Caroline Japal (BFA 2018) is in the final months of the MA program in Design for Art Direction at the London College of Communications at the University of the Arts London. Japal will finish in December with graduation in July 2024. She wrote, via the department’s alumni update form, that she is “working on my thesis project—working title, ‘suBlack’—an art film short and accompanying book that explores the complexities of the Southern Black artist’s experience of growing up and creating in the South while also speculating on the future of Southern Black art, as I believe we are in a new Southern renaissance.”
Japal reflected on the guidance she received in her art courses at UA: “What I remember most is how we were encouraged to make art about topics we were passionate about, to experiment with new materials, and not to fear the unknown but embrace it.” Two of her art professors, including current Associate Professor Allison Grant (photography), were big influences on her and “really helped me to solidify the type of work I wanted to create and mentored me through those processes.”
Japal earned her BFA in studio art in 2018 with concentrations in painting and photography. She is the founder of Art Concept Magazine, served as a creative director of Belladonna Magazine, and as a creative director alongside Tryna B Studios founder Leslie Gomez, until joining the creative agency Cultured to Create in 2019, where she currently serves as creative director and installation logistics coordinator. Japal’s website is here.
For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in art history and studio art, visit our Degree Programs page.