Although quite an unusual inspiration, figure drawing sparked my interest in architecture. Growing up, I always thought architecture was somewhat cold and heartless: it's steel structure, perfect linearity, caged enclosure, and disconnection from nature. When the thirteen year old me picked up particular heavy, magical book, filled with watercolor sketches of the human figure in motion, I entered an epiphany, and forever dismissed my previous assumptions.
Calatrava's Turning Torso left me in complete awe - the human torso in the most simplistic, box-like form was remarkably the inspiration of a building structure. I started my journey with figure drawing four years ago at the Art Center College of Design. Each drawing session was not only my source of improvement, but also my source of comprehending the importance of structure. I spent hours sketching the figure using simple geometry, searching for balance and grounding the figure so there is a sense of stability. I would then build up layers of muscles and joints, to fully illustrate the human body. The process is very mathematical: I try to estimate the proportion of the body, distances from each major point, and scale my observations down to the size of the paper. However, there is also a sense of freedom in figure drawing when I let go of reason. I seek movement by swaying my arm to mark lines that connect throughout the body so there is a certain spirit to the pose. In contrast, Calatrava deconstructed the figure, but still kept the gesture to retain the essence of the original form. What a genius.
To further my interest in architecture and figure drawing, I spent a summer at the Rhode Island School of Design Pre-College Program. My foundation design instructor assigned a form study project with no boundaries. I, being highly passionate about structure and form, had many ideas just waiting to be exploded onto paper. My interest in figure drawing definitely contributed to the organic shape of my sculpture. I believe that the female body has a more intriguing form; consequently, my project relied heavily on curving patterns inspired by the female figure. To make my idea come to life, I rummaged through "Second Life", an art material dumpster in which students and faculty donate their used, or spare materials. Looking through different textures of paper, potential materials, and imagining what everything would look like put together was like solving a really fun puzzle. After shopping through precious junk, I spent a lot of time trying to make precise, clean cuts on textured paper, and flawlessly gluing all the pieces down on a plastic tube. The process required a lot of experimentation, and I made a lot of mistakes before reaching my ideal design. However, achieving my vision placed an everlasting smile on my face.
I understand that Cornell architorture will refuse to offer me sleep, and sometimes make me unhappy and overstressed, but the process of pushing myself beyond control will mold me into a more time efficient, creatively driven individual.
Calatrava's Turning Torso left me in complete awe - the human torso in the most simplistic, box-like form was remarkably the inspiration of a building structure. I started my journey with figure drawing four years ago at the Art Center College of Design. Each drawing session was not only my source of improvement, but also my source of comprehending the importance of structure. I spent hours sketching the figure using simple geometry, searching for balance and grounding the figure so there is a sense of stability. I would then build up layers of muscles and joints, to fully illustrate the human body. The process is very mathematical: I try to estimate the proportion of the body, distances from each major point, and scale my observations down to the size of the paper. However, there is also a sense of freedom in figure drawing when I let go of reason. I seek movement by swaying my arm to mark lines that connect throughout the body so there is a certain spirit to the pose. In contrast, Calatrava deconstructed the figure, but still kept the gesture to retain the essence of the original form. What a genius.
To further my interest in architecture and figure drawing, I spent a summer at the Rhode Island School of Design Pre-College Program. My foundation design instructor assigned a form study project with no boundaries. I, being highly passionate about structure and form, had many ideas just waiting to be exploded onto paper. My interest in figure drawing definitely contributed to the organic shape of my sculpture. I believe that the female body has a more intriguing form; consequently, my project relied heavily on curving patterns inspired by the female figure. To make my idea come to life, I rummaged through "Second Life", an art material dumpster in which students and faculty donate their used, or spare materials. Looking through different textures of paper, potential materials, and imagining what everything would look like put together was like solving a really fun puzzle. After shopping through precious junk, I spent a lot of time trying to make precise, clean cuts on textured paper, and flawlessly gluing all the pieces down on a plastic tube. The process required a lot of experimentation, and I made a lot of mistakes before reaching my ideal design. However, achieving my vision placed an everlasting smile on my face.
I understand that Cornell architorture will refuse to offer me sleep, and sometimes make me unhappy and overstressed, but the process of pushing myself beyond control will mold me into a more time efficient, creatively driven individual.
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