Bridge 1- Integrated Studio

When asked to choose a memory, there wasn’t one thing that immediately stood out, but my mind instantly went to Indiana.  This is the place where I spent most of my developmental childhood years. These memories aren’t constantly circling my mind, but when they are triggered they are extremely vivid.  One that stuck out was catching geodes, a type of rock, in the river by my home, and then smashing them open on my driveway. I decided to focus on the act of breaking something open to reveal its inner beauty, much like how the smashed geodes exposed crystals.  After some research, I found that the crystals inside of geodes are meant to help one find strength within themselves, and focus on self reflection. This seemed fitting as I am in a transitional time in my life. By going back to this memory and channeling the release of emotion that comes with throwing an object with all of your strength, I came upon the idea of creating a cycle.  As this memory turned out to be mainly about transitioning, I decided to show the rock in its initial state, when it was found, to it being cracked open. I did this by forming a closed rock out of wire and clay, painted with watercolors, and then creating a second, half opened rock, which had crystals inside, which were colored with iridescent powdered pigment. I staged the photo in a way that showed the motion of the rock, with men holding the closed rock, and the crystals being on the ground.  I photographed this outside, on an asphalt road to replicate my driveway. The central focus of my photo, and project, is the crystals themselves as that is what fascinated me and captured my mind as a child.

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