Making a Mirror Ball

Making a Mirror Ball brings together the work of sixteen artists from the undergraduate and graduate programs of Pratt Institute, spanning painting, sculpture, photography, and moving image. At the heart of the exhibition is a fascination with repetition, sequence, and reflection—both literal and psychological—as artists explore identity, transformation, and the instability of form.

Like the mirrored facets of a spinning disco ball, the works reflect fragments of the self, illuminating personal and collective narratives. Repetition becomes a tool for excavation: at times generating distortion and vibration, and at others, serving as a methodical breakdown of cultural icons or institutional authority. In many works, light emerges as both subject and material, animating internal landscapes, marking temporal shifts, or casting shadows that blur reality and fiction.

The gallery space itself becomes a stage. A large kinetic sculpture by Harry Ray Gordon sways through the main room, disrupting and multiplying the visual field, while Daniel Bottcher’s illuminated puppet show brings shadow and motion into dialogue. Two lightbox oil paint animations by Valentina Asenov loop across projected screens, grounding the exhibition in a sense of continuous transformation.

Together, these works form a fractured, shifting constellation—each piece reflecting its own vantage, yet held together by a shared pursuit: to assemble meaning from repetition, distortion, and light.

Artists

Ada Bartels, Andrew Hildenbrand, Angie Kim, Ariadne Manuel, Carolina Coelho, Daniel Bottcher, Danielle Gadus, Diego Pina, Harry Ray Gordon, Ingrid Lu, Judy Liu, Kat Silk, Molly Keenan, Priyanka Dey, Sophia Konstantin, Valentina Asenov, Vidal Mouet, Xun Wang, Yuxin Wang, Zoey Knipstein

Curators

Cornelia Geolas, Cristobal Cosio, Ela Zawadzki, Emily Kao, Gloria Moon, Haiqin Guan, Judith Larson, Layal Ismail, Maya Sherman, Nanxi Huang, Polina Ostrovskaya