Impulse Magazine | Vol. 19 | Fall 2021

IMPULSE Vol. 19

FW21

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CONTRIBUTORS

Tiarah Golladay-Murry Editor in Chief

Catherine Bixler Creative Director

Emma Schafman Managing Editor

Lindsay Lathrop Director of Photography

Ally Lin Public Relations Director

Milan Rajababoo Social Media Director

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IMPULSE Fall 2021 Vol. 19

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CONTENTS

CULTURE

ART

Conversations Alexandria Walker, p. 8

AJ Barker, p. 54

Transient: a Collection of Poems Emma Schafman, p. 10

Julia Morrison, p. 66

150 Years: UI Art Creation and Major Art Movements of the World Ian Wang, p. 12 3/27: Call What it is: a Hate Crime Sol Sanchez, p. 18 Thoughts I Had on a Walk Tracy Tran, p. 22 Content & Delusion Sabrina Arte, p. 24

PHOTOGRAPHY Bingyu Zhou, p. 26 Halee Pratcher, p. 30 Michael Jeffords and Susan Post, p. 34 Brooke Panian, p. 48

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Jihee Lee, p. 60 Dmob Design, p. 70 Sora Kendall, p. 76

BEAUTY & FASHION Phoenix: An Interview with Alisha Alam Emma Schafman, p. 82 90's Then & Now Tiarah Golladay-Murry, p. 86 Editor's Picks, p. 88 Reflection Catherine Bixler, p. 91

MICHAEL JEFFORDS p. 34 5

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Impulse Readers, Impulse has given me the chance to share my own vision and beauty of fashion, culture, and art. Even as we go through the highs and the lows of life, it seems as though it is easy to find solace in the arts; to shed light on how colorful and beautiful this world is.

We often go about our days not truly embracing or recognizing the immense amount of natural beauty that surrounds us. From the way the light reflects off a glistening body of water to the way an animal moves, one can see flashes of color not visible to the naked eye. Fashion, culture, and art are no different. Taking in the beauty that these arts bring can make one stop and stare; noticing how breathtakingly beautiful they are.

Impulse: In Living Color, isn’t just about what we see, but a culmination of ideas from minds different from our own. I want to thank Emma Schafman, Milan Rajababoo, Catherine Bixler, Lindsay Lathrop, and Allison Lin for their hard work and dedication. Each member of the team brought their own splash of insight, imagination, and voice into this issue. These beautiful individuals helped make each page throughout the issue an experience of its own.

Experiences are what Impulse is all about. Impulse highlights the beauty that is all around us to impact, motivate, and give platforms to people to shed their light and color with our audience. It blends a range of innovative thought and creativity to tell a story as one flips through each page. I hope to inspire each reader that crosses paths with Impulse through storytelling, beauty, imagination, and creativity. As you flip through vol. 19 I wish for you to feel it radiating innovative thought and sparks that fire in you to go about your everyday living your life in color.

Tiarah Golladay-Murry Editor in Chief

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CULTURE

Conversations Written by Alexandria Walker

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as I sit here high as the empire state I'm realizing the power of conversation the power of a date it takes not but one conversation to change your entire life it takes not but one conversation to turn a warm heart into strife sometimes they’re just in your head sometimes they’re with your best friends sometimes you’re having them with your entire heart and you don’t know all the parts in conversations you feel built up, tore down, hot, and cold you might feel like your thoughts before you even get them out, you’ll have until you’re old and by then how many conversations would you have had? how many things do you wish you could have taken back or would you be glad? would you be glad with how the words that slipped through your teeth and from your lips made another human being feel? would you be glad with others words made your heart bound, your palms sweaty, your body pulse and reel?

I just want you to think for a moment of your favorite conversations and all that they entail a person’s lips, teeth, tongue, body language, & touch.

How wonderful it would be if we could pack all those moments away, but keep them in a close clutch.

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Written by Emma Schafman

COntinuUm The Amaretto sky bathes in dusk Granting the day to a close With an everlasting feeling of contentment The pandemonium coursing through my mind Is coming to an end

Boundary Rouge heat flushes my face The eyes in the back of my head Witness your betrayal I am the host of my being

Time Sometimes I get the blues And I’m reminded It doesn’t hurt any less The hurt just feels A little farther away.

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So to let you, the outside Govern me and mine is more foolish than allowing the harm I already tell myself

Stance My thoughts Stand before me like a gun Pointed to my chest but knowing I am bulletproof I give myself the courage To unbutton the vest

Nineteen My eyes close To whisper into your heart Through the emptiness in silence I wished to be heard You begged me to be quiet

Whelve I felt the worst I had ever felt And no one noticed.

But I wasn’t mad at them For not noticing I was mad at myself For hiding it so well.

Opal I demand to be adored Like the way your aura Clings to your alabaster skin Illuminating the beauty That you don’t see

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UI Art Creation and Major Art Movements of the World Curator statement written by Dr. Ian Wang, Curator and Board of Directors of the Spurlock Museum Photographed by Catherine Bixler

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his exhibition has been many years in the making. In curating this art exhibition as part of the university’s celebration of the first 150 years and beyond I am eager to share with viewers what I have learned from collecting these artworks and researching their process of creation and cultural/ art history.

Since I came to the university in the middle of the 1990s, I have been exposed to the history of UI’s development and become more and more fascinated by it. As a university museum curator and art collector, I started focusing on collecting artifacts and artworks related to UI history.

After more than 25 years pursuit, I have built up a sizeable and significant body of artworks created by UI faculty, students and staff. The more I studied them, the better I understood them. Though I have learned so many moving stories, I was most fascinated in and much moved

by UI first president John Gregory’s vision and direction for establishing the university.

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John Gregory began his career as a graduate in law from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., with academic standing near the head of his class. He then relocated to Michigan, where he was principal of a private academy and a member of the State Teachers’ Association. He founded the Michigan Journal of Education, served as president of Kalamazoo College and was elected state superintendent of public instruction. When the Illinois land grant university was created, a member of the Illinois Industrial University Board of Trustees heard Gregory’s speech at a convention in Chicago and nominated him to become the first regent of the university.

From the day one as the university regent, John Gregory firmly believed that “Man should be primarily educated as a human being and only secondary for his occupation.” Therefore, Gregory called for a university to produce “clear-headed, broad-breasted scholars, men of fully developed 15

minds who would be valuable citizens capable of taking their places in legislative assemblies or other positions to which they might be called from their normal occupations.” (Quoted from Harry Kersey’s book “John Gregory and the University of Illinois,” published by the Illinois University Press in 1968).

At the very beginning, Gregory realized that many of the University’s students, reared on farms and in small towns, had never seen a really beautiful man-made object and determined to lift them above the limits of their environment. His desire was to establish an institute firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition.

Therefore, the first three colleges established were the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, the College of Fine and Applied Arts (then called the College of Literary Science), then followed by The College of Engineering in 1868. Essentially, Gregory’s proposed curriculum promoted the establishment of a classical liberal arts education in addition to the anticipated industrial and agricultural education.

But his vision could not be understood, and therefore could not be supported by the people and government of the state at that time.

Nevertheless, Gregory continued to promote the teaching of the classics because fundamentally his overall goal was for the university to cultivate and to produce real man rather than only to teach students practical knowledge and occupational skills, which was at odds with many state residents and lawmakers who only could see the university’s role was to offer classes based solely around industrial education.

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Consequently, Gregory’s 13-year tenure was

marred by this debate. Clashes between Gregory and legislators and lawmakers forced his resignation from his post as president in 1880, saying “[I am] staggering under too heavy a load of cares, and irritated by what has sometimes seemed as needless opposition.” (Quoted from “Illini Years – A picture history of the University of Illinois, published by the University Illinois Press in 1950).

However, by the time of his resignation, the university had increased in size to nearly 450 students and 30 faculties. It was also well on its way to become a real comprehensive university.

So just a few years down the road in 1885 the Illinois Industrial University formally became the University of Illinois.

Gregory died in Washington D.C. October 19, 1898. At his request, he was buried on campus.

Along the path he walked each afternoon back

to his house, rests his gravestone, a simple bronze tablet attached to a boulder that had been on Illinois soil for centuries. His epitaph reads, “If you seek his monument, look about you.”

154 years have passed since Gregory became the university’s first president. There is no question in my mind that he should be largely credited for the vision of establishing our university as it is today.

In this exhibition I use selected samples of artworks from my UI art collections to illustrate and highlight the significance of the last more than 150 years UI art creation and the 35 major art movements of the world during the same period. ▪

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Call it What it is:

a Hate Crime Written by Sol Sanchez

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On March 27th, 2021, Sol Sanchez presented this speech at the Alma Mater of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in response to the

preceding anti-Asian hate crimes that were sensationalized on social media and the news. The speech highlights their lived experience as a gay and transgender Filipino American as well as the history of US imperialism in Asia and at home. Their speech sought to bridge connections and solidarity among the crowd and to build a platform for other disenfranchised people to speak their truth.

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he Asian American and Pacific Islander community stands in solidarity and unity with people of color around the globe and I am personally thankful to be surrounded by people who both simultaneously recognize my specific struggle and trust me to recognize theirs.

So let’s talk about the r-word.

Racist.

We have different life experiences and unique histories that inform the way we define racist, if you Google search what racist means you’ll get one specific definition versus the operational definition of someone using the term racist to describe something.

As a first generation Filipino American, my experience with racism is much different from my mother’s. She immigrated here in the era of the model minority myth of quiet disobedience and accepting that things are just the way they are and we have to fight by their rules. But being born here, I was raised with the idea that because I exist I deserve respect and equitable treatment and I will fight by the rules of the people. Despite it still being racism in our different experiences, we now have words such as micro-aggression and cultural appropriation to describe the nuances of less overt racism.

We also have words to describe the heterogeneous experience of being Filipino American. Myself, as an example, experiences anti-Asian racism in the gay circles I’m apart of. And being a gay and trans person, and I have experienced many acts of homophobia and transphobia that utilize race to further degrade my identity. No part of my identity is isolated from another as it all impacts my reality, and neither are any of your identities isolated and unimpactful to your lives.

Recognizing the intersectionality of our identities is integral to dismantling imperialism and maintaining solidarity. It is irresponsible and ignorant to homogenize the experiences of Asian American and other people of color at this time.

But it is inarguably necessary to stand in support of one another and provide the space and time to express our personal struggles. These intentional moments are building blocks toward change.

The result of this qualia - meaning we may all be able to agree on a definition but it will inherently feel different or be experienced differently to all us depending on our own unique lives and historiesmeans that I’m not going to argue with anyone that events of anti-Asian violence are racist or not. Because it was. We are not going to operate off of a debate on whether or not something was 19

CULTURE hateful. It was incredibly racist and not just a mere result of this murderer having a bad day. These actions are systemic and have roots in American imperialism, enabling such forms of hate to be sensationalized in our industrial society. This is veiled to be a growing wave of racism and not a part of the larger systems of racism built into this country.

The Page Act of 1875 banned Chinese immigrants considered “undesirable”, defining this as a person from East Asia who was coming to the United States to be a forced laborer, any East Asian woman who would engage in prostitution, and all people considered to be convicts in their own country. Soon after, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was passed and prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers. These pieces of legislation are racial projects of the United States that banned Chinese people from immigrating while racializing their ethnic community through degrading rhetoric and therefore signaling the end of open borders. This legislation rendered East Asian people as foreign and the cause of economic or cultural failure, despite the US govt necessitating coolie labor after abolishing slavery due to the lack of what was regarded as a cheapened and exploited work force.

Thus began the development of stereotypes attached to immigrants. Dirty, overtly sexual, uneducated people stealing your jobs and generally unsuited for the American Dream.

Your American Dream is a myth. The hard work of laborers of every identity continue to be exploited by the capitalists in power to keep profits and debt high, while keeping those without power down low. These stereotypes seep into the public subconscious and affect the way people are perceived everywhere.

The response of social media leaves me confused and alienated from the nuanced discussion of these issues. There are some people only invested in stopping violent racist hate-crimes on the basis of loving anime, or loving rap music, or loving the appropriation of culture that is reimagined 20

through consumerism. It’s performative, and transparent, and still incredibly racist. I believe that holding actual conversations with people about these issues is always going to be more enriching and yield more potential for change than declaring on Twitter the newest hashtag to let everyone know you are not racist. Let alone using that hashtag to justify your morphed view of literal populations of people through your love of bubble tea and ramen noodles.

It is not enough to simply declare that you are not racist. This is more akin to a statement of neutrality, of approximate basic human decency.

You must be actively unfurling the racist narratives we have all learned through institutions like media and education in our society and be anti-racist. To commodify Asian people or any person of color on the basis of what they are able to produce and serve to you is a part of the US history of hatred and violence enacted against us.

Commodification of culture is only one facet of this US imperialist history. Apart of this history is the attempt to erase and eradicate the history of people through genocide and violence, and providing no coverage of these events or sensationalizing the awareness of these issues.

Continue to spread awareness through the means available to you, but also engage in actual conversations and methods of protest. We must talk about US colonization of the Philippines. We must talk about the US bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We must talk about the genocide of Tamil people in Sri Lanka. And we must talk about the contemporary realities of these people and how to unite our struggles to topple the forces of imperialism.

Care about people because they are people.

Not because there’s some sort of moral dessert for doing so. Care about the nuances of people because they are people. Not the nuances of performing the most empathetic response.

I stand in solidarity with you all. Thank you so much for giving me the space to express myself. ▪

"How can we deconstruct the borders in our own experiences of inequality to create change?"

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Thoughts I Ha Written by Tracy Tran

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Spring has saved my life from sadness for three

years in a row. It sounds silly when you say it, but when people want to die from the immense sadness that they feel or the unrelenting lack of motivation that they feel to keep with their habits of working, lots of people like me get saved by a small thing. Some people hang onto the next fruit tart they eat. Or maybe, the next insanely creamy cheese filled pasta. Some, they do it for the cashier at the grocery store ten minutes away from their apartment. Or maybe, they do it because of the hope that one day, they'll become a hot mom. I find that the smallest pleasures save lives, and the coming of spring has saved mine. Spring could not come if there was no winter. Without winter, the magic of spring would never have a place to exist. The world would be an average place, of moderate humans. Spring is when life starts to return above the surface, and it’s easy to take it for granted. The earth blooms into action, with ecosystems coming back to their inhabitants

ad on a Walk claiming back their land and running at full capacity. Spring was what allowed me to save myself, by allowing me to finally break out of the shell that was my own tiny mind and my own tiny apartment.

When I had burst out of the haze that trapped me in unhappiness, I’m quite sure that I cried until I was dehydrated and there was only one thing I could do, and it was walk. Step by step, my feet moved on their own to no such destination, and I felt the feelings of control leave my body.

Instead of having any thoughts at all, I watch the lives of others as I passed on by. I watched, and I wondered at what things were doing. I had passed a young girl, no memorable than the last, with a brown knitted cardigan and a yellow corduroy bag. I had no idea where she was heading, but she scurried past me without a second thought. While I was fearing the inevitability of people leaving me for new horizons, I escaped and went into

someone else’s life. Perhaps she was going to see her own lover, one who she had met at the café down the road who had auspiciously asked if they had shared the same class together. And what do you know, they did share the same class. Perhaps this was their first date with sticky, sugary, and citrus chicken paired with shoddily cooked white rice that’ll inevitably stink up the tiny shoebox that is a dorm. Or maybe it was their 10th secret meeting between them, where they’ll spend the night but never really talk about what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, or who else they’ve been doing at the same time.

Everyone, whether a young college student or an exhausted middle-aged professor, can appreciate the warmth that has finally come back into our lives with the leaves that are sprouting from delicate buds that weren’t visible before and the lovely (or perhaps disgusting) floral smells that waft along the sides of the street. And for a moment, I remember that I am not alone. I am with the earth, I am alive and well and I’m living as I mindlessly walk towards no discernable destination, as the groups on the quad talk to themselves with no discernable goal, and as life has no real, concrete truths or meanings. I realized that with just the flower petals drifting in the wind that I had felt more whole than I ever had, that I wasn’t giving up pieces of my own leaves to someone else anymore.

The chilling breeze both stung my open wounds and blew my tears away as if the earth were making a personal effort to patch me up. When I had gone outside for that first glaze of spring air, the sun had still burned into my skin, and I cried up all the black gunk until the top of my throat had been burned to an unrecognizable amount.

I took my first deep breath of air that came from the vast ecosystems of green foliage, I had never felt so grateful. Spring came to soothe my soul and to clean out the dark ghosts of my past. I had abandoned my cocoon for a raw, unpredictable spring. I could feel the newly minted buds fall on my head as a blessing from Gaia, as I move forward into life and soak in the sun. I’d rather be here, smothered with the litany of pollen from the trees than back in that stupid, tiny apartment. ▪ 23

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Chaos is hot, dry sand seeping throughageless, timeless fingers that can’t quite point in any direction so, nothing is as it seems.

What could beat the outdoors, with its greenery and promise, Hesitation, Frustration Tranquility Reluctance to return.

Fear, Anger, Irritation.

Learning to make the best of your situation, when you know that outside there are opportunities and inside is chaos.

Reality is what you make it to be.

Shouting, screaming, scarring, struggling sobering up to the reality that Reality is what you make it before Reality eats you.

If you are what you eat, then I am rich delicacies, history and learned, it is in my blood, not in my pockets.

Commodities, childhood, bills, there are realities where people do not have the time.

Cigarette smoke meant our neighbors were outside, the mark of summer.

They went to work and skinned their fish, grappling knives gliding on scales, it was in their hands, not their pockets.

My neighbors across the bridge, whose warm injera filled tummies in the neighborhood, asked for nothing in return besides diracs, delicacies and shaax.

It was in their culture, not their pockets.

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What I feared my mother fostered in her heart, I could find in her pockets.

Anger, Turmoil, Aggravation.

Warm rice and maraq is love, hours spent on a job, exasperating what little energy you have left of you to put together a plate.

Exhaustion.

What I may not have felt in love, I can make out in plates.

What I couldn’t understand, I can see clearly now.

Love is not possession, posted in somebody’s pock thrown at you from the system that’s subjected yo so that you may grovel, fingers on the ground scraping for a dollar.

Fingers that cannot point anywhere because they knew money was everything, but had none to possess for themselves, what felt more consistent was the warm tangible sand which slipped throug Warmer than money were icy pops from Bob and dribbling, sticky, blue, orange and purple down to our elbows, leaving trails of crossed lines on the sidewalk.

It was in their hearts, not their pockets.

Community, compassion, prosperity, I knew it was in the community, And who builds the community besides you?

Written by Sabrina Arte

w. kets or cash ou to your circumstances,

gh my fingers. d Dorothy’s,

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PHOTOGRAPHY

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Bingyu ZhOu Long long time ago Humans are far away beneath the earth Solid darkness Never visible The perseverance of savage growth As gorgeous as summer flowers Start to extend as soon as they step Burst with sparks Color blossoms into life

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PHOTOGRAPHY

Halee Pratcher ARTIST STATEMENT: My work centers on my relationships with people and how I can inspire creativity from them. By valuing selfexpression through means of fashion and emotional vulnerability, I aim to create images that represent the parts of myself and others that usually go on unseen; ultimately creating a balance between fashion and fine arts.

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PHOTOGRAPHY Michael Jeffords and Susan Post, married for 39 years, are both retired entomologists from the Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois.

Both are also 1978 UI alumni in the Dept. of Entomology—Jeffords, PhD, and Post, BS. Over the last 40 years, they have also been nature photographers and have spent much time documenting the biological diversity of Illinois. Since retirement in 2010, they have expanded their scope to include documentation of global biodiversity and have traveled to all continents except Antarctica. A selection of their photographs can be viewed on their website: photojournalingm-s.smugmug.com.

Susan Post

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Michael Jeffords

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PHOTOGRAPHY

An Endless Search ARTIST STATEMENT: Over the years my photographic passion has evolved from mostly insects, to an endless search for masses of organisms in nature, and now to a portrayal of color in nature. My spouse and I have travelled extensively in Illinois, across North America, and throughout the world seeking these unique photographic opportunities. When we encounter them, they have inspired, awed, and 36

MICHAE L JEFFORDS

humbled us. While some opportunities recur on an annual basis and provide multiple chances, some happen only sporadically, and others are once-in-a lifetime events. When the latter happens, the pressure is on! If we fail to capture these marvels of nature, they will only become part of our rich treasure of personal memories, but memories will be all that we have to share.

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Michae l Jeffords

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Michae l Jeffords

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PHOTOGRAPHY

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SUSAN POST

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SUSAN POST

Color in photography ARTIST STATEMENT: Butterflies have been described as living stained glass or colorful rainbows. In Illinois, a monarch in a prairie patch qualifies as stained glass, but most of Illinois butterflies tend to fall-like hues—Halloween orange, paper-sack brown and lemon-yellow. To fully appreciate butterfly rainbows, trips to the tropics are in order. Trained as a field biologist, I am also a field photographer—perfecting my skills of patience, stalking, and depth-of-field. Of course, chance and luck also come into play as you never know when you will discover a rainbow.

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SUSAN POST

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PHOTOGRAPHY

ARTIST STATEMENT: For this shoot, I wanted to do something fun and playful, drawing inspiration from kitschy/campy elements and evoking a feeling of nostalgia with youthful accessories and props. I also decided to experiment with patterns and color, mixing patterns like stripes and polka dots and using bold colors like hot pink and

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Brooke Panian

bright turquoise. This shoot represents everything I’m craving now (excitement and child-like energy) layered with the weird and strange feelings we’re all experiencing during the pandemic. Here's to hoping life goes back to normal soon and we can all create more art!

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Credits: Styling/art direction: @brookepanian Photographer: @calaislecoq Model/designer: @kellyberniee

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ART

Permanen

Archive of

Artist Statement: A experiential knowledge and dis incorporated with fine art mate they are pictured the way they a

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nt Ephemera:

f Discarded Memories

Around 100 pages, this book, which has been two years in the making, documents splays a collection of paper and other two-dimensional ephemera that have been erials to create everlasting imagery. I see these works as diptychs, which is why are.

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ART

L JIHEE

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ARTIST STATEMENT: As most of my family lives for my family and my home. In addition to recalling by the knowledge that I will be reunited with my fam time goes by. I conceptualize ways for my body to a Due to the concerns of losing good memories of my inject memories into my body cells and infuse my s

I’m interested in visualizing the merging of intangi form my identity. I express how my memory is wov using the material of thread. It is a metaphor of how just like finding the end of a thread leads to other co memory, merges with the physicality of paint, whic my memory is embedded with my body, which poss

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s back in South Korea, I have a perpetual longing g memories and visualizing them, I’m comforted mily in the future. However, memories fade as absorb my memories so that they might stay longer. y family, fading and changing over time, I want to skin with memories so that they are preserved.

ible memories with a tangible body, and how they ven with various sensory information and emotions w finding one memory leads to other memories, onnected threads. Thread, symbolizing intangible ch represents my body. This is an expression of how sesses the history of my experience.

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ART

Mapping Mu Julia Morrison

DUBLIN, IRELAND Living a short while in a camper van outside of a "gaff" in Dublin Ireland (slang for house), I painted a mural on the door. The residents of the gaff were into meditation and chakras, so I painted my interpretation... with an abstracted blue mask and gloves because this was late March 2020, at the start of Ireland's shut down.

Barcelona, Spain

I spent almost a year living and studying in Barcelona, Spain, where my art is spread around the city in the form of posters, murals, poetry, and love. Here is a mural beside the Mediterranean where I prepared, through a graffiti interpretation of camels in the heat, to enter the Moroccan deserts the following week.

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urals

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MARIPOSA, CALIFORNIA Living on an anarchist commune in, I offered my painting skills for food and shelter from July to September 2020.

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ARTIST STATEMENT: About 2 years ago I was bored in my college dorm room feeling as though I wanted more out of life.

I was in school, grades were the highest they had ever been, I had a sales job, along with a maintenance job so I was good on money, really not a position you would expect someone to feel unfulfilled in. I still felt as though I wanted more out of life specifically creatively. I had always loved creating little projects here and there but never actually taken anything artistically seriously. Being someone who was in love with the music industry one thing that always interested me was cover art and how it was made.

Over spring break that year I dedicated all of my available time to learning as much as I could online about how digital art was made and what went into creating some of my favorite covers. After feeling like I had a decent idea of what I was getting into, I downloaded photoshop and started

working on my own ideas. I started by creating my own concepts using smaller artists I was interested in. I knew that if I wanted to work with bigger artists in the future it was going to take some groundwork and proving myself first. It only took a month or so of creating before I wanted to share some of my work and step into the “internet artist” area myself.

To my surprise almost immediately some of my favorite artists were responding and happy with the work I was doing. Within a year I had worked with over 60 artists, 2 major labels (Def Jam/Taylor Gang Entertainment), and amassed over 50,000 streams on artwork with my covers.

Cover art was going well, but in the wake of the pandemic my mind wandered and was interested in other things. I felt confident in my abilities artistically and wanted to challenge myself to create deeper than just graphic design, and reach into other aspects such as character design and mixed media. This is where I have better explored my personal artistic goals and learned what art means for me.

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I met a lot of other artists specifically on Twitter who were making their own original pieces which inspired me to do the same. For the first time I felt like I was a part of an artistic community.

My peers pushed me to try new things and experiement with my work while also helping me get some direction as far as monetizing my art. I have always been into streetwear brands and graphic clothing, so in the summer/fall I released 2 collections with 4 designs each. Both got over 40 orders (even a few international), which blew my mind.

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My artistic goals now are to use original photography and character design with mixed media textures to create expressive, but not limiting pieces. I know that focusing on a particular style could help boost my mainstream social media following, but I prefer to enjoy the act of creating into pieces that will look vastly different based on what I am trying to express at that time.

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ART

SORA KENDALL

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ARTIST STATEMENT: As an artist, I enjoy using digital tools and digital spaces to create visual experiences. This may be video or interactive pieces, or may be concepts for those same experiences as paintings.

When I work, I aim to make viewers feel enveloped by the ideas within my pieces and the spaces, or perhaps worlds created by them.

While literature allows ideas to be conveyed, shared, and read by others, I’d like to craft those same ideas and stories to be believed instances of the ‘possible impossible.'

With these images, stories and realities I’d like to examine the nature of the Black, the Queer, the feminine, the masculine, and the Self as well as how we communicate with each other.

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BEAUTY & FASHION

Phoenix An interview with PM Alisha Alam Written by Emma Schafman Photographed by Dylan Murphy Q: What is Phoenix?

A: Phoenix is an awareness based clothing brand that is run by high school students locally in the Champaign-Urbana area. We provide these students a platform to highlight their own fashion design interests and passions through a sustainable project. From the items they create, they are able to turn that into a business and make money from it.

Q: What is Illinois Enactus?

A: It’s a non-profit student organization on campus defined as a social entrepreneurship organization.

There are 9 projects within Enactus’s portfolio.

There are people based projects like Phoenix, service based projects, and technological projects.

Q: How did Phoenix start? What inspired its creation?

A: It was a capstone project. Enactus looks at the community and creates a needs assessment. For Phoenix, they wanted to work with students locally with something in the arts department.

Q: What do you teach the kids within the program?

A: Soft and hard skills for students that usually are lacking in public schools like how to sew, create clothes, and how to create portfolios for college.

Center photo from left to right: Jacob Swiney (PA - Project Associate), Alexa Smith (PA), Alisha Alam (PM - Project Manager), Ziyan Chen (PA), and Amartya Bhattacharya (PA).

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Q: What is Phoenix’s mission statement?

A: Explore, empower, and create. The way that we center what we want to do with Phoenix is to end up creating not only an environment for students to feel that they have a space to highlight and show their passions with art, passion with design, giving them a platform to do so. But also, trying to represent sustainable clothing brands and demonstrating that you can be a sustainable business and make that impact on the world.

Q: What are the major goals of Phoenix?

A: We want to help students learn about fast fashion and become more conscious consumers and emphasize the importance of the arts and nonSTEM programs in public schools.

Q: What makes Phoenix sustainable?

A: All of our materials come from second hand sources. We have a partnership with Karma Trade, locally, and we get a lot of items of clothing from them that are donated or from their mass inventory. Not only are we able to focus on the issue of fast fashion but also on the issue of lack of quality of art education within local public schools.

Q: What is Phoenix’s ecological footprint?

A: We’ve saved 33,798 gallons of water, 325.65 kilograms of carbon emissions saved, and 44.3125 lbs recycled. We’re trying to see what our sustainability impact is, how to make a bigger impact and also encourage that idea that businesses and platforms can have that impact. ▪

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BEAUTY & FASHION

Written by Tiarah

It seems as though fashion i every few years or so we go b thinking about the 90’s, it w a statement, and truly just a were rocking low rise jeans, the mini skirts, and let's not was a time to look forward to that we would call the 21st ce to be making a comeback. W Z and millennials rocking th from 30 years ago. Whether it is safe to say that the 90s a turn in terms of fashion. We polaroids to capture momen giving homage to artists like were on constant replay duri this 90’s rewind not just a lo This time around seems to i and embracing individuality. revival will stick because it lo are creeping upon us.

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h Golladay-Murry

is always cyclical where back in time. When was playful, colorful, fun, class of its own. Women there were the overalls, t forget PATTERNS. 90’s o the upcoming new age entury and now, it seems We are seeing more gen he same looks and vibes it be a new twist, I believe are making a slight U e see individuals using nts like back in the day and e Tupac and Biggie that ing those times. Making ook, but an entire vibe. incorporate more colors y. I wonder how long this ooks like the early 2000’s 87

BEAUTY & FASHION

Editor's Picks Our go-to staples in beauty and clothing.

Ally High top sneakers I love shoes like the Nike Blazers because they are a statement piece but can still go with any outfit. I am definitely going to be wearing more bright colors since things are slowly returning to normal.

IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream Duo with SPF 50 I love tinted moisturizers and cc creams because they are glowy and breathable but still make your skin look flawless!

I always go lighter on makeup for summer and this CC cream is perfect for those "no makeup-makeup" days.

Milan

Emma

Eau De Lacoste L.12.12 Blanc - Pure Lacoste Blanc has a really clean and smooth scent that I love. It lends itself perfectly for goingout or date nights.

Strappy heeled sandals A simple sandal combined with a pop of color and sm kick to your outfit in such green will be my go-to stat spring and summer.

Air Max 200's The Air Max 200 combines the classic 90's dad shoe look with modern accents and colors. Pair it with a streetwear outfit or wear it as an everyday shoe; it instantly elevates any look.

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Lanza Keratin Healing Oil If I could use only one pro would be this oil. I've truly in the texture of my hair, a protection! A little goes a v lasts forever and is worth t

Catherine Teva Sandalia Midform Universal - Multicolored These are comfortable, colorful, and bound to go with whatever you're wearing this season, whether you dress them up or wear them on a walk. Best sandal purchase I've ever made!

Nomad Highlighter - Balmoral Beach Highlighters that are highly pigmented with just one swipe of your finger are the absolute best. I know this will last a while too because it's neutrally bright, with pink undertones, so it compliments a lot of looks!

d mall heel adds that a subtle way. Emerald tement color for the

oduct on my hair, it y noticed a difference and it provides UV very long way, so it the splurge.

Lindsay Slip-on heels It seems that some of spring's prettiest shoes happen to be inspired by the season itself. Put away your winter boots and heavy shoes for footwear that's lighter, brighter, and fresh.

Tea Tree Cleansing Water Known for its naturally purifying prowess, tea tree oil is an essential oil that can be used for several purposes, including keep skin, hair and nails healthy.

Tiarah Platform Mary Janes Platforms are the style right now. Mary Janes are the way to go if you want a spice of cottagecore in your shoe collection.

ECLAT Vitamin C Serum To keep your skin hydrated, fresh, and rejuvenated get your hands on this nourishing vitamin C serum.

It is 100% vegan and will always be in my makeup bag.

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Copyright © 2021 by Impulse Magazine All rights reserved. This magazine or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director except for the use of brief quotations in a review.

Champaign, IL 90

REFLECTION

I want to reflect on what a beautiful time it has been as a team member and designer for Impulse. Since I began this role as Creative Director last fall, our team has pulled together great talent and effort to build two cohesive and powerful volumes focused on art, photography, writing, beauty, music, and fashion.

We received tons of submissions from students and faculty, and I was in awe of the talent and creativity.

I was delighted to pull inspiration from these works to build layouts, choose typography, and develop illustrious compositions. It has been a joy to play around and collage elements to really push the idea of what color can mean. In turn, I've learned to be bolder within this magazine and in my own work. If you submitted work, I hope you're inspired by the creativity of your wide range of peers, from their powerful wordsmithing to their way with materiality. Here's a toast to the freshness that summer offers, with Volume 19 serving as your moodboard for your next creative project!

Catherine Bixler Creative Director

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