The overall aim of this project was to create a visual “memory palace” portrait of a partner from which a stop motion animation could be made.

BRAINSTORMING PROCESS:

Interview Questions– first I interviewed Ael to get a sense of her personality so that I could accurately portray her.

1 How will you live now?

I will live like I always have. Minding my own business, being careful and discovering new places, things and people.

2 What is it like to begin?

It’s scary, exciting, confusing, rewarding and satisfying.

3 What are the consequences of silence?

Sometimes it’s for the better, sometimes it’s for the worst.

4 Describe a morning you woke without fear.

Every morning. I’m tired, chill and maybe stressed because of school. I am more the type of person to go to sleep with fear.

5 What would you say if you could?

I don’t know.

6 Who are you and whom do you love?

I’m Ael and I love my family, my friends, my boyfriend, my pets and the world (most of the time).

7 Where do you consider your home?

I consider France and Argentina my homes.

8 Do you miss anyone in particular right now? If so, who?

I miss my boyfriend, parents and my brother. My parents and brother because I feel like I need to talk to them in person, just to feel sane. My boyfriend because he also makes me feel sane and he just gets me no matter what. It sounds cliché but he really is always there for me even though he lives in Argentina. But I miss being close to them all.

9 What is one meal you know how to make well?

Omellete and crepes.

10 What was your favorite thing about living at home?

Not adulting.

11 Who is the first person that comes to mind when you think of the color red? Why?

A Red priestess from Asshai (Melisandre)  from Game of Thrones, because i’ve binge watched all 6 seasons this summer and they call her the red witch. She wears red and her hair is red.

12 How well do you think you judge character?

I think I judge character pretty well once meeting a person. But I can be completely off if I just judge by their actions without meeting them. So I would say i’m not bad.

13 What is one attribute you see in a friend that you wish you had? Who has said attribute? Why do you want it?

I wish I had the attribute of forgiving and forgetting. My best friend Ale has that attribute. I wish I had it because it would be healthier for me… I can forgive but I never forget, and sometimes it makes me become a petty person which i’m not always proud of.

14 What motivates your style choices?

I love fashion and the message it gives out. Originality motivates me, there’s so much out there that I always feel like it’s dope to be different. I admire styles that are out of the box or styles that make people look twice, it’s so fierce and fearless.

15 How do you think other people describe you to people you don’t know?

I think people describe me as a chill person or the girl with the long/cool hair.

16 How would you hope oper people describe you to people you don’t know?

I would hope they describe me as chill and cool. But also nice and funny.

17 What helps you unwind?

Ranting, making art, sleeping, distracting myself basically.

18 What stresses you out most?

School and being an adult with all the responsibilities. Organizing things for multiple people is also a nightmare to me.

19 Describe a time you felt at home.

When we decorated the dorm room with Emma. Once we finished it felt very cozy and personal. It feels like home away from home.

20 Describe a time you didn’t feel at home.

I don’t know of a time where I didn’t feel at home. But the other day, I walked into a fancy Ralph Lauren store and felt underdressed…at a store…

21 What do you look for in a friend?

I look for honesty, sense of humor, acceptance, loyalty, empathy and sympathy.

22 What is the last lie you told?

I said I didn’t have incenses in my room..

23 Describe a time when you we scared.

When I got pepper sprayed. I thought I was going to be blind forever and it freaked me out.

24 What color do you associate with panic? Why?

Black (Even though I also love black). Because it gives a sense of being lost and not seeing/thinking clearly.

25 Have you ever had a recurring dream? If so, what? If not, what’s a dream you’ve had that stands out in your mind?

I have not had a recurring dream (that I can remember). I do have a dream that I dreamt when I was super little of a witch boiling me in her potion pot while having an evil laugh. It was the typical big-nose-big-mole witch. I was sort of traumatized by the nightmare so I think that’s why it sticks to me so much.

26 What’s a song that is close to your heart? Why?

Die For You by The Weeknd. It’s close to my heart because not only is The Weeknd one of my favorite artists, but the first time I heard it I instantly thought of my relationship with my boyfriend (cheeeeesy af I know but it’s true). I love the beat, the melody, and how relatable & true it is to us.  

27 What’s your favorite pizza topping?

Margherita.

28 What’s the first thing that came to your mind this morning?

How I should time myself to meet up with my friend.

29 What is your relationship with the last person you lied to?

She’s an RA.

30 Describe a time you miss.

The time when society’s standards didn’t shape us as people. When we were little and didn’t care about anything else but having fun.

31 What’s the first quote that comes to your mind?

Nevertheless, she persisted.

32 What feelings do you associate with the color orange? Why?

I think of a literal orange. Because it’s orange.

33 If you were a pencil, what color would you be? Charcoal, graphite, normal color?

I would be normal colored pencil in any shade of blue, but most likely baby blue.

34 What famous person do you associate yourself with?

Liza Koshy

35 Which Friends character would you be?

A mix between Rachel and Phoebe I think. Not sure..

36 What do you think about on long plane rides?

Life in general (the good, the bad, etc), or just about the movie i’m watching.

L: So we went to the same school, Miami Country Day, how did you like it there?

A: I got there in seventh grade and it sucked. I met my best friend there, through shoes actually. I asked her if she got them in France, and she told me no, Italy, and we bonded. On the side, her brother and my brother were becoming best friends and we had no idea we had siblings. Then my mom went to a PTA meeting and ran into her mom who she knew from her modeling career years ago. We were best friends, we would always hang out after school. It was her and me and nobody else. We were together all the time, but then she moved to aspyn in eighth grade, and the night before starting school again I cried as if I was a new student even though I had been there for 4 years. That year I made a group of friends that was super nice, but we never chilled out of school. I left school and realized I made that group of friends as a defense mechanism to make sure I knew people and I wasn’t alone. After I left, we never spoke again. Basically, I hated Country Day.

L: So if you didn’t really hang out with them out of school, what did you do in your free time?

A: My brother was in the same situation as me since Country Day was very cliquey– they all knew each other since they were three and didn’t want to accept anyone else into their groups. I was mostly with my brother because we were both not making friends and we were learning English.

L: What was your first language?

A: Spanish and French. There was also this Costa Rican family that moved there with like 6 kids who were all in the same situation, so I had that little group too. I basically spent a lot of time with the same person, Ale, and my family.

L: DId you like the city though?

A: I did. I wouldn’t really stay there for a long time anymore because it’s more of a vacation place to me, but I made it my home. I know the area well because of how long I was there for so long, and I’m connected to it because it’s where I learnt English.  I grew up in that culture, even though it’s not mine. I kind of adapted to it.

L: So you associate Miami with your home?

A: No, more like home away from home.

L: Do you feel like you have different personalities when you speak different languages? I definitely do.

A: I don’t know about different personalities, but my voice changes. In French my voice is deeper and much more manly and people have noticed that a lot. There are different senses of humor in different countries, though. There are certain jokes you’d make of things you’d say in France that wouldn’t make sense here.

L: What differences are there? What sense of humor relates to you the most?

A: Honestly, all of them, because I have a fun time everywhere. I guess sometimes when I’m in other countries I wish jokes from other languages would make sense but they don’t. For example when I say “Issa Vibe”, you can’t say that anywhere else and it’s kind of funny. I don’t even know why it’s funny, it just is. But it isn’t in France. My personality doesn’t change, but the culture is just different.

L: Do you dream in English, Spanish, or French?

A: I have no idea. I dream but I don’t realize what language I’m dreaming in when people ask, but I think it’s dependent on the people that appear in my dreams. I know that I count in French in my head though, and I don’t know why.

L: Is that the language you had your early school in?

A: I had school in French, but I learnt them both at the same time because of my parents.

L: Do both of your parents speak both languages?

A: They both speak both but they mostly speak french to each other because my mom’s French is better than my dad’s Spanish. It switches around though.

L: Are you more comfortable with one language than the other? Italian grammar is really difficult and I find myself not talking in big groups because I’m scared to mess it up.

A: Not really. Being scared to mess up in languages you’re less comfortable with is relatable, though. Even though it’s not a big deal, it feels like it is. Especially when you’re shy and you feel like people are noticing. I grew up in Argentina and learnt Spanish from my mom so the way I spoke was pretty proper. At school, everyone was wondering how I spoke many languages. Later that year, my friend was telling me that I spoke really slowly and posh because I didn’t know any slang. It wasn’t wrong, just too correct. Within a month, I got more used to how teenagers spoke.

L: Was your relationship with your brother affected by how much you moved around?

A: We were already close, and I think changing cultures and scenarios all the time made us closer because we were together through each shift. It’s like everything is changing, but this isn’t. When I moved to boarding school, I thought it would be really hard for me to be without him, but it wasn’t so bad. I didn’t cry or freak out. I missed them, but I was good. Sometimes he’ll text me and we’ll have really long conversations and it’s exciting every time we get to see each other.  (19:18)

After this, I could tell that Ael was a relatively calm, timid person who maintained her stress at normal levels by leaning on the people she loves as she navigates clashing cultures.

THE DRAWING:

I wanted to incorporate a level of surrealism with hair in the walls, floating around the room, and her body being wedged into the floors. With three levels making up the building, I had created both the “palace” itself and the set for the next step– the stop motion animation.

THE STOP MOTION ANIMATION:

Memory Palace from Lisa Paravano on Vimeo.