This semesters work must have a theme. Research must be done on the theme at the beginning of the semester in order to facilitate speedy design once projects are introduced. With a whole world full of themes to choose from it's a bit difficult to winnow the field down. My usual default theme when working on any project is plant life/horticulture simply because growing things is a passion of mine. After spending a few days thinking that this will be my theme, and doing some research and gathering of resources I decide that I need to shake things up a little bit and try something different. Maybe if I choose a different topic it will push my work in different direction. After a few days of constant mulling, I decide to choose West Africa as a theme. I can still fall back on my beloved plant theme if I care to since the tropics of West Africa have an abundance of beautiful flora, but it will also give me other subjects to consider. Plus, West Africa, Sierra Leone in particular, will provide me with a good topic for the first actual metal project we will be working on.
Why did I decide to choose this theme of all possible topics? Because I spent my childhood there, and it still occupies a large chunk of me. Some of the things I would like to use as visual inspiration are the beautiful textiles from the area, the cicatrization patterns seen on many Sierra Leoneans, and of course, the fantastic plant forms growing in the tropical jungle there. I also love the bold, geographic design, and think it can push me out of my small design box a bit.
Playing on the porch in Sierra Leone with siblings and friends.
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