what does it mean that i'm still here?
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ID: An image appears with squiggly black lines that bleed into each other. There are words in the image in red that are hard to decipher. There is a purple stitch-like pattern that goes around the square canvas. check out my code to see what i've been up to!
I am interested in the intersection between memories and how memories are stored/encoded. After learning about the connection between code and weaving I wanted to create a digitally "woven patter". I embedded the following phrases from conversations with pat, john, and my mom:
"if I had listened to the flesh, I would have been gone"
"what does it mean that I am still here?"
"it's the answer that you already know but don't want to say"
Design Process
Reflecting on patterns that may have been passed down from my family left me searching for a connection to this project for a few days. I often feel like I'm floating in the cosmos, trying to catch tradition and ritual as fast as my hands can create them. I have been working through this idea of Un/burdening the soul as it relates to black bodies in digital space. I am curious about the path where we cross over and TRANScend into the digital realm. I am curious about so much. So, in this design I reflected upon what else could be passed down and 'materialized' in a way. I created a sketch of squiggly shapes that never touch. I often make these drawings when I feel really anxious and have been making these patterns over the past few years. I took some phrases from a conversation that I had with people that I have formed bonds with. I wanted to weave the phrases into the piece and keep them hidden. I thought about how Burdens can be buried or embedded in the body.
Reflection
I reflected on how anxiety can be passed down and wanted to explore how that would look as a pattern. I wanted the design to be light because the anxious squiggles add so much weight to the scene. I wanted my lines to look like threads or stitching.