Embedded Files
Into the Woods
(by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim)
Won Critic’s Choice (Best in State) at the 2020 North Carolina Thespian Festival
Here we have five characters I rendered for the musical Into the Woods, they are as follows; Jack, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Rapunzel’s Prince, and the Witch. Within this project I found inspiration in the diversity of trees across the planet, as well as the origins of the fairy tales themselves. This led to each character being crafted using a combination of a period of history and a single tree as inspiration. The majority of these period references are the same as that from which the character’s fairy tale originates, a select few (Jack and the Witch) are from periods I chose to better connect to the character. For example, Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk is rendered using inspiration from the 1930's, the height of the Great Depression. This choice is made in an effort to further spread out the individuality of each character's style, while maintaining a meaningful connection between the historical period and the character.
In addition to period inspiration, each character is also connected to a specific species of tree. Jack is connected to a Socotra Dragon Tree, characterized by their unique bark patterns and blood-red sap. Cinderella's design utilizes the Golden Maple, Rapunzel the Birch, Rapunzel's Prince the Northern Pine, and The Witch Wisteria. These diverse tree patterns and references allow the characters to not only inhabit the woods, but to become a part of them themselves. Finally, in order to unify these distinctions, all characters wardrobes are both modernized and created using a shared palette of neutral colors as their base. Additionally, there are recurring V and rectangular shapes throughout the costumes to provide a few consistent silhouette details. These decisions were made with the hope of creating an easily replicable yet personalized formula for the costumes of all other characters.
This project was something greatly important to my progression and confidence as a designer. Not only was I able to take a few ideas in my ever so active brain and meld them together, but I was also able to problem solve, practice with new materials (as my first outing into alcohol markers), and speak to my passion for costume and character design.
Ghosts
(by Henrik Ibsen)
In reading the play Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen my mind was instantly drawn to the idea of how people present themselves in the modern day, where social status is considered a major facet of a human being. The play’s focus on the themes of reputation and legacy further supported this idea, driving me to dive into the importance of each characters relationship with their perception by society. I feel as though, in the context of its time period, there is a disconnect between the play and its modern day interpretation, placing it in a modern setting, in my opinion, bridges this connection. With that, I believe Ghosts gains the ability to connect more personably to the audience and focus on the idea of preserving legacy and facade in the age of social media. To accomplish this modern adaptation I based my production in the North-Rhine Westphalia Region of Germany. This location presents numerous large cities, however, I have chosen to place my production in a more sparsely populated northern outskirt of the Rhine river. For inspiration in my designs I utilized ideas of neo-gothic architecture as well as viral fashion trends. These two things, though seemingly different, both focus upon the idea of elaborate and embellished framework holding up a delicate structure. This translates to Manders as a religious figure and Helene upholding the image of her husband. In addition, I believe that the social media presence of Oswald is a major segment of his personality. In my production, the loss of reputation by Oswald is the reason for his sickness, something increasingly common in the present day which asks the question: Who are we without the praise of social media? I also want to explore this through Regina and her desperation to be seen as a young woman rather than an employee. As for modern influence, I decided to use inspiration from Berlin fashion, taking into account which of these prominent styles would be most influential on the characters who keep up with Berlin fashion week. I believe this compounds the focus on the concept of identity within the play as the country's most central fashion landmark radiates to the characters who are in search of an opportunity to improve their comfortability in their respective identities. In addition to the aforementioned concept of an outward facade, I would like the production to take place on a proscenium stage featuring a large wall of screens. The screens and their divisions emphasize the idea that people are presently always on display so they have to decide what they put into the world representing themselves. Beyond the wall of screens I would only want simple, all black, chairs and a table, like the beginnings of a photoshoot, for which the actors can perform around. This would give the actors more than an empty stage to move around while also compounding the idea that people have the option to present whatever they wish, starting with only a blank canvas. Ultimately, the focus upon fragility and outward appearance within my production of Ghosts would emphasize the concentration on identity within the play. How we present ourselves and what impact that ultimately has on our livelihood in a modern world.
The War Boys
(by Naomi Wallace)
Reading War Boys I found a lot of inspiration in the timelessness of the work. The perpetuity of the message of the play and how it was evident from before it was written to this present day. The common themes of racism, internalized homophobia, and conformity heavily influenced my perspective on the piece. As a result of this my research focused not only on pulling from the past, but also in connecting to the present day and the issues which have evolved in my own lifetime. This led me to sourcing a base layer of thought in the late 90s and early 2000s, which influenced the present day styles of the characters. In accordance with this idea, I focused on researching images of clothing from second hand stores and websites such as ebay which have become increasingly popular in the present day to carry through the styles of the past as they have once again become “trendy”. This idea helped me accomplish two things: I was allowed to explore vintage clothing to harken back to the timeline of the creation of the play while also emphasizing societies relationship with second-hand clothing. What I mean by this is how some vintage logo shirts, such as a CocaCola shirt, can be seen as “cool” or “vintage” while tattered and worn clothing is viewed as a symbol of lower economic status. This duality peaked my interest and continues to support the timeless notion of War Boys plot without making it vague and nonspecific to a time. By pointing out specific pieces of clothing which apply to both the present day and upwards of thirty years ago it drives home the idea that this is an unchanged issue which needs to be addressed rather than a repetitive occurrence to be talked about and sequentially forgotten. Within my designs I have attempted to explore these various sources of inspiration in a cohesive manner. I have focused on line weight and definition to emphasize the characteristics of the characters. I explored bold graphics, military influence, and solid colors in David as a way to highlight his desire for authority and to be acknowledged while also pointing out his unsuccessful attempts to save what he loves. This is done by highlighting the largest plastic polluter on the planet, CocaCola, in a character with a pulsing desire to protect the environment. With the character of Greg, I decided to embrace opposition to the characteristics of David. I emphasized blurry lines and textures through tie-dye, worn frayed denim, and a textured button-up. These decisions allowed me to explore his relation to culture as well, by emphasizing the divide in his character with two shirts, bleeding colors in tie-dye, and Mexican-influenced cowboy attire. These design elements allowed me to harken back to his split identity and the battle that progresses within him throughout the play. Finally, for George, I focused on driving home the key elements which define a blue-collar citizen in the modern day. I implemented elements of unclean lines to maintain the distinction of bold lines characterizing confidence in David. In addition to this, I emphasized the economic status of David by giving him a tattered hat and patched jeans in an assortment of colors from sourced fabrics. These patches have a central element which is oval in shape, this is to tie the jeans to the camel motif of George’s character. In cohesion with this I chose worn timberland boots in a camel color, and a traditional tank-top to emphasize the circular camel shape with its rounded neckline. Ultimately, the decisions I made in designing War Boys allowed me to explore the unique elements which define each character’s recurring monologue throughout the piece while also carrying over a sense of class hierarchy. These decisions in unison with the specific articles of clothing I chose to add to each character allow the costuming as a whole to communicate a sense of timelessness. This is accomplished by directly pointing out the periods of issue and how these become almost indistinguishable despite the immense passage of time between them.
She Kills Monsters
(by Qui Nguyen)
She Kills Monsters explores loss as well as LGBTQ+ topics in a unexpectedly playful manner. Within my designs I intended to explore the duality of reality and fantasy within the characters. Each character is strongly tied within their own style while in the real world, they may seem put together but I want something to feel off for each character in the D&D campaign. As if they aren’t truly themselves unless they are within their world of fantasy without the prejudices of society. As for their fantasy looks I chose to weave the practicality of armor with the idealized runway looks of the 90’s. By pulling from the likes of the red carpet and fashion week I created a blend of both real world fantasy and actual D&D fantasy. During my design process it became clear that my inspiration was within the colors of each costume. Using the colors associated with the energies of the Tiamat (black, white, red, green, blue) as inspiration, in tandem with the colors of the rainbow, I was able to create a defining palette for each character. The most important of these is that of Tilly. With the focus of the play being on Agnes connecting with her late sister, Tilly is a combination of how her sister remembers her and how she wrote herself into the campaign. Additionally, as the focus of the story her armor is symbolic of the sun. To further this idea, Tilly and Agnes have matching long sleeve tops in their respective colors. The other renderings are from the perspective of how they were written, this leaves them reflective of 90’s idols such as Britney Spears and Madonna. Ultimately, I wanted to craft a visible connection between the characters' minds, idols, and reality based on the question of perspective.
Fabricated Pieces
The piece to the right is a leather corset that was hand-patterned, sewn, and dyed by myself.
The piece to the left is an Alebrije I created from paper mache, wire, and acrylic paint. To read more about it visit the 3D art/collage page.
More of my fabricated pieces are currently being documented for upload including a circle skirt design/mockup, a tailored pair of pants, and a stop-motion puppet.
Various Designs/Sketches
Design based on a reed diffuser
Watercolor, Ink
Design based on a dreamcatcher
Digital collage in Procreate
Design based on newspapers
Watercolor, Ink
The following three figures were done in a quick assignment to create character. They depict a plague doctor who hunts other plague doctors due to their general mistreatment and conning of the sick. A vigilante anti-hero, this figure collects the fabric of other plague doctor's clothing to create thie own shirt. Additionally, they hang the masks of these fallen doctors from their belt as a memento of their victories. The interior of the cloak is hematite red, a pigment commonly used in embalming/burial processes in Egypt and China. The exterior is lead white for it's deadly properties as a pigment, but tranquil associations as a color.
All figures are rendered in alcohol markers and ink.
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