Pratt Institute, Communications Design MFA
This body of work in three parts explores the development of a unique and personal visual language, centering on themes of memory and time. The first part takes the form of a hand-bound book, chronicling the visual encyclopedia that emerged through image collection and experimentation with image creation and typography. The second part takes the visual encyclopedia of the book, and transforms it into a non-linear narrative through an interactive website, built with Cargo. The user is instructed to click on images, which will take them to different pages to experience a journey of digital storytelling. The final piece is a patchwork quilt, using images from the visual encyclopedia printed using cyanotype on cotton fabric.
Throughout the work, the same visual motifs appear and reappear in different forms, rendered in different materials. The red ribbon, the keys, the diary, the spiral, and the character of Winnie the Pooh are a few icons that exist in each work. The viewer is asked to reflect on these visuals and the way in which they are functioning in each specific work. By reinterpreting these themes in different mediums, both physical and digital, it was a further exploration on how the act of making and engagement with materials further informs the works major themes. I was interested in exploring the subjectivity and often unreliable nature of memory as it is influenced by time, emotion, and information. I argue indirectly that a feeling of nostalgia is the product of these phenomenons, but not the original goal. These three pieces are individual expressions of visual communication, that each tell a story on their own, but carry a larger throughline when viewed all together.
I challenged myself to experiment with different methods of making in these works, combining forms that were familiar to me, but pushing the processes into new territories, like cyanotype printing, bookbinding, and construction of a complete quilt.
Book Binding
https://timemaze.cargo.site
Fabric Printing
24 x 38 in