Who am I?
During our reflections unit, we were asked the question, “Who am I?” Though disguised as a simple inquiry, these three words are extremely complicated when directed at a specific individual. Through various projects, we were tasked with exploring our motivations, passions, and most importantly, our values. I recognized what values and interests shaped who I am today and learned that I express myself through dance more than I do in other mediums. I also realized that my love for stories as a kid made me both a very ambitious individual, but also an effective storyteller.
In our Digital Media class, we were asked to share our core values in a video using Adobe After Effects. For mine, I aimed to showcase my personalty through colors and animations, as well as sharing my most important values in life.
Mandala
During the Reflections unit, we learned how to create a mandala using Adobe Illustrator. We were asked to create our own personal mandalas that reflected elements of our live using small symbols or congruent themes. Throughout the project, we learned different techniques and tools to help make the task simpler. These shortcuts allowed us to focus on and highlight the elements of our personal lives in the mandala.
Personal Mandala Artist Statements:
Black & White Mandala: Stages
“Stages” draws inspiration from the diverse roles I’ve embodied on stage, a journey that has been pivotal to my personal growth. Initially, I centered this Mandala on my ballet experiences, especially those from “The Nutcracker.” However, as the project evolved, I incorporated elements from my acting and contemporary performances. This project has been a highly reflective process and has highlighted the influence each role has had on my dance and emotional journeys.
One challenge I faced was how to interpret each role. I dedicated time to thoughtfully considering how to portray each one. I lacked inspiration, and diving into old dance photos proved to be a pivotal turning point. Ultimately, I decided to represent some roles with a costume piece and others by the piece’s theme. For instance, I represented a solo performance of “On My Own” from Les Misérables with Eponine’s newsboy cap, while for an upcoming solo from La Bayadère, I drew a snake to symbolize the piece’s theme. This project truly pushed me to consider each role individually.
This project presented a new challenge, allowing me to reflect on my developmental journey. I considered how each role impacted my physical and mental progress. “Stages” illuminated my growth, both as a dancer and as a human being.
Colored Mandala: Once Upon a Dream
When I was a kid, Disney princesses were my entire world. Each of their stories taught me to be ambitious in my dreams and ultimately helped shape many of my core values. Creating “Once Upon a Dream” was an enchanting yet challenging project. Each princess brings with her a unique story, color palette, and symbol. Finding a way to cohesively bring these diverse elements together required much careful thought and planning.
I started with iconic symbols, like Belle’s Rose, Cinderella’s glass slipper, and Ariel’s seashell. The colors had to be vibrant and evoke the essence of each character, while maintaining harmony across the mandala. One significant challenge was deciding on the thematic consistency for the mandala. Balancing the delicate femininity of Aurora with the fierce, adventurous spirit in Merida was no easy feat. I had to ensure that each element was not only true to its origin but also contributed to the overall aesthetic and story of the mandala.The result was a spiral of storytelling that honored each princess’s individuality while forming a unified whole.
Working on “Once Upon a Dream” was a delightful reminder of where my dreams began. It made me recall how I first fell in love with the magic of storytelling and how that sparked my journey as a creative individual. Reflecting on my development through this artistic process, I could see how my early dreams have continuously shaped and guided my path.
Mandala Build Reveal Video:
Black & White Laser Engraving Process:
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Engraved Mandala
Artist Statement:
“Stages” is all about the different roles I’ve embodied throughout my life. Whether they be in a performance or just in day-to-day life, each one has been significant to me and influenced my life. When choosing the engraving material for my mandala, I kept my own personal values and beliefs in mind. I have always adored nature and feel a deep connection to it. I felt that engraving my mandala on wood would represent me best, and also tie into many of the roles I’ve played. For my photo, I also wanted to highlight nature. I found a spot that has a lot of greenery, but wasn’t so distracting that it would take away from the mandala. I chose to use a photo where both the natural elements and the mandala were equally displayed, rather than placing the mandala front and center. This represents my inner values more faithfully, showing an equal balance between the two.
Reflection:
The mandala project was really valuable to me during this unit. I learned more about myself and my values through this assignment and really appreciated the creativity that was required to complete it. We were given a lot of creative freedom throughout this project, and that was really helpful when debating how to best represent myself. There were definitely some challenges along the way, but I learned a lot while overcoming them and am grateful for the tools I gained through this assignment.
The Personal Essay
In our English class, we were given the choice to write our Common App essay or write a separate personal essay. I chose to write my Common App essay for this assignment. Throughout the unit we read “College Essay Essentials” by Ethan Sawyer. This process was extremely helpful for me because I got more feedback on my essay and many examples to guide me while writing. The topic of this essay again centered around the question, “Who am I?” Through this essay I was able to recognize many of the obstacles I’ve overcome in my life and how they have shaped and developed me.
Film
Reflections
Out main film project during this unit was a reflection video. Our task was to showcase an idea, talent, challenge, or belief that we valued in a two minute film. I chose to focus on dance in my video. Dance was my first love and has always been a part of my life. It is something that I will always hold dear, and my life would not be the same without it. I use dance to express myself, and felt that it was something I really needed to highlight in this unit.
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Surround Sound
We also learned about surround sound during this unit. After studying a few examples, we were challenged to film and create our own short video with surround sound.
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Write, Shoot, Edit
Another assignment we had in this unit was called Write, Shoot, Edit. In class, we got into groups of four and wrote a small story for a short film. We shared our story with the class, then we switched stories between the groups. During our next class period, we had to film the story the other group gave us. After we finished filming, we switched our footage with yet another group. Finally, during our third class period, we edited the other group’s footage. This whole process was complicated and required a lot of focus from each group. It was challenging, but also fun. Here is the film I edited with my group members.