“I’m able to use what I learned during art school, and I’ve adapted it to a whole new set of technology and a whole different kind of experience. My favorite thing about everything I do is that the technology is always changing. There’s always something new to learn, and there are all of these people to work with."
Gaylen’s interest in media arts emerged from her love of collaboration and new technologies. She was introduced to contemporary video art at a lecture presented by Gene Gort, and in that moment, she knew she found her calling in new media.
Through this innovative program, Gaylen began to collaborate with theatre and dance students on campus, and learned how to create light projections for performance spaces.
“I realized that projection design for theater was something that you could actually do as a career,” she says. “I was able to work with dancers and interactivity and that became my senior thesis project.”
After school, Gaylen took her knowledge of projection work to the Ivoryton Playhouse, a small theater in Essex, Connecticut, where she gained industry experience in interactive design.
Today, she contracts with a number of Connecticut theaters and concert venues as a lighting designer, video technician, camera operator, and general Jane-of-all-trades. Gaylen recently served as the production designer for Hofstra University’s production of We Are Pussy Riot.
"I’ve learned to never be afraid to work in something that only has a slight connection to my area of interest," she says. "Because you never know how many new opportunities will come from that one project.”
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