In my last presentation I expressed interest in focusing my potential project on my community,
which is to say that I wish to highlight a predominately Puerto Rican low income neighborhood that was created by migrants & founded through activism, community engagement, and pride. They fought for and built their homes in Boston’s South End and brought their culture with them. Through the architecture of the apartments, the mosaic mural in the plazita, & the name of the neighborhood itself, the history of Puerto Rico and the Villa Victoria are present.
I grew up so curious about it all. Even more so about my family and friend’s stories and experiences. Although I found so much beauty in the people and neighborhood, I could never ignore the pain and struggle that affected so many. I respect the older folk in my family so much for the sacrifices they made and battles they founght. As the baby of the family, I often hear advice given to me based off of my elder’s experiences. Although valuable and listened to, it still didn’t prepare me for what comes along with being a first generation college student at a PWI, a woman in a society that wants her to hate herself, and a daughter of two emotionally unavailable parents. I feel like there is an absence of recognizing the new struggles of the present generation in my community. Many of the struggles are inherited and yet they are manifested in different ways due to the change in society and experiences. I find that there is a lack in visually expressing how stressful it is for a first generation student to be the first to finally find the words for ills that live amongst family, community, and self and to carry that knowledge.
There are so many questions I have and that I have yet to explore, but all I know is that there is a lot to be said and discussed through the lens of my existence. My idea of this project has shape-shifted so many times as I continue explore the root of my curiosity. Through all of my ideas, I noticed that I wanted:
- to highlight a gap in an older and younger generation and attempt to interpret and bridge gap
- to explore a sense of an eternal displacement because of this gap
- showcase and update the beauties and struggles in my community
- to use Puerto Rican culture and aesthetic to guide the presentation
- to allude to childhood and stresses of growing up while dissecting and reflecting on generational trauma
This is a sketch of an idea to create movable clothing. As the arm of the person walking moves, an aspect of the shirt will move too. In this case, it would be the eyes.
As the eyes blink, the character’s face that is painted on comes to life.
BONDED- a representation of generational ties through the lens of fashion.
This sweater is made to be worn by two people, with each connecting string representing an aspect of the bond.
I would like to create a stop motion animation with characters made out of clay that wear this sweater and tell a story of how powerful generational ties are.
This is a prototype of how the sweater that the character would wear would look. I made it with polyester fabric and glue.
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