Digital Collections Willamette University
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Christopher Hildreth 2025
No full textThis project is a collection of three 3D models, created, textured, rigged, and animated from scratch in Blender. The characters depicted are all from an urban fantasy universe I've been making for a long time. There is Nid, the black scaled dragon girl, Amari, the mint haired fox boy, and Imu, the pink cat boy. I first made the character designs with an eye for unique gender expression through the character’s outfits and body build, but other than the animation of them, I didn't have much reason to focus more attention on those themes. My focus was the end product, and the skills I would develop to get there. Each character has their own backstory, and personality that I wished to bring alive in this animated showcase. In how they move, hold themselves, and perform. As someone with a background in 2D animation, this was a long journey of learned skills
mai ide, 2025
No full textMai Ide’s thesis explores self-discovery, nourishment, and resilience through writing and artistic expression. Her creative and intellectual pursuits serve as essential tools in shaping an understanding of authenticity and the importance of living as one’s true self. A central theme of her work is the racialized invisibility of Asian Americans in the U.S., who have historically been marginalized as the “other.” Through her research, she critically examines how deeply rooted cultural values—such as family-oriented structures and ethnic identity—shape individual lives and self-definition.
Mai also analyzes the pervasive influence of the white gaze on Asian American women, investigating how historical and contemporary racialized and gendered experiences impact visibility, desirability, and agency. She confronts the ways systemic perceptions dictate representation and how these constructs influence societal roles. Additionally, her project delves into the complexities of her relationship with her mother, using art to process and give form to her identity. Textile objects and sewing become key mediums for honoring familial connections, allowing her to preserve meaning and family history through tactile expression.
Her thesis further interrogates the racialized commodification of Asian femininity, particularly through the lens of "cuteness" as a form of delegitimization. She critiques femininity as an ego of complexity and constructs multiple corsets to symbolize layered identity and gender expression. Through this approach, she examines how notions of sweetness and cuteness function as tools for societal control, shaping perceptions of femininity within consumer and cultural frameworks.
By integrating theory and creative practice, Mai Ide uses writing to articulate her beliefs and deepen her awareness of selfhood. Her engagement with artistic and intellectual processes transforms introspection into resilience and self-expression into a powerful assertion of individuality
Myra Crane 2025
No full textCosmic Currents: Chromatic Meditations on Wonder is an immersive, drawing-based installation that explores the patterns of the natural world, perception, interconnectedness and wonder. Guided by synesthesia, scientific curiosity, and a mystical sensibility, I construct an imagined ecosystem that blur the boundaries between the microscopic and cosmic, the real and the speculative. Using watercolor pencils, ink, markers, and other drawing tools, I built a layered composition on paper that I installed into a circular environment by hanging from an steel structure. This allows viewers to enter and experience the work with their whole bodies.
At the heart of this work is a deep reverence for the patterns found in nature—fractal geometries, cellular divisions, astronomical structures—which serve as both visual inspiration and conceptual frameworks. My synesthetic perception allows me to experience colors as flavors, sounds as hues, imbuing my work with a sensory richness that is both intuitive and visceral.
This installation is not just a visual experience but a meditative one—a spiritual practice of tuning into wonder. It offers viewers an invitation to slow down, reawaken their sense of awe, and reconnect with the mystery that surrounds us. The work is personal and emotional, offering space for reflection, healing, and transformation. At its core, Cosmic Currents is about honoring mystery and navigating the fluid dance between what we know and what remains beautifully unknowable
Dylan Mead 2025
No full text‘Squander Your Potential’ is a multimedia installation, analyzing the concepts of potential, self-actualization, and all the self-sabotage that comes with being creative in the 21st century. In the context of a constructed fictional city, “Lew Nork City,” combining the signs and symbols of New York and Los Angeles, I’m questioning the role large cities play in artistic career and ambition, and what they represent for success and failure. I am using this exhibition to probe personal questions about art, career, ambition, success, and how labor affects an artist’s spirit. To the viewer, this installation becomes an immersive trip into 'Lew Nork City' and the life of an artist, inviting you to explore whether or not the idea of “potential” is something viable, tangible, or even a healthy thing to live by
Silver 2025
No full textFull Thesis Statement / Abstract:
“The Future of Design (and of the World) Is Holistic: Examining & Transcending Western Design Pedagogy, Practice & Paradigm” is a digital thesis booklet that positions design as a world-building force and posits that an equitable, efficient, and holistic design industry—and world—is vital, denouncing Western design as canon. Drawing from global pre-colonial design histories, contemporary critique, and speculative frameworks, it presents a compelling case for reorienting design education, industry standards, and everyday applications—advocating for design in service of the collective good
Mikko Dizack 2025
No full textBy utilizing simple mechanics through my designs, such as levers, wedges, and hinges, I
simplify connection and adjustability in my lamps to their most fundamental elements. This
timeless design draws from the enduring beauty of natural elements. Functionality is found
within the form. These lamps offer a kind of joy, a moment of stillness and comfort that creates a
space where people can unwind and feel at ease.
This series of prototype light fixtures utilizes organic shapes and found forms to reintegrate
natural patterns into everyday life. By blending utility and sculpture together, the light fixtures
act as 3D sketches for experimental design. By puzzling together raw material, fitting form to
function, and choosing the right mix of mediums, these designs arise from a change in
perspective. Once the design emerges from this rearranging of material, the pieces are adhered in
a way that isolates the earthly nature while disguising industrial hardware and emphasizing
originality. Ultimately, this collection of pieces will represent a spontaneous design process
based on intuition and seeking a cohesive language between materials and form
Amber Capwell 2025
Full text linkEndangered Tarot is an interdisciplinary career-spanning installation project that reimagines the Tarot as a framework for ecological reflection. By embedding endangered and threatened species within archetypal cards I aim to merge symbolism, mythology, and conceptual research to create a space for dialogue on extinction, resilience, and interdependence. Over time, the project will expand into a complete Tarot deck representing species from five countries, bridging global ecological narratives through art.
As an artist whose practice is cultivated through a desire to share knowledge and passion for the intersection of art, ecology, and social systems, this project is helping me to develop a research practice that prioritizes the urgency of our climate crisis by composing visual testaments to the interconnectedness of humanity and nature. Endangered Tarot aims to synthesize my understanding of scientific knowledge and ecological crises into more accessible visual language, referring to the Tarot as an enduring symbolic system through the lens of threatened and endangered life. By weaving together conceptual research, symbolism, and collective participation, this project and each of it’s iterations become both a personal act of stewardship and an invitation for audiences to confront loss, imagine resilience, and recognize our place in the shared story of survival
Rey Nolan 2025
No full textWhite Petals is a series of visual development pieces which will serve as concept art for an upcoming project of the same name. The story centers around Danielle Park, an investigative journalist sent to inspect a series of murders, initially thought of as cases of internal bleeding. Early on, she’s led to a mysterious abandoned church. Danielle’s girlfriend, Mary, joins her under the guise of wanting to shoot a short film. They meet with a botanist, Gabe, who is studying and taking care of the plants covering the former church. As they explore deeper, the story takes a supernatural twist as they become entangled in a world much greater and more floral than their own. White Petals is set around 2003/2004, so some of the items in the asset sheets (and the character designs) will reflect that.
Throughout this project, you will see character sheets, asset sheets, interior pieces, backgrounds, fully rendered pieces, a preview of my other work, and challenges. Part of the purpose of White Petals is to explore parts of myself that I have historically ignored and artistically depict that through these characters. The other part will be to serve as portfolio pieces and as a guideline for me to write its story and continue development after graduation. Each of my works possess an attention to detail given to the characters, their designs, their colors, and their items so that they can tell a story by themselves