How The Story Unfolds

STEAM Category: Art, Engineering, Math
EQ Category: Emotional Expression, Relationship Skills

Description: Students collaborated to create a large-scale pop-up book, exploring paper engineering, pop-up folds, and storytelling through imaginative making. The story emerged from ideas generated by the children during a group brainstorming process, where they imagined a hero and envisioned what a brighter future could look like, resulting in a collective artwork shaped by creativity, collaboration, and shared voice.

Narrative: The World Behind The Darkness

Beyond smoggy clouds lay a town turned brown, where muddy rivers, lonely people, and drooping trees fed a sneaky villain’s gloom.

High above, a shy but brave Hero arrived in a patchwork pod, believing change begins when we notice, wonder, try, and work together.

The Hero turned litter into gardens and green grass, and inspired children to laugh, plant, and rebuild their town.

When the villain unleashed a fierce pollution storm, the Hero united everyone to protect the gardens, redirect the chaos, and never give up.

As sunlight returned, rainbows filled the sky, rivers sparkled and kindness bloomed everywhere, proving that one small kind act done together can change the future

I had an opportunity to be part of the "I want art to be ____.” Group Art Show at the Mutuo Centro De Arte. “I want art to be everywhere.” is my response to this fill-in-the-blank statement.

This typographic artwork uses simplistic letters based on the font - Doctrine Stencil Bold. The International Phonetic Alphabet expresses the visual form of the vocal sounds of the word, everywhere. The objective was to use John Frekner’s technique to create a stencil of a single word poem that encourages audience participation. It invites the viewer to take one of the multiple reproductions of the dye cut stencil made on 8 1/2” by 11” plastic sheets.

MEDIA: Animated Powerpoint

Warning: Adult Content - profanity included.

Bitch {the story of} uses the framework of a traditional fairy-tale to tell the story of how the very definition of the term Bitch has evolved. The narrative includes a protagonist, heroine, villain, and even a hint of magic sprinkled throughout the pages. The graphic elements add to the playful feel of the book; a style often associated with children’s stories.

Interested in the back story? Read the Analysis of Bitch (story of), includes Images Credit list.

MEDIA: Mixed Media & Graphic Design

Enticed by the idea to craft one’s gender experience; hyu-men was designed to break the mold of the binary social construct. The artwork delves into the concept of gender as a label. It aims to highlight hyu-men as a brand.

why hyu-men? Read the Human Care.pdf

Dimensions: 20 in W x 29 in L

Challenged with the task to create a piece of artwork during my 6 -week study at Metafora Studio Arts, To B, A Blue Bee, And Not Be Blue playfully represents the research I uncovered on the topic of melancholy and captures my creative process of exploring the homophones B, Be, Bee and blue.

This Facebook Album documents my creative exploration.

A variety of graphic elements included throughout this book were initially created as part of my participation in the Metafora Experiential Art Therapy group. The sketchbook capturing the was submitted to part of the Sketchbook Project 2018 in the permanent Brooklyn Art Library collection.

Narrative: To B, A Blue Bee & Not Be Blue

The journey begins with feeling blue. But, what does it mean to BE blue? To BE blue is an emotion or a mood. To BE blue, is to BE melancholy. It is a feeling, a feeling of sadness.

The phrase to BE blue, is from a custom on deepwater sailing ships. When a ship loses her captain, she sails with flags the color blue. Her hull too will BE blue for the voyage home.

To BE blue means more than to just BE sad. To BE blue is to BE the color between violet and green. The color of the sky and sea. 

The letter B can BE blue. But, a blue B could not BE without the letter B. B is a letter, the second letter to BE in the English alphabet. So, B can BE a letter. But what else can it BE? 

B can BE a blood type, B can BE a musical note. BE can BE a verb, meaning to live or exist. So, this means a BEE can BE.

A BEE is an insect, closely related to wasps and ants. The best-known BEE, is the BEE that makes honey, the honey BEE. But, did you know there are 25,000 different kinds of BEES? So, if there can BE so many BEES, can a BEE BE blue?

Yes, a BEE can BE blue. The carpenter BEE is one kind of BEE to BE blue. But, can a blue BEE BE blue? To BE blue, the blue BEE must know it’s okay to BE blue.

To BE blue can BE positive, not just negative. To BE blue can help us to understand our emotions .It can BE the link between pain and beauty. To BE blue, is part of what it means to BE.

In the end, a change in perspective will help the blue BEE become the new blue B. Soon the blue BEE will BE bluetiful.

But, not yet. We will have to wait & see.

MEDIA: Canva Animation

The video story shares the adventure the Garden D’Angels go on, photos captured from the fairies’ perspective (worm’s eye view).