Generate a tailored SOP for Dr. Isla Hansen. Improve your application with a focused, well-structured draft.
Isla Hansen is an Assistant Professor at the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University. As an artist, she explores the interplay of systems, objects, and play through performance, sculpture, interactive installations, animation, and video. Her work integrates the use of both soft and hard materials alongside digital fabrication processes, aiming to challenge traditional boundaries between consumers and producers. Isla's artistic practice critically examines the cultural narratives surrounding personal technologies, play, labor, children's media, and the impact of technological progress on our bodies and experiences. Currently, she is engaged in a research project called the Play Object Project as part of her artist residence at the Mattress Factory Museum, which includes an artist-in-residence program she developed for a lab preschool on CMU's campus. Additionally, she serves as the Co-director of Programming for The Folly Tree Arboretum, a non-profit organization dedicated to environmental storytelling through arts. Isla has exhibited her solo and collaborative installations and performances at various reputable venues, including the Akron Art Museum, MOCA Cleveland, and the Hammer Museum. Her outstanding contributions to art and education have garnered her several prestigious awards and fellowships.
Carnegie Mellon University • Pittsburgh, PA
Teaching and conducting research in the field of art, exploring systems and interactive media.
UCLA Design Media Arts • Los Angeles, CA
Taught courses on design and media arts.
Ohio State University Department of Art • Columbus, OH
Conducted research and taught courses in the Department of Art.
Admission is extremely competitive with no strict GPA cut-offs; holistic review is used.