Hilyard is a professor of digital arts with the School of Education’s Art Department. He works primarily in 3D digital modeling and animation, often relating his work to “the sublime,” often described as an ecstatic experience that places the viewer within some kind of larger context.
FIVAC has taken place annually in Camagüey since 2008, each year presenting recent video and new media art from Cuba and around the world in a meta-curatorial space called The New Resistance. The event, which takes place from April 22-29, also includes panel discussions and master classes dealing with contemporary theory and philosophy related to new media art.
Hilyard’s “Катюша (Katyusha),” which will be exhibited as a three channel video installation, is based on the story of Pyramida, a showcase community established by the Soviet Union in the arctic territory of Svalbard. Pyramida was the northernmost town on the planet until it was evacuated in 48 hours in 1998. Hilyard captures the left-behind frozen ghost town, a snapshot of post-soviet Russia.