Date of Award
Spring 5-22-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Graphic Design
First Advisor
kathy wu
Second Advisor
Kathleen Sleboda
Third Advisor
Gabriel Drozdov
Abstract
Design increasingly sits within modern systems that reduce the world to narrow, instrumental categories. A tree is paper, the sky is a clock, an ant is a pest. And a graphic designer is a visual marketer optimising for reach and engagement. This leaves the designer without a sense of their place in the world.
Seeking Ground asks how we might return to a more rooted practice. Physically, the ground is the solid surface on which all other things rest. Conceptually, it is the foundational premise from which knowledge is derived. To be grounded is to be connected to real-world implications and lived experience. The act of grounding oneself is the process of positioning oneself within a context—spatially, conceptually and in relation to others.
By paying attention to more-than-human intelligences and through primary encounters with place, this work evokes materiality, embodied presence, and multiplicity. Immersing ourselves in place offers something back to the designer: a renewed sense of wonder, a feeling of belonging, and the recognition that we, too, have agency, and ground from which to act.
Recommended Citation
Chatterjee, Shrishti, "Seeking Ground" (2026). Masters Theses. 1651.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1651
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.