Hello!

My name is Arianna Kan, and I am a Junior Robotics Engineering Major at WPI, with a minor in Computer Science. While I would not consider myself as an artist, I have enjoyed experimenting with the various forms of visual and auditory art. From a young age, I began dabbling in painting and drawing in a variety of mediums, from sketches in colored pencils to final pieces in charcoal, pastel, acrylic, and watercolor. My love for drawing further pushed me to pursue a musical path. I started piano lessons in the second grade and continued to practice until the fifth grade, when I switched to the violin. I continued with the violin until my sophomore year of high school. Music, especially when played with others, paints emotions and beauty behind the eyes. Although I no longer practice, it remains one of my inspirations, as do the people around me.

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While my background in art was mainly in music and drawing, I began experimenting with other mediums of visual art towards the end of high school and into college. Regarding classes and home projects, I have worked with ceramics, clay modeling, fused glass, woodworking, and digital art. I continued to make crafts through middle and high school, including jewelry-making, scrap-booking, and needle-felting. I also have experience working backstage for theater performances in my early years of high school. My mother’s influence and love for the arts and crafts is the reason I had the opportunity to pursue all of these outlets and why I continue to express myself through art.

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It was only in college that I began to take an interest in the electrical side of things, given my major. Being a Robotics Major, I have worked with a variety of programs, boards, and languages, such as Arduino, C/C++, Python, Verilog and Java. From my robotics classes, I have experience playing with LEDs and LCDs, as well as with laser-cutting and 3D-printing platforms. I am comfortable programming with sensors and using the data collected to manipulate actions.

Last winter, I found my inspiration for pursuing Light Art. I found this temporary art installation in San Jose, called the Sonic Runway, that converts audio signals into a pattern of lights that shoot down a corridor of arches at the speed of sound. It was mesmerizing and it sparked my desire to design and produce something as beautiful and hypnotizing as this piece with my own signature.