Art
Down
The
Rabbit
Hole
To Just A Little Bit Of Magic
Steam Powered Jester and Say Cheese are experimental films made in collaboration with AI models about a Victorian inventor who unveils a dark masterpiece and the ensuing exchanges in a theater.
A Gelatinous Still Life leverages the advantages of ray tracing by carefully positioning objects next to each other to simulate color bleeding with nearby geometry. This technique is prevalent throughout the scene but is especially evident with the yellow wrapped candy bleeding into the white paper airplane at the back. Likewise, I created lollipop chandeliers by positioning spotlights within each of the three candies hanging above the scene such that the colors—yellow, magenta, cyan—bleed into the rest of the still life from the jelly to the plates and the donut frosting.
A Contemporary Bacchae is a reconceptualization of Euripides’ tragedy, The Bacchae, where the maenads are intoxicated by Dionysus. The three cocktails—sangria, margarita, dirty martini—allude to malfunctioning traffic lights as the maenads transcend into the realm of ecstasy, unable to exert control over their own behaviors. It depicts struggles between the twin forces of restraint and freedom as the figures are induced by Dionysus to express their human instincts yet at the same time experience the aftermath of exercising such liberty within a conservative society. Are the maenads’ “insanities” direct products of, or merely liberated by Dionysus’ influences?
Intoxication mimics the double-vision one experiences when intoxicated as the darkness closes in upon the figure, obscuring his vision and sense of clarity.
Metamorphosis of Narcissus illustrates Narcissus’ literal fall into the body of water to parallel Nemesis’ curse for him to fall in love with his reflection. The distorted skeleton illustrates how he wastes away whereas the loose brush strokes in the arm extend into the sky to symbolize Nemesis’ control over him. It employs the double image of cliffs mimicking two upturned faces in anticipation of a kiss to illustrate the cruel unattainability of love. It is an inversion of Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, as the reflection is preserved whereas the real body decays. What differentiates between self-love and narcissism? Are they calculated from fractions of our individual capacities for love or merely determined by societies’ arbitrary definitions?
Celsius 232.8 is a visualization of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. I wanted to capture the rapidity and ease with which cultures can be devastated by metaphorical fires—whether they be ignorance or oppression. Art, both literary and visual, enables us to prevent the disintegration of marginalized voices and stories.
Liquid Symphony illustrates playing the violin as more than a prosaic hobby; the knitted brows reflect one’s concentration, whereas the distorted figure is reminiscent of musical notes. The abundance of space around the figure accentuates the solitude one experiences when playing music and the monochromatic color scheme on the left evokes a sense of unity. The significance of the waves is two-fold; while they symbolize music’s fluid and enthralling nature, the ceaseless tides likewise mirror one’s relationship with music—ardent yet frustrating.
Fragmented American Dream satirizes our conviction in the American Dream where the blinking green light at the core alludes to The Great Gatsby. The capsule unfolds, revealing the light as little more than lasers shone upon a piece of glue. The physical properties of the cardboard thus mirror the American Dream—fragile, fragmented, and susceptible to breakage. While anything is possible given hard work and motivation, we must not neglect our privileges and the roles they play in securing our successes. Equality of opportunity is an illusion and a justification for the privileged; in order to bring it closer to reality, we must institutionalize changes rather than relying upon individual actions.