A process book of making
COSMIC SEED
Lisk Feng
WHAT IS
COSMIC SEED?
C
osmic Seed addresses the critical role of memories in people`s lives; dĂŠjĂ vu is an indispensable and essential element of my process. For each of the genres, I decided to use a limited palette instead of applying abundant bright colors. The simplification of my color scheme is the result of my screen print experience; I use three to five colors in a range of tones. The basic ideology of my theme focuses on evolving as a person. The elements of the city, human power, nature, and daily life are my main core. As time passes by, everyone changes, and those people close to us change as well. Streets, relationships, things you like, things you
hate, everything will change. And so will you. Working through this project, I describe this theme in a conceptual way. I use the story of a seed and the memory of a woman who grows from a little girl to an adult. The moral of this story is exemplified in the power of the seed. Just as seeds mature into trees and plants, transformations innate in all life forms possess the capacity to evolve in to something more complex. This story is about uncovering who you were, embracing who you are, creating who you will be.
I
came from a small town called Haining in China. It has many rivers, old houses and my grandparents. I lived in their house until I was 12. Then I moved with my mother. The house, the stories that happened in that house, influenced who I am today. The whole thesis, especially this book, comes from that period of my life. Those memories transformed into a huge inspiration of all my works.
C
osmic Seed is an important witness to my process of transforming into a mature artist. It comprises the genres of illustration, screen-printing, book-making, and animation. To bring this project to fruition, I conducted many practical and theoretical experiments and research.
THE PROCESS
OF MAKING
COSMIC SEED
F
or me, compiling my thesis is like climbing three mountains. The first mountain is screen-printing, the second mountain is animation, and the third mountain is the children`s book Cosmic Seed.
M
y screen-prints for Cosmic Seed play an important role for the exhibition. As I mentioned, I identify my prints as the ongoing adult version of the story. They illustrate the daily life of a normal young adult. I start with a fineart brush and black ink to create quick sketches and drawings, to capture instantaneous inspirations. In addition, I discover new ways of thinking as a print maker, not as a traditional illustrator, to convey my idea of visual elements. Audacious, over-lapped multiple colors and layers, sometimes misaligned, incomplete color block and lines, textures and mono-printing skills all incorporate into my drawings and prints.
M
y animation is for promotional purposes. I identify this piece as a non-linear narrative and conceptual trailer for Cosmic Seed. Motion images are hot media, which means people receive and disseminate information efficiently and effectively, even better via the Internet. The process of making the whole set is challenging because it is logically transformed from 2D to 3D. The wooden and iron armature of the puppet, the wool felting material of the body, the found organic objects of the landscape formed the whole animation. The purpose of making the animation 3D is for audiences to be led by the spatiality of the real world into the 2D media. Even though I had some problems during the shooting, solving
problems is an instructive approach to learn new languages of art, and to become a multi-dimensional and multi-faceted artist.
M
y linear picture book illustrations chronicle the maturation of a girl to a woman. The whole story is based on my own experience and memories, and the approach of vision processing also uses limited color.
C
osmic Seed is a 44-page children`s book. The book is divided into two parts, so the tones of the colors are different as well. Yellow and blue represent the tenyear-old’s summer story and the twentyfour-year-old`s winter one. Since it is watercolor based, it has more variations so that the colors are abundant and mobile,
and they appear more painterly and loose. The whole book is a flipbook that can be read from both sides, since each one represents different ages and colors. They are upside down from each other, and in the middle there is a gate fold so that the audiences will get the idea of making a pause and flip over to start the other side of the story.
T
he first part of the story is about a 12-year-old girl traveling by herself to her grandparent`s house. After she arrives, she explores the house with her imaginary friends and finds a seed in
the middle of an old book. She tries to save the seed and run out of the door. After looking for different places, she finally finds a peaceful place and puts the seed into the ground.
T
he other part happens 12 years later. She just turned 24, and tries to experience the journey she had when she was 12. But, everything has changed. It is winter instead of summer; her imagi-
nary friends are gone; her grandparents are gone; her house is abandoned; the grasses have turned into parks; and the seed has changed into a huge tree.
T
he process of making the book is a very emotional process. The story is personal but at the same time general to everyone. Story telling is a big part of my foci, the narrativevision style of all my works lends consistency to my drawings. The importance of this project is not only to show my capability of finishing the 44-page book in a short period of time, but also a conclusion of my own life
journey from China to Baltimore. A person will change just as time passes, but he or she still comes from a memorable place, the place of childhood, just like a seed, just like a house, just like a town, just like the world. This book is also a reminder to myself to never forget, to always embrace change, and to become a better person through the millions of tasks of a lifetime.
I
learnt so many things through the process of making the entire thesis, putting the parts together and successfully exhibiting the thesis show. These tasks became tangible proof of my being a student at MICA for two years. I climbed all the mountains, and here it is, the thesis show. Through two years of
learning and transforming, my work has a substantial change, from seeking myself to knowing myself. It is a huge step forward. Finding oneself is a journey, not a destination. We all are always looking for ways to excel and improve ourselves every second.
FUTURE? My future? There will be no definitive answer for that. But I want to do everything. Yes, everything. Editorial illustrator, printmaker, book designer, children`s book illustrator and so on. I wish to do more research and work harder, so that my works are even richer with vivid colors, explosive energy, restless passion, tremendous sensuality, and vibrant emotion. This will be my endless game, for that is where my passion resides. The journey of studying Illustration Practice at MICA has opened many doors for me, and now I understand how to solve problems better and easier; thus I can walk through the doors confidently, ready to embrace the future.
Thank you, US. Thank you, MICA. And goodbye, MICA.
Lisk Feng 05.12.2014