Anya Pivcuka
BA Product Design
I am an interdisciplinary digital artist, specializing in 3D sculpting for immersive experiences. Drawing from queer ecology and esoteric philosophies, I use image-making and world-building as tools to visualize alternate Ecotopian realities, in hopes of promoting a more sustainable future.
As Within So Without
As Within So Without is an immersive digital art installation that presents an imaginative lore of thoughtforms - entities which manifest from our thoughts. Created out of a desire to counter an increasing prevalence of dystopian media that has been contributing to the raise of eco-nihilism, this initiative was guided by the belief that shifting towards a more ecological understanding of our place in the natural world can lead to a better future.
Through a variety of media, including art, storytelling, and immersive experiences, the project aims to highlight the importance of ecological mindfulness and a sense of interconnection with all living things. Whether through the exploration of the thoughtforms themselves or through reflection on the project's broader ecological themes, the hope is that the project will inspire individuals to take action towards a more sustainable and harmonious future.
The project can be viewed online on https://www.thought-forms.com
Relics
Relics is a collection of statement lamps which aim to challenge binary black & white thinking and promote a wider acceptance of the world around us.
The design was guided by personal allegory - using the symbolism of piercings to represent my experience growing up queer in a post-soviet household and embracing aspects of identity that were shunned upon. The juxtaposition of traditional ceramic materials with 'taboo' ornaments and discomforting forms represents the need to move on from hurtful outdated ideals and nurture acceptance towards aspects of society which we may not yet fully understand.
This project is an experiment of ways in which personal allegory can manifest in product design - a design field, which in my experience, has felt very impersonal, prioritising reason over feeling. Throughout this process, I have begun to learn how to start conversations about global problems using local experiences and making product design act as a platform for these discussions.
A big part of this initiative was inspired by the @huidenclub exhibition -Cruising, Discomfort as a tool to depatriarchise design' and 'Depatriarchise Design *Labs*' - a non-profit research platform 'born out of frustration with a design discipline that is deeply interwoven with discriminating structures.'