scenic design
As a scenic designer, I aim to create immersive, thoughtful, and intentional environments
that provide potential for play and imagination.
COMPANY
scenic designer
CARNEGIE MELLON SCHOOL OF DRAMA
DIR. DARREN LEE
APRIL 2026
Renderings created using Photoshop and Vectorworks 3D, drafted in Vectorworks
Company was a very big honor and a very fulfilling challenge. The team chose to ask the question: “In a city packed to the square inch with people, why and how can one feel so alone?” We focused on creating a sense of both isolation and clutter that served as an essence of the city.
How do we propose and represent Bobby’s subconscious journey? It began with an idea: windows. They represent framing memories, but also are signature to New York City.
We created three-story towers with windows for the actors to climb into, from which they would sing to Bobby. This was both a design challenge and a technical challenge for the team.
see full packet!
For each couple’s apartment, we chose a different interior design aesthetic and color palette to distinguish them. I worked closely with the costume designer to pick colors for furniture that would compliment her clothing, and not blend into it.
see full storyboard!
Company allowed me to grow significantly. I dove head-first into the process and learned more about conceptualizing with a group, communicating with different departments, and how to better facilitate technical implementation in multiple areas.
photos by Louis Stein & Dave Rubin
ALCINA
scenic & puppet designer
CARNEGIE MELLON SCHOOL OF MUSIC
DIR. SEAMUS RICCI
JANUARY 2025
renderings produced using Photoshop, digital drafting using AutoCAD
In Handel’s opera Alcina , Alcina is a powerful sorceress ruling over a magical, secluded island in the middle of the ocean.
The team’s design statement was as follows:
“Alcina has created a perfect, symmetrical world for herself. As it is invaded and her magic is eventually broken, asymmetry takes over.”
For Alcina, I chose to focus on creating a painterly, fantastical feel. I digitally painted all of the elevations in Photoshop and carefully chose a color scheme to reflect Alcina herself (purple), and the magical castle she has built, embracing complimentary colors. The drops at first appear symmetrical, but as the aperture of the middle drops closed, we saw cracks and frightening creatures that represented the darkness of Alcina’s reign that is revealed.
see full packet!
puppet design
Additionally, we chose to include a unique physical element to the production: puppets. In the plot of the opera, Alcina lures sailors to her island, has her way with them, then turns them into animals, rocks, and other natural elements of the island. We wanted to represent this with our ensemble of four performers.
I designed the puppets to reflect the geometric feel of the set while having the texture of the natural elements of the island. They had headgear on the inside to be both worn on the head and puppeted by hand, with a fabric trail to represent the body of the animal.
After my assistant assembled the heads out of EVA foam, I executed the entirety of the texturing and hand painting using pumice gel, modeling paste, acrylic paint, and faux moss and leaves. Later on during tech, we added sequins around and in the eyes, and layers of jagged green and brown tulle around the base to transition between the head and the fabric.
This was an incredibly fulfilling and creatively challenging project for me. I am very proud of these puppets and the life they brought to the production.
AMERICAN IDIOT
scenic designer & paint charge
THE SUMMIT PLAYHOUSE
AUGUST 2023
