Alice Xiao
Perspectives
Class of: 2029
Major: Communication Design BFA
Medium: The form and medium of my seminar project is an accordion- style tunnel book made with Bristol paper, rice paper, digital illustrations, collage elements, blackout poetry, and laser-cut components. The project combines traditional Chinese painting techniques, digital art created in Procreate and Photoshop, and hand-assembled paper sculpture to create a layered interactive visual experience.
Faculty: Studio: Barbara A. Friedman / Seminar: Anastasia Aukeman
Prompt: Inspired by Corita Kent and her idea of creating rules as a guide for creativity, this project focuses on developing a set of 10 personal rules of life based on lessons I learned during my first year at Parsons. Using one or two of these rules as inspiration, I created a tunnel book that transforms space into a layered visual experience. Through the tunnel book, I wanted to reflect on my experiences, personal growth, and the ideas that continue to guide me as I move forward creatively and academically.
This project was created for Bridge 4: Connections, Reflection, and Moving Ahead, where the assignment was to develop a personal set of rules inspired by Corita Kent and transform them into a tunnel book experience. My creative intention was to explore the idea of perspectives and how stories, emotions, and meanings can change depending on the viewer’s point of view. I created an accordion-style tunnel book that reveals different scenes when opened or closed, including a blooming tree, a burning tree, rabbits, and a figure playing the guzheng. The materials I used were important to the meaning of the piece because each medium represented a different stage of my artistic growth, including traditional Chinese painting on rice paper, digital rendering through Procreate and Photoshop, collage work, blackout poetry, and laser cutting.