First-Year RISD Students Collaborate on Interactive Installation in Sculpture Studio

How do artists make the leap from ideation to creation? How do they experiment and collaborate with other artists to create complex pieces using a variety of mediums? First-year students in a Sculpture department Wintersession course called Immersive Worlds are working through these questions as they build a toolkit of new skills and techniques they will tap into throughout their years at RISD and beyond.

“Sculpture is a particularly expansive field,” says faculty member Isabel Mattia MFA 19 SC, who designed the course and co-taught it with fellow alum Jaimie An MFA 24 SC. “Sculptors create new objects for the world we live in as well as whole new worlds. In this class, we are working collaboratively across multiple mediums to create a temporary immersive installation that reflects our collective imagination.”

The ambitious course was designed for students with no prior sculpting experience. Over the course of the term, they explored a wide range of foundational sculptural practices, including welding, woodworking and casting. The installation they produced incorporates found and created objects, textiles, paper, cardboard, paint and digital projections. Unlike typical RISD courses, critique played no role in the experience. Instead, students engaged in constant real-time editing and remixing and learned through demos, activities and class discussions.

Near the end of the term, students took a break from building to watch An demo the process for making molds using Alja-Safe molding powder, an inexpensive and nontoxic product made from seaweed. “It’s more of an art than an exact science,” she explained to the class as she measured and mixed the white powder with water. The mixture dried into a rubbery consistency perfect for creating a mold.

Once the mold was dry, An mixed up some plaster and poured it into the negative space she created. “Take your time to get rid of the bubbles,” she advised, “and mix small batches so it doesn’t start curing before you’re ready. I like mixing the plaster with my hand so I can feel the consistency.”

First-year student Amelia McGovern 28 EFS watched the demo and considered her favorite aspects of the class. “It’s cool finding ways to collaborate with people,” she said. “Getting 12 brains in the same place is no small feat! We are making a space people can walk through and explore, and it’s really coming together.”

McGovern is thinking about majoring in Industrial Design at RISD, as is Jiaqi Lu 28 EFS, but they both appreciate the new skills they’re learning in the class. “My goal for the installation,” Lu noted, “is to create something that inspires people to interact with it.” 

Simone Solondz / studio photos by Kaylee Pugliese
February 4, 2025