UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #1190
Submission information
Submission Number: 1190
Submission ID: 20546
Submission UUID: 7d2f81e7-9692-4d3f-8366-14be4a2eeb30
Submission URI: /urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal
Submission Update: /urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?token=QBySG3uPw5jFH58JGYqV6l_7BtsHGmaAhLLmzQnQyFU
Created: Sun, 08/17/2025 - 12:17 AM
Completed: Sun, 08/17/2025 - 01:04 AM
Changed: Thu, 09/04/2025 - 10:35 AM
Remote IP address: 68.234.200.57
Submitted by: Anonymous
Language: English
Is draft: No
Webform: UROP Project Proposal Portal
Submitted to: UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal
| Primary Research Mentor Name | Amarachi K. Odimba |
|---|---|
| Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns | She/Her |
| When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific? | |
| Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) | ako23@fsu.edu |
| Position Title | Graduate Student |
| Faculty Advisor Name | Grace A. Ali |
| Faculty Advisor's FSU Email | gali@fsu.edu |
| FSU College (if applicable) | Fine Arts |
| FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation | Studio Art |
| Headshot (optional) |
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| Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from above) | nil |
| Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Pronouns | nil |
| Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Honorific? | nil |
| Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) | |
| Name of Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) (if applicable) | |
| Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns | |
| Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific? | |
| Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) | |
| Title of the Project | Enfold series |
| Project Keywords | paintings, soft-sculpture, boundaries, installation, figurative art, abstracted and representational painting, acrylic, canvas, embellishment, passport number, print making, movement, textiles, objects, travel bags, mobility, material memory, history |
| Are you currently looking for research assistants? | Yes |
| Number of Research Assistants Needed | 2 |
| Relevant Research Assistant Major(s) | -Material sciences -Geography -Printmaking -creative writing - Textiles -Education -Art History -Painting |
| Project Location: | Carnaghi Arts Building, 2214, Belle Vue Way, Tallahassee, Fl 32304 |
| If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation? | The school bus Tomahawk goes to the location. It is our studio space, an extension of the studio Arts department and Theatre Arts department, College of Fine Arts |
| Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s): | In-person |
| Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work? | 5 hours |
| Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work? | Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.) |
| Overall Research Project Description | How might reimagining objects through the lens of traditional textile practices reveal new intersections between mobility, identity, and material memory? Objects carry traces of the lives that have handled them, they hold memory and history, as Arjun Appadurai writes in Modernity at Large, “Commodities, like persons have social lives’’. As a figurative painter, I often appropriate everyday objects to function both as material and metaphor. One recurring object in my work is the light-weight plaid tote bag, which comes in many forms and names across the globe. It has become a personal travel essential for me and carries a collective memory in Nigeria linked to migration in the 1980s, when it gained the name “Ghana Must Go” within the region. In my practice, I deconstruct and reconfigure these bags to resemble woven textiles. Textiles play a major role in my culture- the Igbo culture in southeastern Nigeria. Popularly called wrappers, they are often gifted to me by my mother, and do not only serve as cultural signifiers, clothing, covering or fashion items; like the plaid bags, they have historically been used to wrap and carry belongings. The goal of my art research is to draw parallels between the function of these travel bags and the tradition of wrappers/textiles from a personal and collective lens—reimagining the bags as the wrappers and positioning them as performative sites where memory, movement, and identity are carried, layered, and continually reimagined. My project is presented in two forms: a series of sculptural paintings and a two-part installation. 1. Sculptural Paintings This includes a series of three mixed-media works where I paint representational and abstracted figures in acrylic on canvas, printmaking and sew them onto the deconstructed bags which still has some of their utilitarian features retained. 2. Two-Part Installation The second component is an installation featuring embellished travel bags that are presented both as bundled forms and as spread-out textile-like surfaces. These arrangements echo the form and language of Kimsooja’s bottari bundles, evoking mobility, wrapping, and containment. Furthermore, for the paintings, the subjects are individuals whose lives involve movement –fellow students or people with any compelling stories connected to textile symbolism in their cultural or domestic lives. I paint them in acrylic on canvas, using printmaking to stamp their fabricated identification numbers, marking their movement across geographies. These figures are then sewn onto folded bag surfaces, introducing a sense of motion and tension within the fabric. Finally, I embellish the bags to create an ambiguous space—one that both idealizes their complex experiences and highlights the celebratory aspirations and accomplishments embedded in those journeys. The installation component of this work involves arranging the cut-out, embellished bags as bundles and also spread-out fabrics, evoking acts of movement—departure, arrival, stay etc. It also functions as a form of performance, as the traditions surrounding textiles add a performative and embodied dimension to their role as containers. This positions my practice within a continuum where these appropriated bags, now transformed into textiles, operate as living, mobile archives. |
| Research Tasks | - Data collection and generation of random passport numbers and currency serial numbers _-Printmaking - Reaching out or recommending prospective subjects of the paintings - Embellishment of the fabrics -Painting -Sewing -Documenting narratives of subjects -Creative writing of histories of textiles and migration. |
| Skills that research assistant(s) may need: | -MS Word Office -Creative writing - Printmaking -drawing -painting -Basic design and photoshop - Sewing, and sequinning |
| Mentoring Philosophy | One of my main goals is to contribute positively and impact my mentee towards their research. This involves understanding your current stage of intellectual and professional growth, as well as your aspirations for the future. Each individual I mentor is unique, and different goals demand different skills, but I aim to help you cultivate certain universal abilities—such as recognizing opportunities, asking insightful questions, acknowledging weaknesses, and communicating effectively. I will encourage you to be a supportive team member while also having the courage to step into leadership when it’s needed, regardless of your position within any existing power structure. |
| Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable): | https://www.amarachikodimba.com/portfolio |
| Please add any additional information here (if applicable): | |
| Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable? | Yes |
| Roundtable times and Zoom links | Hello Prospective UROP research mentee, Please review the last two links on the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable Zoom schedule for the recordings in case you missed attending. This step is required before submitting your application. All the best! |
| Roundtable Info |
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| Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication | Yes |
| UROP Performance Evaluation | Yes |
| Materials Grant | Yes |
| UROP Poster Presentation | Yes |
| Faculty Advisor Confirmation | Yes |
| Are you interested in attending in a UROP Research Mentor Workshop Series? | |
| Year | 2025 |
| update url | https://cre.fsu.edu/urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?element_parents=elements/research_mentor_information/headshot_optional_&ajax_form=1&_wrapper_format=drupal_ajax&token=QBySG3uPw5jFH58JGYqV6l_7BtsHGmaAhLLmzQnQyFU |