USC ROSKI SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN
As a critical and curious artist, designer, and photographer who takes an aesthetic and intellectual approach to creating, RJ is always asking himself “how can art and design improve my life, and how can my role as a creative improve the lives of others?” He believes in the value of the handmade and that the practice of making should not only be thoughtful, it ought to be beautiful as well. Recently, RJ, a senior at the Roski School, has been making image and text-based work around notions of desire, loss, and hope. His work emphasizes tactility, slowness, and care in order to privilege the intimate experience of his viewers. His aim is to make work that leads to intellectual engagement, self-reflection, and warm energy.
WHERE WERE YOU BORN AND WHERE DO YOU LIVE NOW?
Honolulu, Los Angeles, and New York City
LEFTY OR RIGHTY?
Lefty
MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL?
Night owl
FICTIONAL OR HISTORICAL CHARACTER YOU IDENTIFY WITH?
Howard Roark from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead
FAVORITE MOVIE?
Mysterious Skin by Gregg Araki
FAVORITE TV SHOW TO BINGE WATCH?
I don’t watch much tv
FAVORITE TYPE OF MUSIC?
The type that feels like velvet and smells like vetiver
FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM?
Instagram
FAVORITE FINE ARTIST?
Felix Gonzalez-Torres
LAST BOOK YOU READ?
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
FAVORITE CHARITY/CAUSE?
Sustainability and environmental protection
FAVORITE FREE TIME ACTIVITY?
Living in coffee houses, book stores, and showrooms
IF YOU WERE NOT A DESIGNER…?
Space travel
A MANTRA OR SAYING YOU LIVE BY?
Buy less, spend more.
