POSTCARD PROJECT

Integrative Studio 1: Shift

Using Joe Brainard’s “I Remember” as a model, students wrote a memoir about coming to New York City, exploring the theme of transition. Then, they used ten memories from their “I Remember” memoir and created ten postcards visualizing those specific moments (either concrete elements or abstract concepts). The word postcard is a placeholder for created memory object. Students had the ability to complete the project in the medium of their choice.
Brooke

With this project I wanted to focus on how each memory as I felt them with in my body. That is why I chose to take a series of self portraits. In this time of change who I am as a person have been questioned and effected. During this time I have been stripped down from everything I am used to, the people I know to love, the environment that normally surrounded me and the routine that I created for myself to just myself. I am a blank canvas right now. I wanted to show my bare skin because it is a sign of strength and vulnerability, both of those traits are a part of my current state. I have been stripped to the core of who I am away from the life and people I grew up with and that took great courage from myself to do that but can be a weakness at times. Each image relates directly to a memory I had on regards to how it felt with in my body and soul. Each image and pose is a visual representation of the reaction physically that each moment had on my body. I included detail shots of my body, an outsiders perspective of myself and a figurative image from my mind. All three tie back to how the memory is sensed by me. Either a sight in my mind, a physical reaction I could feel in my body or on my skin and sights on how the effects would look on my expression.  
Victoria

In this series of work I reflected on visual representations of my past memories. Using both literal and more abstract depictions of my memories, I conveyed an overall theme of somberness or longing. This is emphasized by the long strands of color reach out towards the negative space or each other that is present in most of the illustrations. The very muted color scheme adds to the presentation of the pieces. I took small parts or events in my life and depicted them on either a micro or macro scale. I combined both full scenes with small close ups in order to create both a feeling of intimacy and an overall awareness for where certain events take place. With this series of work I used digital illustration, a medium that is often used for sharing public information, and use it to reveal more personal stories about my life and experiences.
Chloe

I chose ten of my fondest memories with my grandmother to make physical objects that represent them. That might help the viewer understand how they make me feel. put a small stuffed bear that made with her when I was younger on a distressed piece of canvas. The edges were messy and torn to show the level of my craftsmanship at my young age compared to the skilled stitches of my grandmother on the bear. The next memory was the memory of her blueberry bushes. I painted in water color a literal image of blueberries and how I remember them looking. The next memory was of my grandmother hands as she taught me how to play the piano. For this memory I made an object that can mimic some of the things a piano does. It is a jar that catches the sound of metal sticks that vibrate to make sound when you push down. It was hard to tune as I used pliers to try to pull the metal strips to control their length and sound. I liked this piece because I use my hands (which look like my grandmothers) to make music which was a big part of the memory. Next I depicted the memory of facing disaster and dealing with it through observations of my grandmother. I welded ridged pieces of metal together with different lengths and sharpness to depict unpredictability and chaos. On the flip side I pacified it with smooth plastic that reminded me of my grandmothers home.

Writing and working on this project made me feel extremely present as I felt so much gratitude and love for my grandmother. I found my extremely interesting as certain visuals came to me immediately and others were built as I went along. Overall I am extremely pleased with my memories and my representations as I feel extremely connected to them.