This project is about the university where I studied right after finishing high school. It was the Biological department of MSU. Our department building was very old and dusty. It could appear as dark and mysterious at times, and sweet and home-like at some other moments.

I visited my department and drew sketches to refresh my memories (it seems to have gotten even older):

Below are the final illustrations for this project.

My freshman year was basically one endless life-drawing class. We sketched flowers, insects, fish heads, pine cones. I still have piles of those strange detailed drawings.

The halls of the department have always been cluttered with old posters and teaching aids. In one dark hall you could find stacks of pressed plants, left there from the 90s. In another place you'd run into shelves full of formalined insects.

In our department there were people who worked there their entire lives. I like to imagine them walking out of their workplace late in the evening, accompanied by spirits of animals they are studying.

The final result of this project was a small A5-size booklet. In it I combined sketches and drawings with some of my old photos of the department. I wanted it to look like a lab journal or a notebook that a student might carry around. The photoshoot below was done by Valentina Zhou.