2021 KI Senior Show Screening

Devon Arnold

Devon Arnold is a multimedia artist from Roanoke, VA currently living in Richmond Virginia. She works primarily in video and animation that focuses on personal internal and external struggles. Her work explores visuals through experimentation and abstraction of the body and its form leading to elements of fear, loss, destruction, and acceptance. She plans to graduate from VCUarts with a BFA in Kinetic Imaging in Winter 2021.

Lauren Baines

Lauren Baines is a Jamaican-American multidisciplinary artist. Born in Alexandria, Virginia and currently resides in Richmond, Virginia. Lauren received her BFA in Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University. In her work she explores themes of cultural identity, music, race, Afrofuturism, and personal narrative. Her process includes collage, 2D animation, video, and photography. Through these mediums, the artist explores ways she can build her narrative and reality using intense and harsh linework. Check out more of her work on her website, https://ivyabaines.myportfolio.com.

Mason Bragg

Mason Bragg is an artist based in Richmond, Virginia, and will earn his BFA from the VCUarts Department of Kinetic Imaging in 2021. His work explores themes of transformation, passion, and the otherworldly. He utilizes mediums such as 2D and 3D animation, installation, film, sound, music, and illustration in a variety of combinations. Bragg values collaboration and authentic expression as a means of exposing inner truths. He hopes to continue his practice by working in the multidisciplinary field of film production and dreams to eventually establish his own production company with the pursuit of bringing ideas to fruition.

Lawson Cumming

Lawson Cumming was born in 1999 in Richmond, VA, United States. He is expected to receive his degree in Kinetic Imaging at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2021. Lawson works in a variety of 2D and 3D mediums and has already been included in various projects including painting the “Spirit of the James” mural and the Cefalù film festival in Cefalù Italy. Lawson currently works as a freelancer and animator in Richmond, Va. His work can be found at https://lawsoncumming.myportfolio.com/

R Fenstermacher

R Fenstermacher originates from the most cow-filled part of Mt. Airy, Maryland, and will receive a fortieth lanyard and a Bachelors in Kinetic Imaging from VCU in 2021. R’s work, extending from motion graphics to oil painting to sound reconstruction and beyond, tends to turn its focus towards the interpersonal and the narrative; above all, however, she strives to achieve Ultimate Silly. Post-graduation, she will be both deeply iconic and extremely hireable. Unless and until she is hired elsewhere, R can be found in Richmond; more specifically, she can be found under your employ, because of how cool and useful her skills are. Did you know she plays the banjo? How crazy is that? What year is it? Find out how badly you want to recruit her at bit.ly/fenstermachart.

Grayson Gigante

Grayson Gigante lives in Richmond, Virginia and is a Kinetic Imaging student at VCU. His work explores the experiences of living with schizophrenia, relationships between the self and the body, and the connections we have with our environment. Grayson works primarily with animation and paint, and his work can be found on Vimeo.

Emily Hall

Emily Hall currently lives in the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia. She has a passion for animation and illustration, and hopes to work for an animation studio after college. Her work deals with themes of femininity, religious imagery, and mental health. Her work can be found on her Instagram page, @carpet.witch. 

K Jordan

K Jordan is an animator, filmmaker, and musician from Chesapeake, VA. Her work navigates both ugly and beautiful intricacies of the world through digital and physical materials. Her work can be found on her website https://www.maksxworld.com.

Kevin Le

Kevin Le is an animator, and filmmaker from Springfield, VA  and is currently residing in Richmond, VA. He uses animation in a volley of techniques and methods to create stunning works that correlate with the past, whether personal or historical. His works can be found on his website, https://lekt886a4.myportfolio.com/.

Kristen Marshall

Kristen Marshall is a multimedia digital creative who was born and raised in Chesterfield, Virginia, where she currently still lives and works. In May of 2021, she will receive her BFA from the Kinetic Imaging department at Virginia Commonwealth University. Marshall’s work utilizes various mediums such as video/film, writing, and sound to navigate narratives that interrogate personal, social, and political experiences of her own, as well as others. She is interested in exploring these observations of the surrounding social environments to serve as inspiration for creative storytelling.

Grant Mistr

Grant Mistr was born in 1999, and has lived in Richmond, VA since. He plans to graduate from VCU Arts with a BFA in Kinetic Imaging this spring. Grant is primarily a 3D generalist, whose work takes a cinematic approach to highlighting issues and ideas. He plans to work in game development or film VFX post-graduation. View his work here: https://vimeo.com/grantmistr.

Claire Paisley

Claire Paisley is a photographer, filmmaker, and animator currently living in Richmond, Virginia.  Her work focuses on capturing beauty in the details of everyday life and hopes to inspire those who view her work to look at the world with a closer lens, finding beauty in unusual places.  Her work has been featured in local film festivals including Richmond’s 60 Second Animation Film Festival.  Her work can be found on her website, www.clairepaisley.com.

Lote Patterson

Lote Patterson was born and raised in Richmond, VA and will receive his BFA in Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University. As an artist, he works with Video and sound as a medium and has written and performed comedic skits in his work. He uses comedy often as a means of social commentary. His work can be viewed on his website www.lotepatt.com. 

Bryce Ramsland

Bryce Ramsland is a Baltimore-born 3D Modeler and Videographer.  In 2021, he received his BFA in Kinetic Imaging at Virginia Commonwealth University. Ramsland’s work mostly focuses on themes of mental illness, ego, and the soul. Ramsland is currently living and working in Richmond, VA. 

Megan Sass

Megan Sass is a Norfolk-born animator and illustrator based in Richmond, Virginia. She is currently earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University and often works with themes of mental health and trauma through a humorous lens. Though proficient in other mediums, Sass’s work tends to center around stop motion and clay animation. Her website can be found at https://vimeo.com/megansass, and her Instagram is located @megans.ass_art.

Abby Signs

Abby Signs is an artist originating from Suffolk, Virginia, and is currently residing in Richmond, Virginia. She is in her fourth year of attendance at Virginia Commonwealth University to earn her BFA in Kinetic Imaging. Signs works primarily in animation and digital media, where she focuses on building worlds and narratives in relation to science fiction, climate change, or self-discovery.

https://abbysigns.myportfolio.com

Grayland Smith Jr

As an artist, Grayland strives to create immersive experiences utilizing sound, animation, and video. He explores innovative mediums such as Ar/Vr, Web GL and soon NFT’s to deploy immersive content. Through a unique perspective, he focuses on relatable human topics. His purpose is to create scenes full of energy depicting emotions in an explicit way rather than identity. Leaving the concept at hand universal and not bound by time. Grayland’s creative process is a structured strategy of going with the flow, allowing room for exploration and innovation.

https://landagency.myportfolio.com/

JaDazia Stanifer

JaDazia Stanifer (Jaw-Day-Zjah) is a Black character designer and animator residing in Chesapeake, VA. Throughout her time at VCU, she has utilized many opportunities, applied herself, and gone on many adventures, such as: getting a Benjamin A. Scholarship to study abroad at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea, a travel stipend to The One Club’s: Here Are All the Black People Expo in New York, and becoming a 2020 Siggraph Student Volunteer. While at VCU she has also had a few leadership positions like being the Vice President of The Animation Club@VCU, the Public Relations Chair of LiNK, an Official Department of Kinetic Imaging Representative, and she is also a member of the Japanese Student Association, Black Art Student Empowerment, and Black Excellence. As a VCU Globe student, she has volunteered at various events and elementary schools within Richmond’s community. She was also selected to attend the Black n’ Animated x Women in Animation Storyboarding Class in 2020. Recently, JaDazia has received a Drawing While Black Scholarship and a Black Lives Matter Scholarship to study character design and drawing for animators through OC Art Studios. In May, she will graduate as the first person in her immediate family to attend a 4-year university!  JaDazia’s goals as an artist are to break into the animation industry and uplift people of diverse cultures with her work. She wants to work in children’s tv/film and increase the amount of representation on screen. She hopes to inspire kids to be themselves and tell their stories. Check out some of JaDazia’s work on her website! 

JaDazia’s Portfolio: https://jadazia.pb.online/

Daniela Weil

The artwork of Southern Californian turned Virginian Daniela Weil is experimental and tests the limits of animation. She uses animation to break the stereotype of cartoons being for children and children only by discussing socially taboo and adult themes. Daniela sees herself as a breaker of tradition as well as a storyteller through depicting the struggles of claiming one’s identity both as an individual and as a Jewish Mexican American woman. Working with hand-drawn animation, both digital and traditional, she portrays colorful and fluid motions that contrast harsh scenes. She says she hopes her animations will provide clarity and speak to those who feel that they too do not have an identity and are still searching for it. She will receive her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and is currently working in the Richmond area.

Her work can be found at: https://artandcello12.wixsite.com/daniela-weil or https://www.instagram.com/danielabweil