My name is Flore van den Akker. I am currently in my senior year at Parsons School of Design in New York City, majoring in Integrated Design with a pathway in Photography. I was born in the Netherlands, and moved from country to country every three to four years, but have spent the majority of years in New York City.
My primary art and design interests range broadly, which is what led me to choosing Integrated Design as my major at Parsons. Much of my childhood was spent making illustrations, various comics, always focusing on people: relationships, social dynamics, etc. Over the years, as I continued illustrating, my interests in photography developed at the same time; with a continuation of people being the main focus.
My current work ranges from photographs, to illustrations, to various types of printmaking to larger scale installations. Often, the three are combined in various ways to complete a final work. Depending on the medium and project, light and color are some of my most important formal qualities.
Much of my inspiration comes from Dutch Golden Age paintings, with my portraits often focusing on lighting, and mood. The majority of my photographs are therefore taken in my family’s house, as the quality of the lighting has always appealed to me when capturing images.
My method always involves a pencil, and a camera. If I am to produce a series of photographs, I will create illustrations to help me with the process of capturing my images. The same process applies to printmaking.
I often create work that expresses my view on family dynamics/personal family struggles, such as my sister suffering from mental health problems–way of helping out without helping her directly. mental well being is a common theme throughout various projects, as well as the theme of cultural identity, a topic that I often think about as a ‘Dutch New Yorker’, and having grown up abroad.
My research process consists of numerous mind maps on previous works, current interests, eventually narrowing down my concepts. The next step is online research, gallery or museum trips, films, looking for any artists, designers, that have created works reflecting similar themes, or concepts.
Much of my research consists of self-reflection. I explore personal themes, such as well being, psychology, family dynamics, relationships, cultural identity, social media.
The desire to help others, in relation to father’s job for United Nations.
Now being in my final year at Parsons School of Design, I hope to head more towards a more high tech route-creating more videos, in combination with photography. I hope to develop my illustrations into digital models by taking a Maya 3D & motion graphics course, and hope to improve web-designing skills by taking on online course on Code Academy.
I want to see how I can intersect my passion for illustration, and printmaking with technology, film series, and graphics. I hope to ultimately create a thesis that embodies my multi-media work and various interests into one final project.
