Features

In this edition of “The Five,” SVA alumni across sculpture, photography, art education, digital illustration, and more are making art that gives back to their communities and helps overcome personal obstacles.

1. A diagnosis of the degenerative eye disease retinitis pigmentosa has not stopped photographer Matt Cetta (BFA 2011 Photography) from continuing his work. “Unseen Crucible,” a collaborative project with fellow photographer and alumnus Christina DeOrtentiis (BFA 2013 Photography), is the fascinating and moving result of their mutual admiration of each other’s work, as well as countless in-depth conversations about the impacts of Cetta’s diagnosis and subverting traditional ways of seeing. A collection of mixed-media images, including a number of portraits of Cetta, “translate the complex sensory and emotional realities of vision loss into intimate, tactile images,” according to a recent piece in PetaPixel. 

“I didn’t feel like I set out to depict resilience,” Cetta says in the interview. “I felt like I had to tell a story of someone grieving for his situation. It wasn’t until I saw these portraits that I said to myself, ‘Holy s***t! I’m resilient!’”

2. Multidisciplinary artist Leo Jiminez (BFA 2001 Computer Art) loves his work as an instructor at Brooklyn’s BRIC Arts, teaching New Yorkers everything from digital literacy to filmmaking and production. In a profile in the Amsterdam News, Jiminez talks about a course he’s currently leading for older adult residents of the NYCHA Atlantic Terminal Houses about all the creative uses for smartphones, including photography and storytelling, and internet browsing and safety. 

“It’s such a joy to see them leaving the class, FaceTiming their friends and relatives about what they’ve learned,” he says. “Training in the creative industry costs thousands of dollars, so I’m so glad that in my own way, I am disrupting this system where people can access quality training for free or very little.”

3. The rise from independent animator to international film festival juror has not been without hard work for Jinghan Zhang (MFA 2017 Computer Art). In a feature in USA Today, Zhang talks about her humble beginnings growing up in northeastern China to eventually landing at SVA for graduate school and amassing an impressive resume of short films and experimental works that span stop-motion animation and 2D drawing. In her roles as thought leader, panelist, and advocate in the animation industry, Zhang “exemplifies the growing influence of Chinese artists in shaping the future of animation.” 

4. Two BFA Design alumni were featured recently in Creative Boom: New Orleans-based artist Hoi Chan (2017), and Enle Li (2015), who has also taught at the College. Chan’s glowy editorial work is inspired by marine life and bioluminescence and has been featured in publications like The New York Times and Vox. And Li is highlighted in a roundup of Chinese illustrators for his playful, geometric work for clients including Apple, Nike, Spotify, and UNIQLO. Both artists use color in dreamy ways, telling stories through imaginative and graphic illustrations. 

“My work often revolves around the relationship between individuals and the world—how we position ourselves within it, how we seek peace within ourselves and how we keep moving forward,” Chan says. 

5. Jorge Luis Rodriguez (BFA 1976 Fine Arts) is one of the artists contributing to MTA Arts & Design on the occasion of the organization’s 40th anniversary of delivering public art of all kinds to New York City’s expansive transit system. City Life reports that, “as part of the Park Avenue Viaduct Replacement project, which rehabilitates historic train infrastructure and will allow Metro-North Railroad to continue providing safe and reliable train service for generations to come,” Rodriguez has created Harlem Melodic Moments, a metal sculpture that will live at Park Avenue and 116th Street. A tribute to East Harlem’s vibrant musical history, the giant aluminum piece will be a permanent fixture in the neighborhood.