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Center for Art Design and Visual Culture - UMBC

despite // bất chấp: The 2026 IMDA Thesis Exhibition

April 1–April 18, 2026

UMBC’s INTERMEDIA AND DIGITAL ARTS (IMDA) Masters Program presents “despite // bất chấp” the 2026 IMDA MFA Thesis Exhibition. Opening to the public on Wednesday, April 1st with an artists reception on Thursday, April 2nd, 6-8 pm, the thesis exhibition features four graduate student presenting a range of artistic approaches: Taylor Goad, Nia Hampton, Bao Nguyen, and Lynn Nguyen.

Since the inception of the IMDA MFA Program at UMBC in 1992, this exhibition has become an annual favorite featuring installation, performance, film, video, photography, animation, interactive art, sculpture, audio works, painting, drawing, and print media.

Taylor Goad uses humor, the abject, and playful tufted rugs to humanize medical spaces, depicting illness while bridging craft, graphic design, and fine art.

Nia Hampton (b.1991) is a West Baltimore native whose conceptual art and cultural work grapples with identity and power.

Bao Nguyen traces the materiality, community and ecology surrounding vacant lots. “I have been standing here for a long time” stems from from fieldwork in Southwest Baltimore.

Lynn Nguyen is a Vietnamese American interdisciplinary artist and wood sculptor whose practice explores the intersection of traditional craftsmanship, digital technology, and cultural memory.

Twenty old bay encrusted bright orange and white crabs are splayed over black and white newspapers. Four sets of black hands are picking at the crabs.
Nia Hampton, “Postcard. Baltimore Wealth.”, 2026 , photo: Spirit Adams.
A red cartoon-like drawing of a humanoid figure with a sad face holds an IV pole. The IV pole features a similar sad face on its monitor. The figure and the IV pole are set against a neutral-colored, highly distressed background.
Taylor Goad “Chemo Doohd”, 2026, Tufted Carpet using Acrylic Yarn and iPad, photo: courtesy of the artist.
"Chiếc Lá Trôi Giữa Đôi Bờ" is a mixed-media installation that translates the poetic imagery of a drifting leaf into a complex geometric sculpture. Using thin bamboo stems to form a modular polyhedral mesh, the artist creates a suspended volume that appears both structured and weightless. The curved form shaped a leaf caught in a current, hanging in the delicate balance between two points. The work reflects on the tension between stability and motion, grounding traditional materials within a contemporary, geometric-designed framework.
Lynn Nguyen, “Chiếc Lá Trôi Giữa Đô”i Bờ” translated The Leaf Floating Between The Two Banks, 2025 Installation of mixed-media wooden sculpture Found objects, laser-cutting pieces, bamboo sticks, and monofilament nylon clear threads.
Image of a large sanding disc with its plastic covering layer peeled and folded in half. On the adhesive surface of the sanding disc is a pressed wild plant.
Bao Nguyen, “…and their land vol.1”, artist’s book, photo: courtesy of the artist.

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Visitor Information

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Our exhibitions and events are free and open to the public for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University’s nondiscrimination policy.

If you need specific accommodations at one of our events, whether in person or online, or to experience an exhibition, please contact CADVC at cadvc@umbc.edu or 410-455-3188 as soon as possible.