Hi, my name is Nidhi Manoj Raipancholia, I am currently a Fine Arts Major in my first year, but I honestly have no idea what I want to do in the future. All my childhood memories always relate to art, but I had never actually the opportunity to take an art course until now.
Arriving here I expected to feel completely outcasted because of the fact that I had minimum experience with art, other than what I taught myself. However, looking back now I realized I had one very important similarity with others, our passion for art.
Reflecting over all the courses this year, I realized I don’t have one specific style, I never restricted myself to one particular aesthetic. However, that is mostly because over the year I learned so many new skills I never thought I would have the opportunity to learn about, such as the wood shop, laser cutting, 3D printing and so much more.
My work consisted of a large variation of mediums and materials ranging from digital drawings, wood joints, collages, jewelry, books, instillations, photoshoots, design interventions and those were only the few that I enjoyed the most. I used all the different skills I learned in each class to help me with a project in another such as using my wood shop, joint skills I learned in Space and Materiality to help me with my Product and Packaging elective.
Two projects that I learned the most from and those that impacted me the greatly were my Beverage Project for my Product, Promotion, Packaging class and my Space and Materiality Instillation. My Beverage Project was actually a group project, something I wouldn’t always enjoy but this assignment taught me on how to work alongside others, take all ideas into considerations, create a combined piece that we all contributed to and adored. Our strategy for this project was to discuss our ideas and all create our own templates for our branding stickers and packaging then discuss what we liked in each piece and incorporate that into a few more iterations before we came up with our final designs. The end result of our project was exactly what we wanted, a minimal, neutral packaging for a healthy juice brand, ‘Citrova’ with a variety of combined citrus flavors catered to a broad range of people.
As for my Space and Materiality Instillation, this project resulted in multiple mental breakdowns but although I hate to admit it, the end result was worth all of it. For this assignment, I created a narrow, short hallway instillation hung from the ceiling with multiple triangles covered in mirrored paper along the sides and the top as well as several mirror acrylic rectangles hung from various lengths at the top creating somewhat of an experience of touch and sound while walking through. This project was a learning experience not only because of the struggles I went through creating the piece but mostly because of the multiple process changes I had to go through before coming up with the final piece. My original idea consisted of multiple triangles in various different sizes overlapping one another with colored threat entangled throughout the top hanging to the bottom. However, after multiple changes and iterations for my instillation, I came up with an idea with a similar concept but numerous design changes that taught me to separate it from the reality of what I could create with the resources I had, something my professor always emphasized before a project and something I continue to think about before each project today. Reflecting over it now, I am really proud of not only the end result and the feedback I received from the very intimidating artist guests, but I was also pleased with the changes I made that resulted in this final piece.
I leave this semester with so many new skills I never thought I would acquire, but most of all I await the new experiences I will come across as a sophomore. This year I surprised myself, I learned that I am willing to step out of my comfort zone and try new things for the sole reason of figuring out my style and aesthetic as an artist. Also. with the help of my professors throughout the year I learned to create and repeat an idea hundreds of time before I come up with a final idea that I am enthusiastic about doing. Although I never quite enjoyed video making and art of such sorts, after experiencing it and having to do multiple film projects I came to the conclusion that I would always gravitate towards working with my hands however, at the same time I wouldn’t give up the opportunity to try again.
