Therese Gangemi

2024 Senior Exhibition Artists

Therese Gangemi

Concentration: Art + Design: Graphic Design | Women's & Gender Studies Minor

About Therese Gangemi

Therese Gangemi is a Graphic Designer based out of New England. She is graduating with a BFA in Graphic Design and a minor in Women and Gender Studies in 2024. She is passionate about creating art and design that is visually captivating and serves as a powerful tool for advocacy and social change. Therese aims to amplify the voices of marginalized communities, challenge societal norms, and inspire action towards a more equitable and sustainable future. Finding comfort and beauty in nature, she often uses it as an outlet to decompress, or to inspire creativity in her work. She applies organic shapes and textures within her work, and pays very close attention to detail, composition, and adores illustrating and working with typography as well. In essence, her artistic journey is a fusion of meticulous craftsmanship, social consciousness, and reverence for the natural world.

Statement

The Parallels of Us is a piece that combines design, sculpture, and collage, to celebrate and learn from the diverse stories that make up our community. Rooted in the principles of intersectionality, my endeavor is not just about representation, but about amplifying voices that have been marginalized, overlooked and/or ignored entirely. As a white queer woman, navigating my way through college in a post-covid world, I have undergone so much self reevaluation and constant reframing of the world around me stemming from my Women and Gender Studies courses. When I decided to take on this minor, I had no idea the lasting impact it would have on my design work and passion for these pressing issues in our society.

Through the power of art and storytelling, I hope to invite viewers to engage in a process of reflection and empathy. This piece has a mirror in the middle, as well as text and images collaged together, caving in from the wall, creeping onto the reflective surface. The intricate imagery of misplacement invites the viewer to observe at a closer look, to then step back and reflect on where they stand in their environment and with the people around them. Then, a QR code on the mirror brings viewers to a website that brings the collaged physical elements to the digital realm, where they can read stories where people have shared their experiences when they’ve noticed their identity, in order for viewers to walk away and still have access to these different perspectives. These narratives serve as a mirror, allowing those with greater privilege to confront their own biases, assumptions, and blind spots. By incorporating a variety of artistic mediums, I strive to create a multi-dimensional narrative that reflects the complexity of human identity. Ultimately, I hope for people to be more mindful of oppression and marginalization in environments where these situations could be often overlooked. I wanted to create a safe and respectful place for dialogue where we can all learn from each other's perspectives, feelings, and challenges.