Eye Test, 2023

5 posters, various sizes

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In this series of posters, my objective centers around subverting the traditional format of optometric tests used to evaluate vision by transforming them into provocations about race and student experience in a racialized campus environment at the University of Virginia and in the greater Charlottesville community. Using the complex history of enslavement and displacement at the University, as well as the toxic study culture enforced by this “public ivy,” my work toys with perspective, visibility, and distortion, challenging sentiments about racialized discrimination and the University’s public perception relative to the underlying realities of the surrounding community. Referencing optometry, the series poses questions about racial colorblindness, student diversity demographics, idolization and labor, academic rigor, and UVA in the public eye, forcing the viewer to uncover hidden truths and address individual ignorance and biases regarding the University.