RISD Grad Show 2026

Kyle Gyumin Dong

MFA Photography

FLOATERS

The eye is often regarded as the primary sensory organ of the human body, and the ocular system as our most reliable means of perceiving the world.

With vision, we travel across vast distances through telescopes to expand our knowledge of the observable universe and peer into the hidden world of atoms through microscopes. At the same time, we seek divinity from apparitions in the clouds, broaden the range of colors visible under closed eyelids, and catch a brief glimpse of the future in clairvoyant dreams.

My photographic practice oscillates inside this spectrum of reason and intuition. Between the measurable and the felt, between the external and the internal, between what my retina receives and what my mind and body sense.

You may blink now.

Color photograph of the palm of a hand glowing in orange, held in front of a bright blue sky, with the sun peeking through the gap between the fingers.

Glimpse
Archival Pigment Print

Black and White photograph of a fawn sitting at the doorway of a wooden shed, looking directly at the viewer. Metal fence and evergreen trees surround the shed in the backdrop.

Knock
Archival Pigment Print

Black and white photograph of inside the vision test room. A soft glowing vision test chart illuminates the right side of the room. To the left, a tall window with its wooden blinds open, shows trees and plants outside.

Looking Forward
Archival Pigment Print

Color photograph of blurry raindrops, suspended in watery blue background.

Rising Rain
Archival Pigment Print

Color photograph of white marble gravestones lined up in a field of green and red grass, almost forming a straight line in the center of the frame.

Line
Archival Pigment Print

Color photograph of a kaleidoscope of butterflies, fluttering around a thin white net, inside the metal structure of an indoor garden. Flakes of their wings are caught in the net.

Kaleidoscope
Archival Pigment Print

Black and white photograph of tiny white dots of light glimmering like stars, on a collapsed ceiling. Fiberglass insulation materials are falling out from the wooden frames of the ceiling.

Collapse
Archival Pigment Print

Black and white photograph of a thick velvet curtain, closed, with tassels dragging on the stage floor. Small white flakes are sprinkled on the floor.

Ovation
Archival Pigment Print

Department Navigation

RISD Seal

Rhode Island School of Design

20 Washington Place
Providence, RI 02913–2784
United States of America

+1 401 454 6100
+1 800 364 RISD

QUICK LINKS
risd.edu
Graduate Studies

 
RISD Seal

Rhode Island School of Design

20 Washington Place
Providence, RI 02913–2784
United States of America

+1 401 454 6100
+1 800 364 RISD