Post

Pip Mothersill receives 2019 Wiesner Student Art Award

Copyright

Heidi Erickson

Heidi Erickson

The annual Laya and Jerome B. Wiesner Student Art Awards recognizes student achievement in and contributions to the arts. Established in 1979, the award honors undergraduate and graduate students who are nominated by members of the faculty and staff. Prize winners each receive $2,000.

Congratulations to all of this year's winners!

Pip Mothersill, Final Year Graduate Student, Media Lab (Object-Based Media)

Born and educated in the United Kingdom, Pip Mothersill lives and thrives at the junction of design and engineering. She studied aeronautical engineering at the University of Bristol, then moved to the Royal College of Art to study industrial design. “I love being the conduit, the translator, between these two disciplines,” says Mothersill. “To connect the dots between various approaches to solving problems, and the people solving them.”

At the Media Lab, Mothersill has been a quiet but constant advocate for students who want to integrate the arts and creativity into their work. A creator of digital tools, she focuses on user-experience and functionality—skills she honed during her years in industry.

“Designers usually excel at shifting scale, at leaping from 10mm to 10,000 feet,” she explains. “This is an invaluable skill in helping to meet some of the massive challenges we face. But too often our decisions are driven by a need to quantify. I’d like to offer an alternative path where designers can stop and contemplate, where they can live comfortably in ambiguity.”

Related Content