What Do You Do When Your Dreams Come True?
The title is a quote from song, Paciencia Y Fe by Lin Manuel Miranda, which follows a Cuban woman in her journey to America.
For a Porsche Exhibition who's theme was "Driven By Dreams" or "Fueled By Dreams", I wanted to tap into the immigrant experience of the inheritance of dreams- usually though education, while showing off my Buddhist background. Whenever I think of my immigrant parents, I think about Paciencia Y Fe, as it perfectly encapsulates the struggle and hardship poorer migrants go through. In an effort to make up for the sacrifices made for their children, first/second generation Americans will often pursue education without knowing comes after that. This pieces highlights that aspect, while keeping a sense of togetherness as the golden thread binds everything in the picture.
Progress
Inspired by “Driven By Dreams”, I immediately knew I wanted to do a piece based on immigrants and the inhertance of dreams via their children. I wanted to include my Buddhist background, whether it be via the shrine or ritual, and so it lead to this moody composition of an immigrant child being reflected off the portrait of her ancestors.
This piece made me reflect a lot on the items that laid on my shrine- from the flowers to the small Buddha statues, to the photo of my grandmother that now lives in a relative’s shrine. I wanted the piece to be still and contemplative- like you’re in the shoes of this person who’s finally thinking about where their life is going.
I wanted the colors to be saturated but bright like in the traditional artwork I grew up with- from the emerald greens, to the true reds, to the golden yellows. Many of these colors are taken from the shrine I had as a child because of it’s woodiness and age. I still miss this shrine. Faux marble does not evoke the same reverence in me like the wood and gold-painted tiered shrine. Originally, the figure looks triumphant and confident, like they’re saying “look at what I accomplished!” But I ultimately decided that didn’t fit the message.
Rendering this was a lot of fun! Specifically in playing with the lighting of the string that connects the Buddha to the rest of the picture plane. Figuring out how to shade the young figure was also a lot of fun- there were several versions that just had different degrees in which the figure was shown. Fun times.