Joyce Chu

Prof. Johansson

Bridge Project #5

12/6/178

As an interdisciplinary fine arts major I work with conceptual work that revolves around introspection and identity.  This semester in Integrative Studio and Seminar #1 my art pieces delved into aspects of my own experiences and memories as an act of reflection and healing through creation.  These experiences mainly revolve around race, sexuality and gender and how these intersecting identities have affected me.  My approach to creating work mainly involves conceptualizing an idea and then finding a medium that would be able to best convey and strengthen that idea.

My first semester at parsons was a time of self-exploration and transformation, this process of self-discovery was also driven by the work I’ve created.  My first studio and seminar project had intertwined closely as I had addressed growing up as a Queer Asian American in a white dominated suburb in both pieces.  For my studio piece, I conveyed time and experience on overlapping transparent sheets in which I wrote some prose on memory. These memories were prompted from the ones I discussed in the memory map for seminar. These overlapping transparencies were layered together on top of a self-portrait made from fingerprints.  This self-portrait was torn into two parts and sewed together which portrayed the feeling of disconnection towards my culture and heritage.  Through this I wanted to convey that memories overlap and can form a representation of who you are.  The words I wrote on these layers was a form of catharsis, it had been the first time I had addressed these intersecting identities in my work and had come to terms with queerness.  Personally, the beginning of the semester was marked by my own exploration in sexuality and navigating confusion within that.  This struggle was reflected within my art and writing.

Bridge Project #3 marked a transformation in my work in which the process of creation was more important and pivotal for the end product.  The work was about experiencing trauma and the healing process from that. The work progressed from a white page to one swirled with gold to covered in black crayon to represent negative experiences with sexuality.  I then covered that layer with white paint again to convey the stage in my life where I repressed these feelings in an attempt to go back to the blank white stage.  In this layered paint I carved symbols of open doors and stairs that had symbolized trying to come to terms and find my place in this identity.  Eventually as the work linearly progressed, I had chipped away each layer to convey the process of healing from these experiences and trauma.  Self-growth and healing is usually conveyed as a process of self-love when it can actually be rooted in work and pain.  In this work I reflected upon painful experiences regarding sexuality and gender identity in an attempt to come to terms with it and heal.  Never before had my work been so introspective to the point where confronting and creating the piece had been difficult due to the memories it had prompted.

This semester marked a period of artistic growth through the experimentation of different mediums and thought processes.  It was a holistic experience in which my academic writing would intersect with the artwork I was creating.  Carrying forward in my work as an artist, I want to focus on the catharsis of creating poignant yet politicized pieces that reflect my subjectivity.