Eiffel Tower with a crack in it to represent the hurt and or pain felt in this once beautiful and loving place
The Eiffel tower I drew and then used for my collage
This is the collage I created – full of images of love, happiness, change as well as pain and hurt.
This is the final piece – I took the collage and glued it on the laser cut Eiffel tower
This is an image of the Eiffel tower being laser cut before I glued on the collage
Reflection
If I could pin point one time where I felt that my understanding of the world changed it would have to be when I was seventeen and decided to move to Paris. I had just completed high school and didn’t apply to any colleges as I was supposed to go play volleyball on a full ride scholarship but April of senior year I injured my back thus making it impossible for me to play volleyball anymore.
I had a friend who moved to Paris the year before and went to the American University of Paris so I decided to look further into the school and realized that they are on a rolling admissions program so I was still able to apply in May. The first week of June I got an acceptance letter and then began the move the week later. I had never been to Paris and in fact I had never been to Europe.
In my project I decided to laser print an Eiffel tower and create a collage on photoshop of different experiences that I had in Paris. Lastly I decide to add a crack in the middle of the Eiffel tower with ink to communicate the break and lessons learned in Paris. This was a place that so much growth and pain and love was felt. I moved there with my boyfriend and two of my best friends. So many lessons were learned, I was young and in love and believed that everyone wants the best for you but learned that no one wants to see you doing better than them and some will go to great lengths to see you fail.
After the completion of this project I realized how much it meant to me and how I loved Paris so so much but the painful memories I have attached to this place have made it painful to return. But after finishing this project I really felt like I came full circle and that I could go back to Paris and fall back in love with the city that really changed it all for me.
