Because the curtain had been carefully pulled aside, the sunlight made it all the way to the front door of the single room studio, giving a warm feel to the place. You could tell she was cooking before your eyes had even had time to adjust to the light that had switched from the one provided by the sad flickering lamp in the corridor to this bright and clean natural lighting. The smell of homemade tomato sauce that would gloriously accompany the perfectly cooked pasta had invaded not only the kitchen but the entire floor. After greeting me politely, she hesitated before kindly asking if I could take off my shoes. There was a shiver in her voice, as if she was embarrassed to even mention a house rule. “You see, it’s because of the noise. The walls and floor aren’t very thick and the girl living below complained yesterday. She could hear me walk even though I was in my socks. But it was late and she couldn’t sleep because of me so I try to be more careful.”, she said as she washed her hand in the bathroom, which was very unconventional for a young woman. No makeup, no cream, nothing too complicated: just a liquid soap, a shampoo, a shower gel, a tube of toothpaste, a toothbrush and an empty glass. It was all arranged in very neat and clean way. four almost empty shelfs (a liquid to clean toilets, two toilet paper rolls, two hairbrushes and a hairdryer) that adorned the toilet seat reflected in the mirror above the sink. There was only a fat green plastic bag, one of those you use for groceries, field with impeccably white towels. She introduced me to the single room, used as a bedroom, a dining room and an office. The pictures of Italian landscapes and Korean meals decorating the four walls of this multifunctional space revealed more than a simple touch of nostalgia. Indeed, she had already left three countries she called “home” before she had to leave Italy, but that’s the one she hold on to. “I always miss the last place I left the most. I missed Germany when we moved to Italy and now that I live in Paris, well I miss Italy.”, she explained. The pictures were postcards of the most touristic places in the country, places she might even never have seen herself. She spoke so personally about her feelings, especially the ones she felt for the oldest of her two younger sisters, even said she was like a second mother to her. The ordinary postcards on the cupboard were in perfect opposition with the decoration on the wall the desk was facing. This one had personal notes, children’s books on the shelf and drawings. Nevertheless, it was all very organized. One post-it read: “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you’ Jeremiah 29.11”. It was aside a card that had Duke Street Church’s 2014 Motto “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails” written on it. Both of the saying implied she had limited control on her life and that she had to learn to accept it. Indeed, she explain later that her father working in a telecom company meant they could never settle in one place. She invited me to sit as it was lunch time and she had displayed the food on the small table. It was hard to believe the homemade tomato sauce she had prepared was on a student budget. It had sausage, cheese and a number of herbs that only cooks would recognise. “I will pray before eating, but you can start!” she said respectfully before shutting her eyes and whispering so quietly you could hear the people walking outside better. From the taste of the food, you could have thought she was Italian which she kind of was in a way. She blushed when I complimented her on the quality of the food. It was obvious she was shy, hiding behind her very scientific glasses which matched with her desk lamp. A very square and formal lamp you would expect to see in a chemistry or physics student’s dorm, but she was in design school. How come? Coming from a very scientific background with engineer parents, she had grown up with technology. The lamp had a special LED light that prevented you from getting migranes. Her phone was a new version that only existed in Asia with a European set up that had been created and installed just for her. She didn’t use make up for health reasons and didn’t smoke or drink either for health and ethical reasons. Pragmatic like her parents, she first thought she belonged in that science world, but growing up she discovered her strong artistic mind set. She figured she could combine both at Parsons with the ATM program. A mixture of pragmatism and creativity was what fit her best.
THE CUBE TEST:
For the purpose of the environmental portrait, she underwent a personality test. The instructions were the following:
You are in a desert and you see a cube. What does the cube look like? How big and far is it? What color is it?
Now a ladder appears. Where is it compared to you and to the cube? What color/material is it?
A horse is added to the scene. Where is the horse? What is it doing? How far is it and what color is it? Is it wearing a saddle or tied up to something? Or is it running freely?
There is a storm. Compared to the objects and the horse where is it? Is it steady, moving, dying or maybe forming? How bad is it?
Add a flower or flowers. How many are they? Where are they? What color are they?
After she had answered the question, the meaning of each object were given to her in order to proceed to the analysis.
The cube represented the perception she had of herself in the world. Hers being the size of a house would mean she feels she has an average sized place in this world and it is not very easy to see through her because she considered her mind to be private property. The ladder represents her friends and her relationship with them. In her case, the ladder is leaning on a wall of the house. Her friends tend to lean on her for support and she is very close to them. The horse is an imagery for her ideal lover. Hers is walking freely in what would be the front yard. She perhaps views her ideal lover as uncontrollable or predictable as it is not wearing a saddle or isn’t tied up. The storm represents obstacle she would have encountered and hers was a steady calm rainy day which implies she is facing an issue at the moment but it’s nothing unbearable. The flowers represent children. She has many in the front yard, between the house and the horse. Their pink color recalls royalty and femininity.
