Exhibition

School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents "Selections from Thesis Projects in the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department," an exhibition that brings together animations, children's books, graphic novels, figurative paintings, comic books and other narrative works by 18 students graduating from the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department. Curated by faculty member David Sandlin, the exhibition will be on view April 27 - May 12 at the Visual Arts Gallery, 601 West 26th Street, 15th Floor, New York City.

Rafael Alvarez' Hotel Pandemonium is a short illustrated digital book telling the story of Seth, a mysterious character in a Hotel that is not what it seems. Following the tradition of classic pop-up and multichoice books, and taking advantage of the iPad features, the reader can interact with the images to get more information and make decisions affecting the book's ending.

The Jaunty Dresser is Joana Avillez' collection of New Yorker-style cartoons. The characters in the cartoons exist in a world where eccentric dress is either commonplace or the butt of the joke. The cartoon format synonymizes drawing, writing and humor into one note, a single moment of captured wit.

Elizabeth Baddeley exhibits a series of images following a runner as she runs through Central Park in the morning. By surrounding herself with nature, amidst a bustling city, she is able to find an inner peace in a city that is often anything but.

The children's book Homeward Bound is Charnelle Pinkney Barlow's story about a boy named Carter and an alligator named Larry. Carter befriends Larry and sneaks him into his house, not realizing that his new friend is no ordinary alligator.

Outlaw is a short story from Trip Carroll. Gisli is a man forced to avenge the murder of his brother-in-law and best friend, a decision which consumes his life and eventually leads to his ultimate destruction.

Charles Chaisson uses classical literature from a variety of genres to create a series of book and play covers.

Through the use of metaphors, singular, iconic compositions, subtle palettes and dramatic subject matter, Tony DiMauro's Between Life and Death proposes a series of visual questions and comments regarding the connection between consciousness and unconsciousness, waking life and certain death.

The story of Brave Chicken and the monster with whom she must contend is told by Nina Frankel. After undergoing breast cancer treatment in 2011, Frankel used several approaches (Sculpey, comics and posters) to understand the post-treatment landscape of health and healing, and living with fear. Brave Chicken's initials are conveniently shared with the disease.

The Unsendable is a mixed media book from Li Pei Huang that can be read in either direction or separately as fragments of life. It is a visual poem inspired by Losheng sanatorium in Taiwan, with the aim of giving voice to leprosy patients who have experienced being abandoned, isolated and forgotten.

Alicia Jacob uses the idea of the six-word memoir, focusing on the use of gouache and different styles of hand lettering. Each work in the series explores a different imaginary place. It is a journey through places near and far, from underground to outer space, with all kinds of stops along the way.

Jomajoma is a little boy who worries so much about making mistakes that he has a disease named "Afraid of being wrong." It is a semi-autobiographical work from Jaekyung Jeong.

Haejeon Jessica Lee appropriates classic fairytale heroines with a dark and feminist twist for her series of narrative posters.

Heartworms by A. E. Kieren is a series of interlocking short stories in graphic novel form, recounting the ironic and absurd romantic misadventures of a group of creative, young people. Each short story is drawn with a different medium, and the stories are designed to stand alone but taken in the correct order, tell a fuller, cohesive story.

A two-part sixty-four page graphic novel The Professor and the Paperboy follows the adventures of distinguished theoretical physics instructor Reginald Cornelius Oozeman III and his paperboy Grover, whom he eventually sends into another dimension. John Malta is the author and illustrator.

Cecilia Ruiz displays a series of illustrations based on real stories of people dying in unusual ways.

A boy sneaks out of house to explore the forest, but when he reaches a clearing in the woods, he encounters a mysterious problem and makes a new friend. A Clearing in the Woods is Brad Soucy's wordless children's book.

12 – A Year Without Mom is Dasha Tolstikova's autobiographical story of the year 1991. It was her last year in Moscow before moving to the United States, a year in which she was left with her grandparents. It is a story about becoming your own person and making your own choices, while perhaps being too young for both.

Rebecca Zomchek works in the genre of young adult fantasy, creating book illustrations with Harry Potter themes.

The MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay is designed to maximize students' opportunities as figurative artists, from the conventional gallery wall to the full range of 21st-century media. The program fuses the development of creative thinking with technical and communication skills. Additional focus is placed on best practices in navigating the visual art marketplace while empowering students to choose making art as a way of life.