September 23, 2021 (Jackson, Miss.) - An exhibition that incorporates art, design, and board games is set to open on Saturday, September 25. The graduate exhibition of Associate Professor and Co-Chair of the Art and Design Department Jon Micah Tyson will use illustration, interface design, and visual storytelling.
The exhibit, on display September 25 - October 30 at the Bitsy Irby Gallery, invites viewers to experience Tyson's Red Tides, a pirate fantasy tabletop game that is itself a creative piece of artwork and design.
“It wasn't just about creating conceptual art, iconography, and user interface work and then converting it into physical components; but now how to take those things and turn them into an exhibited experience inside an art gallery,” observed Tyson.
Elements were extracted, blown up, re-envisioned, and altered to give the viewer more of a flavorful movement through the narrative visual space. Tyson adds, “It was very challenging, but extremely rewarding. It took me months to work through how it might look and feel in a space like the gallery.”
Tyson's skillful process of creating Red Tides started with pen and paper. Sketches, drawings, and concepts were scanned or photographed, then polished in various programs like Illustrator or Photoshop, then finished in InDesign, and exported for print.
Tyson added, “I've always loved illustrations and fantastic imagery rooted in realism and whimsical detail. Altogether, the title itself has approximately six years of art and design put into it.”
The opening reception for Tyson's Red Tides is this Saturday, September 25, 2-4 p.m. at the Bitsy Irby Gallery.