To Be an Independent Artist
The most impressive sentence that I heard during my first year at Parsons is, “You are an independent young artist.” Back in high school, I felt that the word ‘artist’ should be used carefully and with reverence so that only famous or super-talented painters or designers like Coco Chanel or Picasso could be called artists. So, I am excited to transform from an art student into an independent young artist. My first year at Parsons taught me to be independent.
One of my studio projects is to make a monument inspired by the fear of growing up, which is something all of my team members have. My teammate Bonnie and I chose to build a rocking horse to express our feelings and make our art resonate with our audience. The purpose of making this monument is to bring our audience back to an age when they were naive and life was simple.
Bonnie and I used the paper board to build the structure of the rocking horse, and we used white Bristol paper to cover the surface. To go back to our childhood, we used our left hands to make colorful drawings with markers. Then we used embellishments like the ones we used to do to crafts when we were little, such as childish stickers and sparkling beads, to decorate our rocking horse. We only had a limited amount of time to finish the whole project, so Bonnie and I stayed in the university center for the whole night. When we were extremely tired, we napped on the sofa in the university center, and when we woke up, we kept working on the rocking horse.
When I left for school the next morning, I felt the sun shining on my face, and it was the first time I truly believed I was an artist. This is not because I did not sleep for a whole night while working on my project, but it is because I spontaneously started putting a lot of effort into my artwork. When I did my portfolio in high school, my teacher always forced me to spend more time on my project. I needed my teacher to keep me on track. However, when I walked out of the university center, I suddenly realized that was willing to spend most of my time on my artwork. I started to be ‘strict’ about getting my projects done on time, and I no longer needed anyone to remind me that I should be working.
Walking out of the university center reminds me that, before I came to Parsons, my high school teachers would give us handouts that explained the process of doing the projects. What we had to do was just follow each step. It was a little bit boring. After I came to Parsons, I found out that the professors here were more like critics than instructors. They do not tell you exactly how to do each project, but they will tell you how to improve it. Instead of relying on my teachers and doing whatever they tell me, I have to depend on myself. I have to make my own timeline; I have to develop my own ideas and concepts; I have to experience the materials on my own. Attending Parsons has pushed me to be independent.
At first, I thought the first-year curriculum at Parsons was really weird because I am a fashion design major but I have to create a monument, which is a sculpture. Also, in my space class, I have to use a laser cutter to cut wood in order to make a foldable chair. I thought as a fashion design major I would only have to use fabric as my main material, and at first, I thought it was useless to learn how to use a laser cutter or how to make a sculpture using foam board. However, I came to understand why my school gave us a chance to learn a variety of techniques, which is to help us become more independent. In the future, when I need this type of technology to make my garments, I will no longer need others to help me. Instead, I can use all the tools and equipment by myself, which will be much more convenient.
In my first year, I have felt that Parsons is pushing me to become more and more independent, and I believe that independence is the most important aspect of becoming an artist. I had a passion for the arts, but I was always too lazy to work on my projects; I had my own aesthetic, but I was not good at expressing it. I had ideas, but I did not have the techniques to turn my ideas into actual works of art. All of these flaws me depend on my teachers to help me. However, attending Parsons as a first-year student helped me to become an independent artist. The foundation course helped me learn many valuable techniques and all of the experiences I had helped me transform from an art student into a young artist.
