What if there were no secrets between us? Can we truly be honest with each other?
These are two of the key questions this year’s Art, B.F.A. students are wrestling with in the 2025 exhibition, “I can carry you, if you’ll carry me.” The show features sixteen undergraduate artists working across various media, and the entire campus community is invited to enjoy the show.
Exhibition Details
“I can carry you, if you’ll carry me”
The Art Gallery at Brooklyn College, located on lower level of Boylan Hall
May 13 to June 6
Opening reception: May 13 at 5 p.m.
Instructor Tahir Karmali On the Show
In our pursuit of defining ourselves, we have fractured our connections to our collective identity. We have built niches to distance ourselves, growing comfortable in isolation, while seeking validation from others and rejecting those who don’t fit our constructed narratives. What if there were no secrets between us? Can we truly be honest with each other?
Over the past year, the B.F.A. capstone program has wrestled with these questions, examining what it means to be authentically transparent—and whether true transparency can even exist. How do we open ourselves fully without fear of rejection or consequence?
This exhibition is a reckoning with those very questions. Through a range of visual expressions—from installation to printmaking—the students have come together, creating a community built on mutual risk. In a world that thrives on division, they dared to be vulnerable. Risk is not something easily taken in isolation. It is only through solidarity and compassion that we can summon the courage to truly be seen.
Here, the artists push against their own silos, using their work to break down barriers. This exhibition is not just about self-expression; it is a confrontation with how we hide from each other, and an urgent call to consider how we might connect with one another despite our differences. At its core, this work asks us to face the risks of honesty—and the compassion required to meet each other fully.
Meet the Artists
Leah Bennett
I am a visual artist who experiments with printmaking, painting, and textile materials to explore certain facets of trauma. Drawing from the visual language of common folklore, I analyze and subvert conventional conceptions of childhood trauma. I examine the psyche as it relates to victim/abuser dynamics. I also reclaim childlike curiosity by bridging the gap between the whimsical and 3D through soft sculpture and wearable objects. Visit Leah Bennett’s Instagram.
Dylan Calderon
I am an illustrator, tattoo artist, and visual artist based in Brooklyn, and my work merges traditional craft with contemporary art-making processes, particularly through illustration and tattooing. I am fascinated by the beauty found in imperfection, especially within the context of woodblock printing, where what might be seen as flaws become integral to the artwork’s character. My practice challenges the conventional view of perfection by embracing the subtle, unexpected moments in creation—misalignments, accidental imprints, and rough edges—that carry a unique authenticity. By making these imperfections permanent through tattooing, I transform them into something lasting, inviting viewers to reconsider their relationship with flaws. I take classic tattoo imagery and subject it to multiple processes—deconstructing and reinterpreting—until the final image fully embraces the beauty of the imperfect, turning what is often viewed as a flaw into something worth celebrating.
Kevin Cardoso
I am a multimedia artist who dedicates my work to my Mexican heritage, while also exploring the theme of death. My works are done on pencil and paper, drawn digitally, and then transferred to shirts, and I am experimenting with tattooing on fake skin. This new medium gives me a sense of originality, because it is an uncommon thing to use. I wish to continue this practice to build a career in the tattooing field. Visit Kevin Cardoso’s Instagram.
Yadira Cepeda
I am a mixed media artist; my art is a dialogue between materials, textures, and emotions. I thrive in the space where different materials intersect and found objects tell new stories. I seek to unravel the unspoken fears, contradictions, and power structures that shape our beliefs and culture. My work is a process of layering, deconstructing, and reimagining—reflecting the complexity of the human experience. Visit Yadira Cepeda’s Instagram.
Vivian Ellis
I am an artist experimenting with printmaking processes to create abstract and photographic pieces and installations. My process-driven monotypes printed on domestic surfaces such as pillowcases and shower curtains are made using natural and artificial materials that are sculpted, thrown, carved, pressed, and dried between the floor of my studio and the surface of the fabric. The printed compositions of bodily forms are altered over time by the perpetual peeling, flaking, stretching, and decaying of the materials crusted onto the fabric’s surface. My work is informed by stillness and movement, personal and collective memory, the bulls of Lascaux, and the torrents of rivers. Visit Vivian Ellis’ Instagram.
Elena Grachev
Informed by the long-standing tradition of storytelling, my art practice is a meditation on myth, memory, and imagination on the body. As a vessel and living testament to the human experience, I embrace a dialogue of identity in the language of anthropomorphic form, alternating between the boundaries of structure and absurdity. My process is informed by an instinctive, visceral desire to create a space where one can indulge themselves in the body’s exquisite, grotesque glory: the undulating spine, the traversing intestine, the serpentine folds of skin—palpable—pulse with dark, sensual rhythms—intertwined, transmuted, perpetual.
Amani Hanna Gripper
I am a visual mixed-media artist dedicated to evoking emotion through my work. I am currently reimagining folklore and horror-inspired women, blending myth with my personal artistic vision. While many of these legendary figures were not originally depicted as Black, I choose to paint Black women, claiming a space within these narratives. Since I am drawn to eerie tales and supernatural beings, I use my art to reinterpret these stories, infusing them with my own perspective and style. Amani Hanna Gripper’s Instagram.
Wafa Haider
Art, for me, is both a language and a weapon—a space where poetry, politics, and visual storytelling collide. As a poet and multimedia artist, I navigate the intersections of identity, power, and resistance through the lens of a woman. My work challenges the gaze, disrupts the narrative, and reclaims the spaces where voices like mine have been silenced. At its core, my work is about power: who holds it, who is denied it, and how we can reclaim it through art and storytelling.
Jin Wen Huang
I am an artist focused on concept character design. I love the challenge of showing personality through visual storytelling, creating characters that connect emotionally, and combining unique designs with meaningful stories. Inspired by art, culture, and human experiences, I aim to design characters that spark imagination and feel alive. Each character begins as an exploration of who they are and the world they live in. Whether for animation, comics, or games, my goal is to bring characters to life in ways that are both seen and felt. Visit Jin Wen Huang’s Instagram.
Jesse Irizarry
I am an acrylic painter who creates abstract worlds, inviting viewers to explore their depth and complexity. Through bold experimentation with color, I let it speak for itself, becoming an integral part of the subject matter. Painting is a cathartic process for me as each mistake fuels growth, pushing myself to paint more and make progressive strides. My art aligns with contemporary abstract movements, often featuring fluid, alien-like forms that blur the line between the familiar and the unknown. Visit Jesse Irizarry’s Instagram.
Zain Latif
My work explores the complex tapestry of Pakistani and South Asian history, weaving together illustration and photography to illuminate lived experiences and familial narratives. I use visual storytelling to reclaim and celebrate identities often marginalized or erased within dominant cultural narratives. Through intimate portraits and symbolic imagery, I examine the intergenerational impact of societal pressures and the resilience of individuals navigating personal and cultural landscapes. Ultimately, my art seeks to foster dialogue and understanding, creating a space for reflection and connection within the multifaceted diaspora. Visit Zain Latif’s Instagram
Cindy Peralta Rodriguez
I am a visual artist with a focus on photography; I aim to capture intimate, melancholic, and chaotic moments that explore the themes of coming-of-age and religious trauma. Through diptychs, I aim to showcase the overlap between both themes and allow each pairing to tell its own story. My work explores the feelings of rebellion, guilt, and the search for identity behind religious devotion during adolescence and young adulthood. Growing up in a strictly Christian household, my personal experiences inherently influence my work and shape the narrative I explore. In confronting these themes, I aim to share part of myself and voice a common struggle of youth caught between faith and autonomy. Visit Cindy Peralta Rodriguez’s Instagram.
Jeanette Tebele Terzi
As an abstract artist, my work focuses on layering and manipulating opacity to create depth and atmosphere, with colors overlapping and interacting to reveal subtle transformations. I enjoy exploring the interplay of color, space, and perspective through large-scale acrylic compositions. Each painting begins with a concept and emotion, evolving into a visual exploration of space, structure, and perspective. The composition offers the viewer a dynamic and shifting spatial experience. Visit Jeanette Tebele Terzi’s website.
Leiah Thompson
I am a visual artist whose work delves into the complex emotions and connections that shape my daily life. By incorporating a diverse range of both conventional and unconventional materials, I aim to reflect the chaotic nature of emotions. Creating has always served as a means of connecting with both others and myself. My goal is for my work to resonate with viewers, allowing them to feel as if they are encountering a familiar stranger and prompting them to reflect on the emotions and thoughts it evokes. Visit Leiah Thompson’s Instagram.
Jian Lin Wang
I am an ink and graphite artist who uses pen and brush to create everything from structured products and architectural designs to dynamic figures. Drawing, to me, is the pursuit of precision; in cautious calculation and contrast, I find both a sense of security and accomplishment. My work follows a structured order and process. I begin with the ground base, thinking of space, angles of an object, and the camera distance. I constantly seek symmetry in this specific space, identifying the foreshortening of shapes in different spaces before constructing lines. Drawing is a deliberate practice. As I learn and apply new techniques, I focus on the present, dive into more thoughts, and embrace more challenges. Visit Jian Lin Wang’s Instagram.
Jenny Yu
As a painter, my work centers on the tension between realism and portraiture. I wish to capture the complexity of human expression with my brush. While grounded in realism, I incorporate subtle manipulative elements—distorted textures, unexpected color shifts, or layered compositions—to evoke emotions that are felt rather than fully understood. The tension between the seen and unseen allows viewers to explore their interpretations and connections. I am driven to transform familiar faces into windows for storytelling and emotional resonance.
2025 B.F.A. Exhibition Details
“I can carry you, if you’ll carry me”
The Art Gallery at Brooklyn College, located on lower level of Boylan Hall
May 13 to June 6
Opening reception: May 13 at 5 p.m.
