Diana: Building the Environment Around Artemis

For this project, I wanted to think beyond the main artifact.

Diana is a sister project to Artemis, both conceptually and literally. Artemis became the central piece in my Liminality and Transition project, focusing on the NASA Artemis missions, orbital pathways, and the strange in-between space between Earth, Moon, science, memory, and possibility. Diana grew out of that same system, but with a different purpose.

If Artemis is the object, Diana is the world built around it.

This project became about presentation, support, and atmosphere. I wanted to create an environment that could hold Artemis, frame it, and make the viewer feel like they were approaching something technical, ceremonial, and in transition.

Learning Through Making

A major part of Diana was research through process.

Instead of only designing a visual system, I wanted to learn a few production methods that could expand the way the final installation existed in space. I focused on two processes I had not fully explored before:

3D printing and vinyl cutting.

Both processes felt appropriate for the project. Artemis already dealt with space exploration, engineering, orbital movement, and the future. It made sense that the presentation structure should also be built through technical and machine-based methods.

The project became less about decoration and more about fabrication.

The 3D-Printed Space Launch System

I worked with 3D plans of the Artemis Space Launch System and brought them to Boston University’s Engineering Product Innovation Center.

At EPIC, I was guided through the process of preparing the files for 3D printing. The original files had to be transformed into STL files, which are the format required by the printers available there.

The full submission included the entire Space Launch System, broken into 64 pieces, including the solid rocket boosters and the core stage.

3D print of the space launch system

Vinyl Cutting and the Podium

The second major part of Diana focused on the pedestal, or podium, that would hold Artemis.

I created a vector stencil of the Space Launch System taking off. This image was designed to be cut on the vinyl cutter and then transferred directly onto the podium.

This part of the project was about surface and context. The podium was not meant to disappear. I wanted it to become part of the visual language of the piece.

The vinyl image of the launch functions almost like a shadow, diagram, or signal. It points back to the rocket, but it also adds movement. It suggests departure. It makes the structure feel activated rather than neutral.

In that way, Diana does not just hold Artemis. It helps Artemis launch.

Vinyl on the podium ready for Artemis

A Sister Project

The name Diana comes from the Roman goddess often connected to the moon, hunting, and the wilderness. Since Artemis is the Greek counterpart, Diana felt like the right title for this supporting project.

That relationship mattered to me.

Diana is not a separate idea. It is a companion. It supports Artemis, but it also has its own identity. Artemis is about transition, orbit, and exploration. Diana is about structure, environment, and the act of presenting.

Together, they create a fuller installation.

One project looks upward. The other builds the ground beneath it.