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PORTALS A portal is a gateway, a truth of our own reality. From Latin, Porta, a portal can be a gateway for change, a process, or to enter a different time/space reality. Entering a portal can be a choice, but it can also be forced upon us for a much-needed change. Once you’re in the portal, gravity takes you with it to the other side, and we master the art of surrendering. A portal can be a source of massive transformation for growth or evolution, or to alter one’s reality. In her essay- “The Pandemic Is a Portal,” Arundhati Roy writes: “Our minds are still racing back and forth, longing for a return to ‘normality,’ trying to stitch our future to our past and refusing to acknowledge the rupture. But the rupture exists. And in the midst of this terrible despair, it offers us a chance to rethink the doomsday machine we have built for ourselves. Nothing could be worse than a return to normality. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.” In the process of creation, we are entering a portal of our own. The mind gets quiet while we are tapping into different realms of existence. In this issue, we emphasize the different interpretations of a portal in both abstract and constructive ways. Join us as we dive together into the VO portal. Where will we be at the end of this portal? Enter if you dare! ORI HAIBLUM
EDITOR'S NOTE 2
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ORI HAIBLUM EDITOR IN CHIEF
ALINE RUBIN HEAD DESIGNER
SRISHTI DASS
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
CALVIN SHEELY MANAGING EDITOR
ELIZABETH MESSER
MANAGING EDITOR INTERN
SHUYU LI
DESIGN INTERN
IRENE TSAY
EDITOR IN CHIEF INTERN
MARIA ROVIRA-MCCUNE STAFF ADVISOR
VO TEAM 3
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CARLOS BECERRA EMILY KOHANZO LANYI GAO ISABELLE GRYBOW IDRISSA SIDIBE CYLE WARNER PRIYA LAD OLIVER PERRY RAUCH CHRISTIAN CHANG JONATHAN GLAM TALYA ALSBERG EMILY BATTAGLIA NIAYA DELISIO DIONI RODRIGUEZ NIAYA DELISIO DIONI RODRIGUEZ THOMAS GROFF SHUYU LI DIONI RODRIGUEZ JAKE DYLAN NICOLE OTAOLA MONA MONAHAN Cover Artwork by Carlos Becerra
Contributors 4
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CARLOS BECERRA BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2021
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EMILY KOHANZO BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2021
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LANYI GAO BFA FINE ARTS 2021 10
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ISABELLE GRYBOW BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2022
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IDRISSA SIDIBE BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2021
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CYLE WARNER BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2023
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PRIYA LAD BFA DESIGN 2023 16
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OLIVER PERRY RAUCH BFA ILLUSTRATION 2023
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CHRISTIAN CHANG BFA ILLUSTRATION 2023
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JONATHAN GLAM BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2021
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TALYA ALSBERG BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2021
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EMILY BaTTAGLIA BFA ILLUSTRATION 2021
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A QUIET CHRYSALIS I see the sun coming in through a window. Shining through the dust in the air. Touching the white comforter I lay within. I feel warm. I stare at this beam of light and movement.. I feel safe. I am enthralled with life. I feel comfort. Unscathed by human harshness. I am a baby in my parents room. My mother almost lost her life bringing mine here. On this bed. Not too long before this memory. But in this exact moment, I was alone and content. A quiet time. Maybe I was just waking up from a nap. Life, love, family, cradling me in it’s womb. A safe time. Wrapped in this white fluffy comforter. This specific moment was peace. I strayed from this wisdom in adolescence, out of anger, out of survival. I would grow to overlook the beauty around me in quiet moments. In the smallest details of life. I had lost the simple peace that can be found within silence and sight. Now as I’m almost 22, I find myself reconnecting with this state of being that cradled me as an infant and small child. By noticing the beauty of the way the universe interacts with the planet and in turn with us. The way the sun casts its beams in the most unexpected ways. The way the dust takes on a solid yet fluid form, in a grand performance made of a thousand dancers moving with each other, a perfect mess. I now hold onto this practice. I try to grasp it lightly. I don’t want to look directly at it. I don’t want to hold it too tight and squash the energy with my tendency to analyze. I cherish it in its simplicity. I worship it. I cradle it just like it does me, in this quiet chrysalis of peace, that I believe to be my earliest memory. 26
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NIAYA DELISIO BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2021
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DIONI RODRIGUEZ BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2021
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NIAYA DELISIO BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2021
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DIONI RODRIGUEZ BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2021
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THOMAS GROFF BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2022 34
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SHUYU LI BFA DESIGN 2023 36
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DIONI RODRIGUEZ BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2021
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JAKE DYLAN BFA PHOTO AND VIDEO 2023
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NICOLE OTAOLA BFA ANIMATION 2022 41
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MONA MONAHAN BFA DESIGN 2023
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VOLUME 27 ISSUE 3 PORTALS 44