Photographed by Lid Madrid.
“My work is based around the use of the animal form. I’m interested in nature as subject material, how it’s exploited and used. I’m trying to get outside of those Western constructs and mindsets and embrace indigenous cultures and art forms. The experiences that I’ve had with other students here and the variety of people that I’ve met, I wouldn’t trade that for the world. I was terrified of coming into my senior year, like, ‘oh it’s gonna be miserable, I hope I can do it.’ I had no motivation. And then all of a sudden I started making stuff again. And stuff that I was making is making me super excited and I think that things are clicking in a way they haven’t before. So I consider right now as the happiest I’ve been the entire four years. Because the past three years I’ve been floundering, kinda figuring things out, trying to pull those threads together. But I’m also at the weird transition point of pulling everything together from the past three years into a cohesive body of work, but also making this body of work with the prospect of the future. Like, having freedom after school — once I’m out of here, I can do anything, I can go anywhere. As a creator, there’s a lot of people that are going to shoot you down, and it’s important to remind yourself that you can pull it together and you can do it. If you’re passionate about something, you’re gonna make it work.”
Photographed by Lid Madrid.
“There’s a lot of fun in design, no matter what it is. I think it’s really cool to create something. There are so many architects who also design furniture and clothing. Eventually, I’d like to work at SOM in Chicago. I’d like to apply to Harvard and MIT first. I’m planning to do that next year. I’m an optimistic person. I feel happy all the time. I think there’s no need for you to be sad or worry about something. Just be happy.”
Photographed by Lid Madrid.
“If I ever make something in general, it’s usually sculptural but also architectural at the same time. And I always try to have a balance of form and space and see how I can incorporate color and really give meaning to why I chose to have a certain module be specific colors. But it’s not that easy to figure out, because even just using color in architecture class, like Studio 3 and all that — I don’t know why, but I’m always using primary colors on my boards. Like not even when I’m making boards to pin up or even painting, I always try to have a yellow background. It just feels more interesting than having anything on a white background. There’s something about the color yellow. I think it’s a fact that it’s the first color that the eye sees? Or notices? I read that somewhere. I would like to join the Navy so I can be a naval architect. And if not, I would probably join the Peace Corps. I want to expand my knowledge, but also allow it to benefit somebody else other than myself.”
Photographed by Lid Madrid.
“I just really like walking around. I just love being outside and just feeling the atmosphere, the air, everything. I know walking is kinda basic but it’s so much fun to me. This one time, I was ordering this plush Kirby from Amazon and I had the choice to deliver it to my house or have it delivered to a locker that’s a few blocks away and I was like “I’m gonna send it to the locker cause I wanna walk over there.” It’s a little adventure, y’know, to get my Kirby. Throughout the last part of second semester, I was going through a hard time at home and I was like “best way to get through it is by making art about it, man.” So I wanted to explore different scenarios in which me and my mom or my dad have interacted or me and my sister have interacted. And I wanted to express it through my lil plushies. Every time I tell someone what they are I’m like it’s just a “him.” I would have different situations with the way they were entangled with one another. It was a step up from the installation I had done before. I feel like I was able to realize what I was into in terms of installation and soft sculpture.”
Photographed by Lid Madrid.
“During the summer before Freshman year I started customizing shoes. I would paint on them just to make them look a little unique and give them my own flavor. I would see a white shoe as a canvas. My goal at the moment is working in the fine line between sculpture and fashion. A lot of the shows nowadays from people that customize shoes, they’ll recreate existing silhouettes with different materials and different colors and stuff like that so it’s the same shoe that you’ve already seen but it looks different. And then there’s the other extreme which is sculpture with all these extremely wacky, innovative shoes, but they can’t be worn because they’re made out of a certain material. So I want to work in the middle, where you treat the shoe as a piece of art. Every shoe that I make, there’s only going to be one of that shoe to ever exist, so it’s like the equivalent of owning a painting. I actually got all these neck tattoos because I didn’t want to work for somebody I never believed in — putting all the work to achieve someone else’s dream. I’d rather put all that work into myself.”
Photographed by Lid Madrid.
“The thing that keeps me going is that I really enjoy this work. The reason I did not go into medicine was because that wasn’t for me. With fashion, I don’t ever feel tired … I mean, I do feel tired, but even so, I’m always thinking about designs and what I’m going to do next. It never gets boring. One of the heels I’m making right now is based on foot surgery. And it has three different shapes that are plates which [surgeons] put into your bones when they break to stabilize them so they can heal. Also, I don’t actually like people. I have this very simple rule, if you are polite to me, I will be polite to you. Apart from that, just don’t talk to me … (laughs) I’m just kidding.“
