I am Joyce Li. A girl who travelled from Vancouver, B.C. Canada to New York City to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer. In the fall of 2016, I began my first term as a freshman at Parsons the School of Design. Without a doubt, the first year is not at all how I expected. Before coming, I knew that the foundation year at Parsons is extremely crucial. It forced the students to explore different fields of art. This was one of the many reasons that I chose to come to Parsons. I wanted to challenge myself to understand different approaches to art other then just seeing, making and thinking art through fashion. I knew that I had to train myself in different fields to inspired my creative practices. Though out the year, I have put myself up for different challenges. Now looking back at my works, I have most definitely grown and are more confident.
Through out my first year at Parsons, I seem to be creating a variety of digital arts. I proficient in the skill of using photoshop, illustrator and premiere in a short amount of time here at Parsons. Especially in the first semester, I have been creating quite a few short videos to convey my concepts and ideas. Also, I have learned to use the formation of videos to document my works. Since I was introduced to Adobe Premier, I was opened up to a new approach to making art. Aside from that, I also discovered a new passion that is not fashion and trend related. I discovered my interests and talents in producing animation.
During my first year, the two most challenging projects are the final projects for my integrative studio 2 and integrative studio 1. For my integrative studio 2 final project, I was inspired by Brothers Grimm’s tale, “Hansel and Gretel.” Growing up, I was always memorized with the idea of living in a house made of candies and cookies. Without much background knowledge to the story, I decided to see what the story has to offer beyond my childhood impression. I began gathering information on fairy tales and its impacts. The more journals I read, I discovered a link to the corruption in tales. In “Hansel and Gretel”, the women were disfigured and dehumanized. After my discovery, my objective was to expose the gender bias in tales and to recreate a image for the witches. I designed a fashion collection inspired by the 19th century German outfits of both male and female. By presenting this collection in a form of pop-up book, I used the same influence a story book has on children to create an impact, a new definition for witches.
My integrative studio 1 final project was a short animation I created inspired by the power of superstition. Rather than researching into famous superstitions, I decided to use one of my personal stories to show the impact of words and thoughts. Before I began, I put my experience and thoughts onto paper and I created a story boards to help navigate my story line. I thought about what messages, emotions I wanted to convey in each second and what were the symbols and images best represent and deliver the idea. Though out the process, I went back to my story board a several times to refine and edit my ideas until I was satisfied with the result. I recorded myself telling the story. I practiced again and again using different tones and speed to effectively bring the audience into the mood.
These two highlights conclude my first year at Parsons. They show my growth and learning in researching and planning. From the start to the end, even step along the way was carefully planned and thought out. Before the final products, there were many failures and frustration along the way. Prototypes after prototype, ideas after ideas, many were discarded just to render a better version. During the process, I entered the two worlds that I was most unfamiliar with. I struggled with learning new programs, new techniques. Through the making of these two projects, I taught myself to leaning from different resources around me. I taught myself to solve problems. I am proud of my accomplishment and I had shown myself what I am capable of.
In the near future, I wish to explore more possibilities. I want to set up more challenges for myself to explore and experiment. I want to be able to test my own limits and be confident and proud of myself even when my idea does not turn out the way I expect it to be. I am excited to see how both myself and my works will transform in my sophomore year and how I will be applying and refining the techniques I learned in my first year toward my second, third and the final year here at Parsons.
