I Graduated from High School! #WHAT

Senior Art Exhibition/ My first book, Humans of Emma Willard School x The Bicentennial Edition, is now available online in both PDF and Hardcopy versions at http://www.blurb.com/b/5238144-hu

Baccalaureate

Senior Commencement Eve Concert/ Playing a girl for the first time at my school!

Graduation

Graduation weekend, or rather high school, went by in a blink of an eye. I still can't believe I've graduated after one week at home. It's crazy to think how I started this blog when I first entered the school, and how I've grown and changed these past three years. Life at this "nun dungeon" (what I used to call my school when I was totally miserable in Sophomore year) was sometimes tough, but it was also fun, totally worth it and one of the best experiences ever. I'm so thankful for everything that happened and all the people I encountered, and now I can truly say that I know who I am and I'm strong enough to face challenges that lies ahead (much feminism implanted as well). High school, you will be missed. College here I come!

Humans of Emma Willard School #3

The Humans of Emma Willard School x The Bicentennial Edition book is going to be published and ready for pre-ordering in two weeks! Currently, I am still trying to raise some more funds through Indiegogo in order to cover the shipping fee and lower the cost of the book for everyone in the community. The book will consist of around 100 photos and stories, with different layouts specially designed for each page. I have never imagined that Humans of Emma Willard School will develop into a book when I first started the project, but now that it has, I am enjoying the process and looking forward to the final product! 

Humans of Emma Willard School #2

With over 500 "likes", my community art project is gaining support that I've never imagined before. In honor of Emma's Bicentennial Celebration, I plan to publish the page into a hardcopy book titled "Humans of Emma Willard School x The Bicentennial Edition". With that said, there is a lot of planning ahead. I am going to announce the book during Arts Assembly, and have a fundraiser for the book right after that to cover the publishing cost. Around mid-April, I have to get at least 100 people interviewed. Before the end of April, I have to finish making the book, and publish it on Blurb. I will then purchase a book of my own, and start displaying in the art gallery before Bicentennial Weekend. I am so excited to publish my first book dedicated to my soon-to-be Alma Mater, and hopefully this will all turn out well! 

Artist Inspiration x Winter Olympics

© Google Images

The Winter Olympics just ended last weekend. I didn't get a chance to watch the opening, but I found some pictures of it that were quite awe-inspiring. One scene featured light-wired human figures doing different sporting activities and was hung from the ceiling. It reminds me a lot of The People Project, which I've been continuing in the community. One difference, though, is that the Winter Olympics focus on the actions of the figure, my project focuses on the interaction between the interaction between the figure and the architecture. I particularly loved how the opening ceremony represented Russia's iconic St. Basil's Cathedral, with colorful helium inflatables. 

Humans of Emma Willard School #1

I have officially started documenting Humans of Emma Willard School. The enthusiastic response of the people in the community took me by surprise, as I gained more than 300 followers in less than a week's time.  The most challenging part so far is to know how to respond to what people say and ask questions that can deepen the conversation. Nonetheless, I'm really enjoying the process of reaching out to people and listening to their stories. Other than tightening the bonds within the community, I hope to raise the awareness of the people who are less noticed but make a huge impact on campus, for instance, Marty the Mechanic. I'm so excited to see how this project turns out! 

Artist Inspiration x HONY

I'm so excited to start my next project, which is based on HONY. As the creator of HONY, Brandon Stanton takes portraits of strangers he meets in New York City, and features their stories on his blog. During my last project, The People Project, I made tangible art that hopefully connected people to their surroundings, and this time, I'm going to take my work in a different direction and rely on social media to connect everyone in the community together. As bicentennial celebration and my own graduation draw near, I feel like this project is a nice way to give back to the community. My goal is to capture every single person's story, and so, let HOEWS begin! 

Artist Inspiration x Kyle Thompson

© http://www.kylethompsonphotography.com

At the first glance, I would have categorized Kyle Thompson's artwork as surrealism, but he instead described it as "organic surrealism, since it is much more real and existent than surrealism is". In most of his work, Kyle creates art with people (a lot of times, himself) by placing them in a way that interacts or even corresponds to the given surroundings. He captures the essence and concepts of human activity in abandoned houses and nature, which is what makes his art stand out. 

The People Project

Library

Dining Hall 

I've started The People Project for about two weeks now, and the result turned out much different that I thought what it would be. For one, my person, made with tape, is extremely fragile, keeps falling apart, and needs constant attention and care. On a better note, people in my community are noticing its interactions with various architectures. In turn, they start to interact with my person at the dining hall, talking to her and dressing her up with a bib. I guess, in a way, she is a symbolistic company and can make people feel less alone.

Currently on a hunt for her next location!

Mini Maker Faire

Yesterday's sunny fall weather was perfect for the Mini Maker Faire held at my school. We had about 50 booths that featured their innovations ranging from slow motion cameras,  Tesla Coil, to glowing duct tape wallets, jewelries, hand-made violins, and soaps (plus a bunny!). I enjoyed taking pictures and seeing how every single booth is unique in its own way. The people were inspiring in a way that they showed me how I can basically create art out of any material and form. One of my favorites was the 3D printer. It could make solid objects of virtually any structure and did so by using an additive process, where successive layers of material are laid down in different shapes. It's weird thinking how the 3D printer might start an industrial revolution and that in a couple of decades, Architecture students no longer have to build their own models. 

Architecture vs. Theatre

Romeo and Juliet Stage Set © Mom

Tribabies © http://www.xmarkjenkinsx.com

During the past summer, I tried to find the ultimate link between architecture and theatre, the two forms of art that I love. The link between sounds rather nonexistence and abstract at first, and not that I have found my perfect answer already, but I'm glad to say that Tisch somehow helped me connect them together. For one, the technique of "viewpoints" in theatre made me realize that  actors don't exist on their own; the audience is seeing the interaction with and within the space, and together they narrate the story. With my passion for both structural precision and emotional expression,  I decided to be involved in the Advanced Arts Project at school so that I can create art in my own way. A few of my ideas now are building stage sets that emphasizes on the relationship between actors and the architecture surrounding them and making life-size taped human figures to place around my campus (The People Project). These figures will do specific actions that suit the function of the architecture. My goal for TPP is that people at my school will look at the figures and be more aware of how they, too, can interact with what is around them. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for my final presentation, but hopefully this whole art project will make an impact on my community. Excited to see how this year will turn out! 

Swatch SUOW100

Our painting assignment this time was "whites on whites". The aim was to create a painting using the medium of acrylic that explores different shades of the color white. I chose to paint a watch I own, the Swatch SUOW 100, which proved to be a challenge because of the details it contains. Below is actually my second attempt, which I'm proud to say has came out decently and abstractly. 

A Model of Swatch SUOW100- © Google Images

Swatch SUOW100

Hunter 360° & Winter Wonderland

For our art project this time, we worked on perspectives. I chose Hunter (the science building at our school) because of its very structural composition. At first, my indolent side of me took hold of my sketching process as I estimated the vanishing points and spontaneously drew the parallel lines (I swear they looked really accurate). My teacher warned me that if I don't take the vanishing points seriously enough, the perspective might turn out malformed. So then, I found my vanishing points by lining up sketch papers (apparently, I lined up 5 sketch papers down the corridor of where I was sketching for one of the vanishing points... People passed by me and gave me that "stare"). After my ridiculous location of the two vanishing points, I had to decide how to present my drawing. I thought about cross-hatching to create this sketch-book feeling, but after a fail attempt to cross-hatch (never really learned the skill before), I decided to outline the building, extend the parallel lines, and fill in the building plus floor with pastel. The result was satisfying, partly because of the gray-blue colored paper I chose that created a cold technological atmosphere, but also because of the cool colors I used that helped bring out the feeling of this science building. 

Hunter

Hunter 360°

In addition to finally having a long weekend break from all those heavy schoolwork and theater practices (and... occasional swim practices), we got a day off because of Snow Storm Nemo! Nemo's effect in my area could only be described as beauteous. I took advantage of this scenery and went out in the below-freezing weather to take some photos.

Sunset- taken from my iPhone 4:

By the way, happy Chinese New Year! Hope y'all have a great year of the snake!