![A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.](/sites/default/files/styles/60_7_2000x233/public/2023-05/youvisit_columbus_ceramics_0423.jpg.jpeg?itok=nFrI1pO9)
![A circular neon work displayed on a table at a gallery.](/sites/default/files/styles/4_3_800x600/public/2023-06/kelly%20xi%20feature.jpeg?h=825a3c3d&itok=eS7n_KiZ)
Kelly Xi
One of the featured neon works in Benthos of the Synthetic Suns by Kelly Xi. Photo by Eugene Tang
![A circular neon work displayed on a table at a gallery.](/sites/default/files/styles/4_3_800x600/public/2023-06/kelly%20xi%20feature.jpeg?h=825a3c3d&itok=eS7n_KiZ)
Kelly, an MFA candidate, is an interdisciplinary artist who focuses on digital media and sustainability. Originally from Baotou, Inner Mongolia—home to the world's largest rare earth metal supplier—Kelly's background informs her distinctive artistic practice.
Photo by Eugene Tang
![A person stands amongst a group of neon pieces and blue projections](/sites/default/files/styles/4_3_800x600/public/2023-06/_Cwide_KMB9691-2.jpg?h=d3dc5db7&itok=KKqMNAkU)
Kelly's work advocates for creating "direct alliances with the organisms that support our ability to live." Her research investigates the connections between light, ecology, and technology. Her interest in photosynthesis is driven by her interest in the life-sustaining properties of light in contrast to what she sees as the bleak nature of LED-lit screens that surround us.
Photo by Eugene Tang
![Fungi growing in a neon incubator](/sites/default/files/styles/4_3_800x600/public/2023-07/_kmb9976-3600x2652.jpeg?h=370540eb&itok=DW5zAOJ0)
![A man in a red t-shirt stands in front of a clay work table](/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_396x223/public/2023-06/casper_richard_0014_feature-image-rt-1600x1156.jpeg?h=2e6db665&itok=5HE6mmoI)
![Sketches of a black woman for an animation exercise](/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_396x223/public/2023-06/__dryburghkessa_characterdesign-2560x1195.jpeg?h=db78a702&itok=wG12M469)
![An illustration of a person on a dock looking into a body of water](/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_396x223/public/2023-06/saicportraitnohardedges.jpeg?h=5e2ab6db&itok=m5PIpdte)