Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
- Maria, My Favorite Things (The Sound of Music)
VISUAL ART Hayao Miyazaki, Craig Thompson, Robert Frank
Grave of the Fireflies
I chose each one of these artists because they impacted my visual art world in different ways. Miyazaki, with Grave of the Fireflies showed me that something can be both visually and emotionally shocking. I watched and weeped and was inspired to combine my love of art, history, animation and storytelling. Craig Thompsons graphic novel Blankets, took sketch journaling to a higher level and intwined his very personal stories with his loose style of illustration. Robert Frank photographed America as an FSA photographer and captured the essence of the country through his use of clarity and composition,while simulaneously raising the art form to a higher level.
SCULPTURAL Alberto Giacometti/Dale Chihuly, Miya Lin and Jim Henson
I like artists who incorporate the environment into their work- whether that be a physical, emotional or social one.
BOOKS/ WRITERS Dear Theo, Where the Wild Things Are, Forever
While Van Gogh, Maurice Sendak and Pete Hamil are very different stylistically, each book, perhaps at different phases of my life helped me to change my perspective on the world. Dear Theo is a biography of Vincent Van Gogh but specifically written through the vehicle of letters that were sent between him and his brother Theo. It is a very real description about what it means to be an artist and a believer. I love Where the Wild Things are for different reasons. I will just say one of them here, which is that I recently found out that Maurice Sendak was from a Jewish family and on Friday nights (shabbat) he would as a child crawl under the table and see the various naked feet of family members. In his book, he made each monster with a different kind of foot for this reason, while grown ups and monsters may seem the same, on a very personal level they are very different. Forever, is a story about a man who travels from Ireland to New York in the 1700s and is granted the ability to live forever with the exception that he must never leave the island of Manhattan. The story takes you through New York history, world history, life, art and spirituality. I aspire to create stories that are as wild as this, but mostly, I just didn't want the book to end.
While these three might be very different, they are all within my realm of interests.
THINKERS Tim Burton, Bruce Mau, Martin Luther King
Tim Burton created worlds, opened imaginations and changed an entire field of art to something of a masterpiece. Bruce Mau introduced me to sustainable design and the responsibilities that we have as designers. Martin Luther King had the vision to think of the world as a place that could be changed, inspired and revolutionized.
WEBSITE OR SOFTWARE drawn, illustrationfriday Adobe Illustrator
Drawn and illustration friday I appreciate for the communities that have been established because of the website as well as the personal education that I received by following them. Adobe Illustrator was the first digital design tool that I have and I value how it has allowed me to meld into the digital art fields.
MY OWN WORK my yaks, my thesis, eulogy
These may not be representitve of what I do as an artist, but I am the most proud of them. My yaks were illustrations of yaks that I did during a boring meeting on budgets that became the mascot and identity for the Rubin Museum of Art's childhood programming. My undergraduate thesis was a 250 page product of 2 years worth of study on digital art. When I sat on my dissertation one of my professors told me that they didn't believe that digital technology can be considered an art form and that I wasted my time. Well... I would love to see that professor now! It really gets me excited to see how much the field can change in 8 years. My thesis was on the terminology that we use to talk about digital art and basically how the taxonomy is based on a system perscribed for photography, which ironically was based on a system for painting. The eulogy that I recently gave at my grandmothers funeral was one of the hardest things that I ever had to do. When I was younger, my father died and so my grandparents played a very big role in my life. Speaking about someone who essentially made you into what you are today is humbling, impossible and liberating.
COMPANY OR ORGANIZATION Laika, Pixar, NPR
Laika is a company that I respect because of its creativity and versatility. I recently saw a preview for its upcoming movie Coraline, and am now inspired to look more deeply into outdated processes for animation in order to move my art technically forward. Pixar, is the other end of the spectrum- exception CG and fantastic storytelling. I particularly appreciate the company's dedication to apprenticeship. NPR- the oddball in my list. I think that I listen to NPR more than any radio station or any music. The style of the company, to take what already exists and make it accessible to people in a upfront yet admittedly subjective manner has changed my worldviews.
PROFESSION OR PRACTICE: animator, conservator, community organizer
Animator- I believe that this is what I aspire to be, but I don't want to box myself in. I love how an animator can take a fantasy and bring it to life. I have the potential to make people of all ages smile in this field. It is a dream
Conservator- I always wanted to be a part of a living history. As an artist, I have always carried a sketch book to help me to better understand the world, but being able to repair the wounds of time, or war would take my knowledge of history and life to another level. After working on provenance of post- WW2 art, I have a deep understanding of how art represents more than what it is aesthetically and the power that it has to connect people.
Community Organizer- I am deep believer in what Gandhi referred to as "being the change you wish to see in the world". I admire those who can go out and reach for that change in a very real way.
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