WINGZ
Year: 2020
Medium: Wood/Projection Mapping
Dimensions: 10 x 2 x 12 in.
This piece was inspired by my favorite book when I was younger, +Anima. Creating a narrative of being able to get away from everything in this world, to fly away, grow, and be free.
Inspiration
The book +Anima, where I drew most of my inspiration from is a very older manga that not very many people know about. It is about a group of four friends that travel the world together but what they have in common makes them outcasts. Each one these characters has a special power, the ability to harness the traits of one specific animal by the tattoos they are marked with. The character I focused on is named Nana, she can grow bat wings and has all the senses a bat would have. Although it may sound cool having these special powers, how one-person develops them isn’t so pleasant. These tattoos develop on a person's body in a near death situation.
Concept Development
My concept further developed inspired from the book and personal experience. There was a point in my life where I was considered why I was here, my existence in this world and how I did not see a point in moving forward. It was the lowest I had ever been, and I am lucky to say that I have grown so much since. This was the reason the piece was so important to me, it portrayed not only how I was feeling but creating my new sense of freedom. Being able to transform, grow your wings and fly away from anything that could potentially hold you back.
Process
For this specific semester, my goal was to learn how to utilize the wood shop on campus. I had only worked with metal before so this was going to be a big challenge for me. I first learned the basics; I could cut and join wood with no problem but I wanted to challenge myself even more. That is when I decided to learn how to carve wood, I would start off laminating blocks of wood together and shaved them down until I got my desired shape. This was nerve wracking because once you shave wood off It's gone forever, unlike metal which can be very forgiving.
Final Product / Projection Mapping
After creating both parts of my “Wingz” I wanted to take it a step further. In that same semester, we were learning how to projection map onto different surfaces. This became a last-minute element that I decided to utilize. The projection mapping would create the illusion of the two pieces transforming into a full set of wings, initially symbolizing growth in one's life.
