health, and the self-concept.

Meet Precious: a fun-loving and experimentational cutie patootie! Raised in Lagos, Nigeria as the youngest of four sisters, Precious has always reveled in the freedom of her own imaginative world. From a young age, she discovered solace and inspiration within this world, where she could freely express her passions and dreams. Since relocating to the United States in 2016, Precious has embarked on a never ending journey of exploration and growth, eagerly embracing new experiences and perspectives. In her artistic pursuits, Precious' primary aim is to authentically express herself, and to find joy in the process of creation. While her work primarily serves as a form of personal expression, Precious also delights in the possibility of connecting with others through her work. Drawing from her diverse array of personal experiences and cultural/social influences, Precious explores creative mediums ranging from digital art to music production. Her creative odyssey is driven by an innate desire for self-fulfillment, unrestricted self-expression, the privilege of being who she is, and the sheer joy of artistic exploration. With boundless enthusiasm and a thirst for discovery, Precious eagerly welcomes new artistic challenges and opportunities for growth.

Hannah Rittenhouse is an artist, animator, and painter based in Chicago, Illinois. She creates works that include moving images that bring art to life. From Adobe After Effects to Photoshop, she can design different motions and movements that give art a unique perspective. As digital art is her passion, she also creates paintings that represent her life and everyday experiences. From watercolors, acrylics, and oils, she incorporates diverse fonts, shapes, canvases, and paint in the work she creates. Using bright, vibrant colors is essential in the work she displays. She has always had a passion in creating and designing. The MAAD major is what brought her passion to life. Being in classes and programs that have taught her to embrace her creativity is something that has motivated her. Continuing to animate and paint have influenced and shaped her into the artist she is today.

Taiz Rodriguez is an actor and artist using writing and video as mediums to tell stories. She studied Theater and Performance Studies, Media Arts and Design, and Architectural Studies at the University of Chicago. As an actor, she has been a part of professional staff shows at the University of Chicago: Laika’s Coffin (dir. Seth Bockley), The Wolves (dir. Ericka Ratcliff), Ballad of Oedipus (dir. JC Clementz). She recently wrote and directed a theatrical piece titled White Roses which explores the lasting effects and trauma of school shootings. She hopes to highlight Latine stories and create pieces that generate meaningful connections.

Eren Slifker (they/them) is a game designer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, video editor, audio engineer, graphic designer, baker and educator. Their multi-disciplinary work spans video games, table-top role playing games, alternate reality games, game soundtracks, music for performance and installation art, video showcases, benefit concerts and more. Eren loves combining their wide range of interests and creative practices to create meaningful and novel interactive and digital experiences. Their recent projects include “At Winter’s End,” a narrative dice-rolling adventure video game about growing up, “Apple, apple.apple,” a contemplation of generative AI, artistic practice, and the link between the digital and the real, and “Life, Quantized,” a soundtrack to a performance art experience exploring the similarities between quantum physics and human life. At the core of all of their work is a love of creation and exploration of new mediums and new ways of understanding the world.

Calahan Smith - Born 2001. He is primarily a filmmaker and photographer and is the author of several short films, music videos, and audio pieces. In his projects, he combines both old and new technology, focusing mostly on the digital field, in order to create projects which are beyond their usually cheap means. Despite his love of film, he is fascinated by the democratic and minimalist nature of video and believes it to be a better avenue for experimentation and growth. Above all, however, he takes inspiration from music and enjoys incorporating many pre existing samples and sources into his work.

Nicole Stachowiak is a writer, narrative designer, and game designer who’s passionate about storytelling in all its forms. She has studied English Literature and Media Arts and Design at the University of Chicago, and designed a range of interactive media including card games, tabletop role-playing games, alternate reality games, puzzle games, and resource management games; writing everything from scripts to game rules. Nicole is most interested in creating and analyzing narrative in games, and strives to tell personal, emotional stories through interactivity, inspired by Japanese Role-Playing Games. She also serves the community on the board of the UChicago Game Design club, where she organized weekly programming to teach game design and assists in organizing community events and guest speakers.

Elle Thompson is a storyteller whose work explores the art of unbinding stories from genres and media. Her work has taken many forms, including horror anthologies, video games, interactive fiction, science-fiction screenplays, and an online bestiary of 3D models. Most recently, she worked as an artist for At Winter’s End, a cozy narrative RPG published on Steam. Her main focus and fascination lie in character design as she hopes to become a character artist for video games and animated media. She believes characters are the heart and soul of a story, and their design can change the tone, impact, and immersion of any narrative.

maatkara makes multimedia art, performs music & improv & writes critical analysis and poetry. they are currently preoccupied with creating art under the guiding thought that glitchy webs are helpful metaphors for navigating a queer Afro-diasporic life. maatkara’s experiences going to high school in China, recieving a scholarship to study French and African Civilizations in Paris, and growing up in a blended family sensitized them deeply to the act of translation as improvisation and vice versa. the language of hybridity becomes a sonic, material & visual playpen that maatkara then uses to draw from fibers, found household items/sounds, beauty supplies & clipped images/scenes from analog life to create digital collages of meaning that include the metadata and more. this kind of translation is the root of maatkara’s art exploration.

kristin is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans creating immersive environments, coded audio-visual works, projection installations, and garment design. in her process she is a strong proponent of (ab)using proprietary software and tools processes for external artistic means, and envisions an open-source future: with strong decentralized networks for artists, engineers, developers, and the like to share knowledge and assets. embracing an affinity for subversive subcultures and fringe forms of art, she draws much of her inspiration from the diy music scene, rave and street fashion, graffiti, and tattoos. a through-line in her art is a morbid fascination for, and fear of, the advancement and proliferation of technology. she is particularly motivated by investigations into a cultural phenomenon she terms “techno-spiritualism"—a god-like veneration of technology and machine intelligence. with this she also speculates, and seeks to render, a prophetic, post-apocalyptic, neo-primitive society in which technological hardware re-emerge as archaeological artifacts. her professional experience include roles in graphic design, content design, and web-development for startups, educational institutions, and galleries. more informally, she has also 3D-modeled music show graphics and set visualizers for local artists and DJs.

Kendrick Xie’s fascination with videogames and animations during his childhood ignited a passion that paved his academic and professional journey. This led him to pursue a degree in Computer Science, with a specialization in machine learning and a minor in Media Arts and Design at the University of Chicago. Here, Kendrick not only honed his technical expertise but also began to explore the potential of machine learning as a transformative tool in the realm of digital creation and robotics. Today, Kendrick’s work relates to how computers interpret can interpret the physical world. Leveraging machine learning, he hopes to ease the burden of everyday tasks through autonomous robots and create animations that are as dynamic and compelling as the games and cartoons that inspired his journey.

Noor Zalt is an artistic jack of all trades, operating as the concept artist, casting director, curator, stylist, stage and prop designer, photographer, and editor of her own photoshoots. Noor’s imagery is quintessentially editorial: she prepares magazine ready spreads with limited resources. Noor’s images are narrative driven; the photographs tell a story as rich as the supplementary writing Noor authors. Noor’s creative perspective and diverse artistic skillset is derived from her worldly background and multidisciplinary education. Noor has lived in six cities across three continents, immersing herself in their unique and rich cultures, especially through exploration and interrogation of their fashion, fine art, and literary epicenters. Noor completed a dual undergraduate degree at The University of Chicago, studying Media, Arts & Design and Psychology. Simultaneously studying such distinct subjects made Noor a natural multidisciplinary thinker and creative problem solver. Noor also spent a semester studying at The University of Arts London through their Fashion Design Exchange program, finetuning her practical art making skills and connecting her to inspiring, highly talented and driven, student and professional artists.

William is a senior at the University of Chicago majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Media Arts and Design. After graduation, he looks to pursue a career in software engineering and possibly entering the gaming industry. At the University, William has taken a variety of courses related to digital art, game design, and even music programming. He has learned a lot about game engines, game design, and also game appeals. He aims to use these new found knowledge to one day make his own captivating game.

Helen/Yixin Zhou (she/they) is a MAAD and Data Science major at UChicago. Their artistic journey begun with some unfortunate internet surfing that resulted in accidentally wandering into Baidu online forums (贴吧) in 4th grade. They have traversed through the realms of Chinese, American, Japanese, and Korean popular entertainment, including, but not limited to: secretly reading Chinese tomb-raiding web novels in incredibly small fonts on old cell phones, going crazy for Marvel in middle school, writing long comments for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fan fiction, and currently lightly drooling over selected K-pop idols. They are very interested in understanding how people produce, consume, and make meanings out of media through interdisciplinary academics, as a way to parse their own bizarre experiences with pop culture. They write (a little), dance (a bit more), make videos (very traumatic), make videogames (yikes), and read papers on fandom, BL, and all things subculture/pop culture. They find endless inspiration and empowerment in fans, amateurs, and anyone who creates out of passion and love, regardless of qualification, profitability, and popularity.