Sean Leslie Dollete

Carolyn Colsant

Integrative Seminar II: Fashion

3 April 2017

Cross Course Reflection

My name is Sean Leslie Dollete, and I am a 20 year old visual artist, fashion designer, and draq queen from Brooklyn, New York. I am currently enrolled at Parsons the New School for Design as a freshman studying Fashion Design. Most of my work this year was mostly centered around myself, very much like a self portrait. I tend to use myself as either the concept of the medium of the piece. I like to involve 100% of myself whether it may be physically or metaphorically, using my face or my body to try and push not only my boundaries but also the boundaries of art. I learned many artistic skills in my Time class this spring, especially Adobe software like Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Premiere. More importantly, I learned how to create and tell a story through sound and visuals. What made projects more interesting despite their difficulty was that we held all creative control and we were allowed to interpret and tailor every assignment to ourselves, and our individual stories. The skills I learned in this class can very much carry over to not only other classes, but to also our passions and professions outside of school. In my studio class in the fall, the most important thing I learned from not only myself, but from my peers as well how important emotion is in a piece of work. It is so essential to make sure that whatever you produce makes the audience feel some type of way. Despite writing not being my strongest suit, what I was really grateful for in Seminar was having the ability to write about the work we did in Studio. Sometimes in Studio, there are many things that occur behind the scenes that are vital to the final work, the process, and the concept that doesn’t get discussed or recognized and Seminar allows us to communicate that by writing and reflecting about them in Bridge projects.

 

A big highlight I’ve had this year was the peer project I had in my studio class in the fall. Our first project was a timeline of our lives, and after hearing everyone’s life story, our class became really close and tight knit. Ever since then, we have been extremely open with each other, allowing each other to witness the greatest parts about ourselves but also our worst. And with that kind of connection, others can really feel and understand your work. When my partner Skylar and I first met to discuss what we would do for each other, we began by telling each other every detail of our lives, all the best and worst moments. We both went through similar hardships, having hit rock bottom and trying to rise up again. When we presented in class, we both cried when we saw each other’s pieces and listening to each other communicate each other’s stories through the works we presented. She felt I really portrayed her story really well and she got so emotional seeing not only her most vulnerable moment, but also her most triumphant in physical form. This piece meant a lot to her, but to myself as well because I saw so much of myself in her story. When I was creating the piece, I worked on it non stop for hours and hours because I felt such attachment to it, and it became impossible for me to do anything else without finishing the project. I made this piece for her, but in a way I was making it for myself. I was not only telling her story, but mine too. It’s my favorite collaboration up to this day because I discovered so much about myself, which is ironic because we were suppose to get to know and use another peer as the subject of the piece. Another highlight I had this year was writing the research paper for Seminar class. I did the most research I have ever done for this specific paper because it was a topic I was extremely passionate about. Ever since I was a young adolescent, I had so many lingering questions in my head about sexuality and being a queer individual, and I spent so much time thinking about these questions to the point where it kind of drove me crazy. The issue I wrote about as well is a huge controversial topic within the LGBTQ community, and by doing all this research and writing this paper, I feel more informed about the subject and the community as a whole. You can’t fight, defend, or voice your opinion on something if you are not well informed on the topic. By doing this paper, it was like going up to my young self, and giving him all the answers to the questions he never thought would get answered.
I have done so much this year, both academically and creatively. I felt at some points there were more academics than creative projects, especially in the spring semester. At this point, I am looking forward to creating so more, expanding my knowledge, learning new skills, and experimenting with new materials and mediums. I am also looking forward to applying what I learn in the classroom to any jobs and internships I may have in the future. Some of the skills and techniques that I have already learned this year like Adobe software I have already used in my outside interests like designing posters for drag events, making promotional video content, and editing photos from shoots. I would like to learn more about photography and film and really master it. I am also really fascinated by Adobe After Effects and learning how to animate. Outside of school, I would like to get a job in the fashion industry and really use my skills and knowledge to contribute new ideas and concepts. When I am not so busy with school, I would love to get back into making a lot of visual art like I use to with my face and body and create new looks for both art projects and drag projects. I would love to expand my drag, in terms of aesthetic and in terms of booking and performing at more venues, and really establishing and getting my name out into the world (slowly but surely).