TABOO - TRANSGRESSION - TRANSCENDENCE

Demi is an interaction designer and developer. Her work spans multiple disciplines, from physical fabrication to programming to UI/UX design. Demi is passionate about how tangible, immersive interactions can help us live more meaningfully in an increasingly digital world-her vision for the future is one where technology is used to augment our everyday sensory experiences and social connections, not replace it.

Colin Nations is a Texas-born visual designer and printmaker whose work spans editorial and textile design. His practice emphasizes storytelling through material and form, often drawing connections between design, community, and shared experience. Beyond the studio, Colin organizes and participates in local cultural events, from live music to clothing markets, reflecting his interest in collaboration and collective gathering.

Nhu Phung is a Vietnamese American designer with a passion for print, ecology, and critical design. Her work often explores overlooked or underestimated subjects—whether celebrating the everyday pigeon or imagining new forms of connection through the intelligence of the octopus. Guided by feminist and experimental approaches, Nhu’s practice seeks to create thoughtful and playful interventions that challenge human-centered perspectives while highlighting beauty and interdependence.

Jiabao Li is an artist, assistant professor at The University of Texas at Austin, founding director of Ecocentric Future Lab, and visiting professor at Stanford. She creates works addressing climate change, multispecies futures, humane technology, and perceptions. Her mediums include wearable, robot, AR/VR, performance, scientific experiment, installation. In Jiabao’s TED Talk, she uncovered how technology mediates the way we perceive reality. Her recent solo exhibitions include “Chill Out: The Arctic Couldn’t”, “Progenitorial Hysteresis”, “Perception Omnifold”, and “Ecological Soup: Interspecies Encounters”. 

Jiabao is the recipient of numerous awards including Forbes China 30 Under 30, STARTS Prize, Falling Walls, Fast Company, and the Outstanding Instructor Award from Bio Design Challenge. Her work has been exhibited internationally, at MoMA, Venice Architecture Biennale, Ars Electronica, Exploratorium, Today Art Museum Biennial, SIGGRAPH, Milan and Dubai Design Week, ISEA, etc.  Her academic papers have been published in top conferences and journals including SIGGRAPH, CHI, IEEE VIS. Her work has been featured on Fast Company, Art Forum, Business Insider, Bloomberg, South China Morning Post, Domus, Yanko Design, Harvard Political Review, Leonardo. She is a member of Onassis Foundation and a Fellow at Ars Electronica Founding lab. She graduated from Harvard GSD with Distinction and thesis award.