Hi, I'm Jackie!
I’m a Chinese-American new media artist and digital designer who creates playful narrative experiences to explore healing at personal and collective scales.
I tell stories based on my own life to explore my relationship with myself, worldbuild for the younger me who dreams of something better, and invite others to feel seen by proxy. These stories often take place in media I'm nostalgic for: the early web, games, visual narratives. Constantly shifting between code, illustration, and user interface design, I merge disciplines to experiment with new modes of relating: with myself, with others, and between worlds.
In parallel, I like extending the themes in my personal work to others as creative prompts–to self-reflect, critically engage with technology, and imagine better futures. In the past, I've given talks, hosted workshops, and written zines about creating technology from a place of healing and values alignment.
By day, I lead product design at Schoolhouse.world, a youth-powered community for giving and receiving help. I'm also building my personal creative practice as a Year 9 member in NEW INC's Art & Code track. I’m open to poignant collaborations, speaking at your school/institution, and being treated to iced lattes or boba. 💕
exhibition
- Sounds About Riso, Jackie's Guide to Making a Website · zine in risograph exhibition · September 2022
- PRIMER2020, Jackie's OS · poster presentation · June 2020
- Computer Mouse Conference, CURSORWORLD · participatory art exhibit · November 2019
- PRIMER19, ENIAC Girlz · poster presentation · July 2019
- NYU ITP Spring Show, ENIAC Girlz · speculative design · May 2019
- NYU ITP Fall Show, The Body Pillow · speculative design · December 2018
- Museum of the Moving Image, a collaboration w/ my 12-year-old self · performance · December 2018
- MIT Hacking Arts, love notes · Exhibiting artist · November 2017
publication
- In Medias Res: MIT Comparative Media Studies / Writing Magazine, Girl Meets Void · Comic memoir · Fall 2018
teaching
- Adjunct Professor, Core 2 Interaction Lab Instructor at The New School · Spring 2021
- Neostalgic Computing, Experimental Class on hyperlink.academy · Feb - March 2021
speaking
- Harvard University WECode, upcoming speaker · February 2023
- Toronto Metropolitan University · Dare to Envision Speaker Series, artist talk & speculative design workshop · April 2022
- MozFest 2021, "From Nostalgia to Neostalgia: Imagining Healing Visions of Computing" · speculative design workshop · February 2021
- Tech for Social Good Day, "Dark/Net/Art: an Introduction to Self-Publishing with Tor" · workshop w/ Cezar Mocan · February 2020
- BUFU WYFY School, "Website Design as Personal Storytelling" · workshop · August 2019
awards
- AniMIThon Winner, backspace · animated film · May 2018
- MIT Anthropology James Howe Prize, "Clashing Colors, Blinking Backgrounds, Under-Construction Signs: GeoCities’ Aesthetic Legacy and the Future of Web Culture" · essay · May 2018
education
- M.P.S. in Interactive Telecommunications Program, New York University
- B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology