Ruchika Nambiar
Ruchika Nambiar is a miniaturist, book artist, designer and writer who creates experimental, interactive stories. She is an alumnus of RISD with a research MA in Global Arts & Cultures (2023). Formally trained as a graphic designer, she completed her undergraduate studies at Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology in India, with a major in Visual Communication Design (2014). Her work is interdisciplinary and ranges across media, from artist books and graphic memoires to dioramas and interactive social-media stories. She publishes most of her book projects independently, such as her graphic memoire The Breadcrumb (2020). Many of her book projects take on visually rich forms and are often produced as limited edition/one-off pieces. Her work plays with the relationship between content, form and interaction, finding new ways to combine image-making, writing, research, miniature-making and more to create experimental narrative objects.
She is the creator of The Dollhouse Project (2017-present), an interactive miniature storyverse that has been featured in Architectural Digest, Marg Magazine, India Today and other publications. She works on experimental art commissions across miniature making and book art, with brand collaborations like Samsung and several publication design clients. She does talks and speaking engagements—most recently at TEDxRISD—and is also developing a mentorship program, The Creative Finishing School, for young artists and designers.
Also a researcher, she writes on themes of cultural philosophy and media studies. Her writing has previously been published in the Journal of Contemporary Thought. Her interests lie in studying media and its relationship to knowledge production and the formation of our conceptual frameworks, with a special focus on mainstream media, new media and pop culture. Her thesis at RISD, Memes for the Soul: The Internet and its Phantasmic Global Citizen (2023), is currently being translated into an interactive artist book as well as an exhibition.
Ruchika Nambiar’s CV
Courses
Fall 2024 Courses
THAD H101-26
THAD I: GLOBAL MODERNISMS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This is a required course for all first year and transfer students to introduce them to global modern and contemporary art, architecture and design in the period between 1750 and the present. The course addresses modernism as a global project, presenting several case studies from across the world that unfold to show how multiple kinds of modernism developed in different times and distant places. By presenting alternate, sometimes contradictory stories about modern and contemporary art and design, along with a set of critical terms specific to these times and places, the class aims to foster a rich, complex understanding of the many narratives that works of art and design can tell. With this grounding, students will be well positioned to pursue their interests in specialized courses in subsequent semesters.
Registration process:
First-year students are registered into sections by the Liberal Arts Division.
Incoming transfer students and sophomore, junior, and senior undergraduates should register into section 27.
Major Requirement | BFA
THAD H101-27
THAD I: GLOBAL MODERNISMS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This is a required course for all first year and transfer students to introduce them to global modern and contemporary art, architecture and design in the period between 1750 and the present. The course addresses modernism as a global project, presenting several case studies from across the world that unfold to show how multiple kinds of modernism developed in different times and distant places. By presenting alternate, sometimes contradictory stories about modern and contemporary art and design, along with a set of critical terms specific to these times and places, the class aims to foster a rich, complex understanding of the many narratives that works of art and design can tell. With this grounding, students will be well positioned to pursue their interests in specialized courses in subsequent semesters.
Registration process:
First-year students are registered into sections by the Liberal Arts Division.
Incoming transfer students and sophomore, junior, and senior undergraduates should register into section 27.
Major Requirement | BFA
Spring 2025 Courses
ILLUS 2004-04
VISUAL STRATEGIES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Building on the skills and sensibilities developed in ILLUS 2000: Visual Thinking, this course will address a range of strategic considerations important for the articulation of ideas. While emphasis will remain on methods for encouraging conceptual aptitude and innovation, there will be greater focus on specific forms of communication. Practical issues such as the nature of audience and the context for interpretation will be matters of concern, as will vehicles for communication and the handling of media. The basic aim of this course is to enable the student to discover a creative identity and develop an itinerary for upper-class study; its larger goal is to wed communicative purpose to artistic voice.
Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department.
Major Requirement | BFA Illustration
ILLUS 606G-01
SEMINAR: PARADIGMS AND CONTEXTS - PUBLISHING THE THESIS AND BEYOND
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This seminar supports the work of the Thesis Studio IV by providing a formal class setting in which to create written reflections on one's evolving studio thesis work as well as-more broadly-writings on illustration practice. Sessions will center on discussion of assigned readings as well as written responses to classmates' essays. These exercises will scaffold a more expansive documentation of their Studio Thesis Project, and to serve as a forum for discussion of critical writing about contemporary illustration practice that will support an essay to be contributed to the groups final publication.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $0.00 - $150.00
Open to Graduate Illustration Students.
Major Requirement | MFA Illustration
ILLUS 3404-01
TYPOGRAPHY FOR ILLUSTRATORS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This typography course is specifically designed for Illustration majors. We will study the fundamentals of typography including its history, theory and contemporary practical application. Lectures and exercises will build in complexity from the study of letter forms and the effective use of typography in single page design. A significant part of the course will be dedicated to understanding page dynamics including proportion, grid systems and color. The final project will be a poster design for a local non- profit organization. Students will use Adobe Illustrator and InDesign throughout this course; so some basic computer experience will be helpful but not absolutely necessary.
This course fulfills the Computer Literacy requirement for Illustration majors.
Elective