Elizabeth Ulanova works at the intersection of culture, art, and tech. Based in Cambridge-Boston, she is at Harvard University Graduate School of Design (Master's, M.L.A, Landscape Architecture) on a full tuition Harvard Dean's Merit Scholarship. She is a first-generation graduate of the University of Cambridge (Master's, M.Phil, Sociology of Media and Culture, Twining Egginton Prize), and of Columbia University (Bachelor's, B.A, Visual Arts, Magna Cum Laude, Distinction). In addition to her studies, Elizabeth is a teaching assistant at Harvard GSD, and building "Recess" (Harvard Spark Grant Recipient) at Harvard I-Lab. For Summer 2023, she is the solo artist-in-residence at Industry Lab and community designer at CultureHouse as a Harvard CSFP Fellow.
As a survivor of domestic violence, a medical child of colored immigrants, and a comorbid neurodivergent, Elizabeth’s artistry is deeply shaped by fluid, psychological storytelling. As a conceptual artist, her artistic style and practice are self-described as ‘fluid memory’, and she has exhibited original film and art in New York, England, and Boston. Keen to work beyond structural boundaries, Elizabeth created her own independent study at Columbia and Harvard and the first student art studio at Downing College University of Cambridge. Within landscape architecture, Elizabeth’s designs are influenced by installation art, conceptual narration, and regenerative ecology, especially open spaces concerning the public memory. Her core II landscape design is a green, regenerative cemetery that utilizes toxin-neutralizing mushroom suits as its interring sequence. As a sociologist, Elizabeth has conducted original research in new media, such as the impact of social media on modern romantic relationships.
California-born, Elizabeth is a New Yorker at heart and has lived in Asia and Europe. Elizabeth has a lifelong love for travel and has visited countries on five continents. Professionally, Elizabeth has held positions at startups and NGOs, such as national president for The Ivy League Council and co-head of the US expansion of Project Access International (New York). Prior to Columbia, she developed digital startups as the first-ever entrepreneur-in-residence for a biotech foundation (Boston), worked in business liaison, journalism, and corporate education (China), and studied Mandarin Chinese, after finishing high school early (California). She is the proud mom of two rescue pit bulls, Brave and Sky, and can often be found driving with her dogs.
#CerebralDesign #ConceptualNarrative #FluidMemory
Current Positions
Professional MLA I in the #1 ranked landscape architecture department .
Honors:
•Harvard GSD Fully Funded Dean's Merit Scholarship+Tier 1 Grant for top-ranked incoming students that covers 100% tuition, 2021-2025
•Harvard GSD Fully Funded Community Service Fellowship, Summer 2023
•Harvard Innovation Lab - Spark Grant Award, Spring 2023
•Harvard GSD Independent Study (ADV9201) + Solo Exhibit (Professor Ed Eigen), Fall 2022
Graduate Teaching Assistant:
•Graduate Teaching Assistant (HIS 4141) Histories of Landscape Architecture I: Textuality and the Practice of Landscape Architecture, Fall 2022
•Activities: Harvard Innovation Lab, Design.Able, GSD First-Generation Initiative, Design Entrepreneurs
community designer
SUMMER june 2023 - AUGUST 2023
CultureHouse improves livability in local communities by transforming underutilized spaces into vibrant social infrastructure.
artist-in-residence
summer june 2023 - august 2023
For Summer 2023 season, I will be doing my first-ever artist residency. My solo show, "Fluid Memory" is expected to open for a month, beginning August 2023, dates TBA.
graduate teaching assistant and academic writing tutor
2022 - present
•Spring 2023: Academic Writing Tutor for all Harvard GSD Master's and PHD students (Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design and Planning) at Francis Loeb Library, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
•Fall 2022: Histories of Landscape Architecture I: Textuality and the Practice of Landscape Architecture (HIS-4141). Graduate-Level Harvard Course for Professor Edward Eigen, Department of Landscape Architecture
Startup Founder and I-Lab Venture Member
Jan 2023 - Present
Building the startup Recess at Harvard I-Lab at Harvard Business School; I-Lab Venture Incubation Program: part of Harvard I-Lab Fall 2022 select cohort
-Awarded Spring 2023 Harvard I-Lab Spark Grant
-Recess is a gaming startup that hosts outdoor game sessions for adults in the US. "Recess Games" are 1-hour social fitness sessions, utilizing favorite playground games such as Capture the Flag and Dodgeball. Designed around the childhood philosophy of ‘play’, Recess lets people make friends by having organic fun whilst getting some exercise.
-Recess' website slogan is: Hey Siri, How Do I Find Friends After College? Recess is built for adult customers of all ages who want to meet people without being particularly athletic or social. Our unique value proposition is: re-enforcing "play" and play equity for adults. No online matches, no intense crossfit classes, no bars, and alcohol, we help people meet, exercise, and have fun simply through playing: just like when you were at recess time.
Research-based master's degree in Sociology. The Cambridge Department of Sociology is #1 ranked in UK league tables. Postgraduate at Downing College.
Master's Thesis: "The Influence of Social Media on Modern Romantic Relationships" (Supervisor: Dr. Rikke Amundsen)
Honors: The Mr and Mrs Geoffrey Twining Egginton Prize, Downing Graduate Conference (Select Research Presenter), Downing College MCR-SCR Seminar (Select Research Presenter), Downing College Twining Egginton Exhibition (Select Art Exhibitor), Downing College Cedar Tree Exhibition (Select Art Exhibitor), Seton Cavendish Bequest Grant
Activities: Downing College MCR, Cambridge Tap and Jazz Dance Society, Cambridge Technology and New Media Research Cluster, Cambrovision. Initiated the creation of the first-ever art studio for students use at Downing College (first student beta user), and the first student to propose an art residency.
BAchelor's Degree
Bachelor of arts - b.a, VisUal arts (Film), and History, MaGna Cum Laude
3.86 GPA, FIRST CLASS
Honors: Magna Cum Laude (High Honors/Great Distinction), Dean's List, Leadership Service Award, Senior Thesis Stipend Award, Senior Thesis Studio, Independent Study: Advanced Video (Department Chair, Matthew Buckingham), Tuition Scholarship, Junior Marshall Selectee, Spectator Senior Profile
Senior Thesis: "Clashings of Art, Culture, and Technology in a Digital Anthropological World" (Advisors: Matthew Buckingham, Nicola Lopez, Serra Victoria Fels)
Activities: Ivy Council National, Ivy Council Steering, First Generation Student Advisory Board, Orientation Leader, Peer Mentor, Ivy Policy Conference, Ivy Leadership Summit, Spring Gala Design Co-Chair, Apollo Society, One For The World, Latin Dance
Courses Taken: Visual Art, Art History, Architecture, Global History, Literature, Ethnomusicology, and Biological Sciences. Additional courses: Chinese Language and Literature (Chongqing University), and Social and Computer Sciences (Harvard University)
Visual Art and Film
The process and concept behind my projects are the most crucial aspect of my artistic practice.
Project (Re)Generation: A Cemetery for the Future
Franklin Park
2022:
See Full Portfolio Here
A Conceptual Art Video
See Full Series Here
See Full Series Here
April 26 2023
Harvard Graduate School of Design Landscape Architecture
“Where there is life, there is death, but where there is death, there is also life.”
Life does not cease to exist after death, rather, death is a crucial stage of the regenerative life cycle for every life force on our planet. Project Re(Generation) places regenerative ecosystems as the technical foundation for our cemetery by both its novel interring sequence of biodegradable garment body suits (filled with mushroom spores for mycelium production) as green, toxin-neutralizing entombments for those below ground, to the visual, curated experiences of the vegetative canopy above ground as heliophilic biomarkers philosophically nodding to process of decay, decomposition, and ultimately the growth of new life springing from the past life that has passed on. Giving way the keyholders to the next generation of lives to restore, renew, and revitalize the ecosystems that we experience.
Dec 14 2022
HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN
alchemy: a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or combination.
Inspired by the traditional craftsmanship of Chinese artistry, “Alchemy: Between the Past and Magic” embeds the ancient philosophies of the intellectual sisters of painting, poetry, and landscape.
Through contemporary compositions between the magical realism of nature and the organic connections of timeless materiality, “Alchemy” probes its own conceptual process through inquisitive methodology and visual abstraction.
Research
Harvard university graduate school of design
“Where there is life, there is death, but where there is death, there is also life.”
Life does not cease to exist after death, rather, death is a crucial stage of the regenerative life cycle for every life force on our planet. Project Re(Generation) places regenerative ecosystems as the technical foundation for our cemetery by both its novel interring sequence of biodegradable garment body suits (filled with mushroom spores for mycelium production) as green, toxin-neutralizing entombments for those below ground, to the visual, curated experiences of the vegetative canopy above ground as heliophilic biomarkers philosophically nodding to process of decay, decomposition, and ultimately the growth of new life springing from the past life that has passed on. Giving way the keyholders to the next generation of lives to restore, renew, and revitalize the ecosystems that we experience.
Exhibition: Harvard University Graduate School of Design, April 2023, Manhattan, New York.
The role of social media technology has had a profound influence on modern romantic relationships in the past decade. This dissertation critically reviews empirical literature from the field of new media studies (situated within the broader field of media and communications) that focus on the heightened impact of social media usage in the beginning to maintenance stages of romantic relationships. Moreover, gaps in the current literature are explored, such as limitations in the demographics and romantic relationship stages that are analyzed for data collection. For example, the paucity of published literature regarding how social media affects relationships past once users meet their partners is examined. Furthermore, this review questions the scope and focus of existing empirical case studies as well as highlights the importance of literary representation and the cruciality of diversity in this emerging field. It is important to note that this research is focused specifically on social media (such as Facebook), however, this does not exclude dating websites and applications (such as Tinder) that utilize social media profiles within its algorithms. Ultimately, future research must become more invested in inclusivity, namely who and what is represented both topically and empirically, to allow for more insightful exploration into this burgeoning research area regarding the influence of social media on modern romantic relationships.
Conference Presentations:
October 2020: Downing College, University of Cambridge, Downing Graduate Conference 2020 (Select Research Presenter) - "The Influence of Social Media on Modern Romantic Relationships"
January 2020: Downing College, University of Cambridge, MCR-SCR Seminar Night (Select Main Research Speaker) - "Social Intimacy in an Age of Tech-Inspired-Culture"
For my theses at Columbia University, I created original short films and installations that showcased alternative universes set in the immediate future. These storylines were centered around the modification or mediation of human behavior through fictional technology. For example, “Voices” critiqued the nature of internal transparency and surveillance within society, through the lens of a fictionalized world that mandates its citizens to wear telepathic brain microchips. Likewise, “Remember” focused on the subjective role of memory through the apparatus of glasses that record and playback every one of life’s moments. The goal of these projects was to present the sociological questions that inevitably arise when technology and culture overlap. Hence, I wanted audiences to digest my hypotheses in an engaging, visceral manner (through media) while I visually critiqued our human behavioral and cultural patterns. In my last thesis film “Connection," I focused on social interactivity and the role of self-medication through the framework of bioengineered pills that induce apathy. Live installations that included the utilization of video projection, sculpture, and paintings, such as “Cracked”, “Screens”, and “Body”, were also produced as tangible mixed collages that sought to create said dialogue in the physical sphere. In conclusion, I did not seek to predict the future, but rather to continually analyze and synthesize the influence of technology-inspired-cultures and culture-inspired-technology.
Exhibition: Leroy Neiman Gallery, December 2018, Manhattan, New York.
Exhibitions and Presentations
Ongoing Art Projects:
Select Exhibitions:
Original architectural designs in response to studio projects at Harvard Graduate School of Design MLA I.
Recent Projects:
I. Project Re(Generation): A Cemetery for the Future, Spring 2023
II.Project Alchemy: Between the Past and Magic, Fall 2022
III. Project Synthesis: A Park to Recover, Fall 2021
VI. Project Eco: A Collection of Fluid Plants, Fall 2021
V. Project Derive: A Galaxy of Possibilities, Fall 2021
VI. Project PPE: Protest, Protect, Empower: A Plaza for Protestors, Fall 2021
VII. Project Meta-Marble: A Courtyard to Reflect, Fall 2021
VIII. Project Street Pool: A Street of Access, Summer 2021
Past Collections
2021
2021
2021
Project Street Pool: A Street of Access
2o21
2020
Conceptual Short Film
2018
As a part of "Clashings" series
Conceptual Short Film
2018
As a part of "Clashings" series
Conceptual Short Film
2018
As a part of "Clashings" series
Kinetic Sculpture and Video Installation
2018
As a part of "Clashings" series
Kinetic Sculpture and Video Installation
2018
As a part of "Clashings" series
Human Wifi
Kinetic Sculpture and Performance Installation
2018
As a part of "Clashings" series
Conceptual Art Video
2018
As a part of "Self-Portraiture" series
Narratus
Mixed Media
2017
Patere
Photography and Silkscreen Printmaking
2017
Zane
Conceptual Short Film
2017
2016
Press
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
2023
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
2023
Harvard University Graduate School of DesignTitle
2023
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
2022
Downing College Cambridge Graduate Conference 2020
The Mr and Mrs Geoffrey Twining Egginton 2020 Exhibition
Downing College Cambridge
Cedar Tree Exhibition 2020
Downing College Cambridge
Downing College MCR-SCR Night 2020
Columbia University
2018
Social Media
Academia
Vimeo
Medium
Contact
©Elizabeth Ulanova 2022
