Welcome Spring 2021 Interns!

We’re excited to introduce Kami and Emily, the newest members of the PLP team! To help introduce them to the PLP community, we asked them to share a bit about the artists, works, or publications that inspire their creative practices.

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Kami Beckford (she/her) - Editorial/Curatorial Intern

Kami Beckford (she/her) is in her final year studying architecture and theater at the University of Pittsburgh, exploring the intersection of architecture and scenic design. She is an organizer with Design as Protest, a collective of designers moving to dismantle the structures that use architecture as a tool of oppression in practice and in education.

You can learn more about Kami on her website and on Instagram.

ASLUR

Two of my favorite prints that I own are from ASLUR. I love how they are able to capture internal conflicts and emotions across the mix of mediums they use.

Sister Outsider, Audre Lorde

This copy of Sister Outsider is even more special to me because it was gifted by a sweet friend—the pages are highlighted and marked with post-its, and it is the book I refer back to the most to remind myself to unapologetically take up space and give myself permission to feel. My friends and I will sometimes FaceTime and go through sections together.

Rosco Brushes

A shout out to my scenic design mentor Gianni Downs, who took me under his wing and has taught me so much. He gave me these scenic brushes, which remind me how lucky I am to be supported by lovely people and that I should believe in myself. I hope to be able to be in a scenic paint shop again one day to finally use them.

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Emily Allan (she/her) - Graphic Design Intern

Emily is a designer and artist based in Toronto. In 2020 she graduated from Ryerson University with a B.Des in Interior Design, specializing in design fabrication.  Emily’s creative interests are guided by a heuristic approach to making and learning that centers experimental design, sustainability, and alternative domesticity. She works within an interdisciplinary creative practice that spans visual and installation mediums including fine art, graphic design, creative direction, 3-D work, and design fabrication.

Currently Emily is exploring tiny-house nomadism and circular design techniques within textile art. She also makes pneumatics and researches the potential reuse of plastic waste through craft as part of her design collective studio rat.

Learn more about Emily on her website and on Instagram.

Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia

This exhibition catalogue by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. I feel tremendously connected to this book as a reference that showcases so many of my interests in one place. Its outline of nomadic truckitecture and pneumatics is really awesome! Additionally, the book itself is so artfully presented, reminding me of the subtle beauties of print.

Rock collection

I chose to share my Grandfather’s rock collection because it is one of the most special things housed in my work-from-home setup. It’s a constant reminder to be present with the beauty and abundance in your surroundings and appreciate the little things.

Accumulation: The Material Politics of Plastic, edited by Jennifer Gabrys

This is a current read of mine in relation to my work through studio rat! It is one of the few contemporary reccountings of various plastic dimensions within North America. The book features an essay by Dr. Max Liborian of CLEAR; whose talk on the podcast For the Wild has been instrumental in my understanding of plastic as an enduring part of our landscape, for better or worse.