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+KHAOS+ Birth I

Kat 1 Comment

EP 1: BIRTH I

EP 1: BIRTH I

The period of mass production of robots known as ‘SALV’ has begun in the year 2067 to protect humanity’s extinction from deadly meteorites that continue to destroy the earth, making it inhabitable for life. The unfinished UNIT-03 is the first model that will soon be tested to see if it is suitable to connect with humans.

 

+Author’s Comment+

Hi all, welcome to the first blog post of my art collection. Drawing robots and science fiction related settings have always been an interest of mine, so this is a very exciting opportunity for me. A new illustration will be published each week that follow the plot from the previous week’s post, indicated by a short description below the image. These images, however, can also be freely interpreted by the readers as well, so let your imaginations flow along!

Art Instagram account: @kats.art.folder

Get To Know Me!

Sara Fox 1 Comment

Hi! My name is Sara Fox, and welcome to my blog: Sara Grooves. I am a senior dance major with minors in biology and gender & health. I was born and raised in the northern suburbs of Chicago where I attended New Trier High School as well as danced at Extensions Dance Company under the direction of Lizzie Mackenzie. 

While in high school I was an avid participant in Special olympics, for all four years, where I created a bond and friendship with my partner, that I still have today. In college I have also continued my love forvolunteering through supporting patients at the St. Josephs Hospital in Ann Arbor. While volunteering I  play games and make the patients stay at the hospital more comfortable. This year, I recently went through training so that I am able to volunteer my time at the Planned Parenthood in Ann Arbor. I escort the patients into the clinic without the fear of protestors preventing them from receiving the care that they need and deserve.

In high school I was part of Extensions Dance Company for four years. While at Extensions I was able to learn from some of the best in the business, including: Seth Robinson, Mike Gosney, Taylor Mitchell, and Jared Baker. I have had the amazing opportunity to perform at many events around Chicago including Inaside Dance Festival. I truly cherish all of the knowledge that I have gained from all of my teachers and truly believe that without Lizzie Mackenize, I would not be the artist that I am today.

In college I have had the amazing opportunity to work with Judy Rice, Jillian Hopper, Ron De Jesus, and Peter Sparling. I had the opportunity to audition for many shows that the department puts on and was even selected to participate in the dance departments annual show held at the Power Center for the Performing Arts during my freshman year! I was also recently elected to be the president of my dance company:  Cadence Dance Company, a student run and choreographed dance company on campus that I have been a part of for four years. I also joined the HerCampus team at Michigan where I have the ability to write casual, fun articles for women on campus here at Michigan. I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the opportunity of writing articles for this organization that showcase my personality and voice. I hope that this blog explores my voice in a different sense as well, a more artistic and creative sense! 

In addition, for the past three years I have been working at a local dance studio in Ann Arbor. The studio, Dance Theatre Studio, has been a wonderful and welcoming community. This has been my first job as a dance teacher, and I absolutely love it! I am so grateful that the staff at the studio saw my potential it has been a fruitful three years. I feel that being a teacher and a student has allowed my dancing to vastly improve. 

I was recently asked to be the creative director of a non-profit organization for women in the arts: We Are Queens. This non-profit was founded by the amazingly driven Tal Kamin, a student, peer, and friend, in efforts to create a supportive community of women. A year after its creation it has transformed into so much more than that- it has become a supportive outlet for artists to connect and create with one another. Mentorship relationships with people in the professional world as well as creative collaborative projects is the focal point of this supportive non-profit. 

I plan to take my readers along as I interview dance students, cover dance department events and shows, and hopefully post dance content! This will be an exciting year and I can’t wait for you all to join me.

waves: the intro

smitty Leave a comment
photo cred: my phone, accidentally, while i was at a party summer 2019.

 

as my first blog post, i just wanted to say hi. i’m excited to see what i’ll do here. while we’re all tryna navigate this chaotic world, i want this to be a place for me — and hopefully, you reading this — to breathe. i was looking at the first couple lines of this poem on an old google doc, and thought i’d revisit it as a retrospective of my feelings about passion. sometimes, i feel so low that it’s hard for me to feel passionate about the things i know i want to accomplish in my life… and this year hasn’t been very helpful in picking up my mood. as a black trans person, i can say from first-hand experience that the world isn’t always so kind. but, there are moments (like, this poem i’m sharing) where i am able to say, “here i am. and that’s enough.”  so, i hope you like it, and, welcome to my blog.

~~~~~~

sometimes, i forget my body can take these torches 

of veins and light these pipelines of blood.

 

sometimes, i forget that a chest of living wishes 

finds home under my tongue

and that memories can dissolve into me like sugar there. 

 

sometimes, i forget that my organs are not made

of drying sand or the wind of a thousand last breaths,

but of flesh: warm, bare, and waiting 

 

for me to find the things that make me believe

i am living.

 

red’s the color of blood

 

 

 

Meet the Indian Artist

Riya A 4 Comments

To be completely honest, I have never been much of a writer. Sure I dabbled in my fair share of started diaries that would get tossed aside mere days later, the odd poem here or there, or even small soliloquies, detailing my intensely foreboding thoughts. School essays and papers? Simple. Right up my alley. But deciding to apply for a position as a blogger for arts, ink? Never something that I would have done on a whim.

Instead of writing, I express myself through my artwork. From a very young age, my art was where I found my solace, my home, and my cathartic release. I grew up scouring over the work of my favorite artists, trying to replicate them detail by detail. I got my start through observation and replication. As time has passed, I have found my own style, using mixed media to portray my Indian culture and tradition. Through my art, I demonstrate the most elemental parts of me, the parts that I wish to share with people, and the parts that I keep completely to myself. This blog is something that I wish to use as an avenue for sharing my past and current work. I hope to be able to open up conversations about diversity and equity, culture and worldly perspectives, and even mental health and racial disparities. 

So to all, welcome to my column: The Indian Artist!

A little about myself. My name is Riya Aggarwal. I am currently a freshman in LSA Honors majoring in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology with a minor in Art & Design. Amongst all of the crazy that 2020 has been, I am learning remotely for this semester. I hope that through this column, I can immerse myself in the arts on campus and find other students who share the same passion, learning about their experiences as well. Art is a powerful force. Being a conceptual artist, I am very attracted to the way that different people can take away different messages from a piece of artwork, the fact that a single painting can speak to so many people in many ways.

The goal of my column is to have a place to open up conversations about different cultures and religions. I plan to write about specific aspects of Indian life that I portray through my art. Each Sunday, I will feature an art piece that demonstrates my experiences growing up in a strict Indian family, simple technical pieces, or videos detailing other cultural aspects. Much of the artwork I will write about has a cultural background and demonstrates Indian traditions, explaining it in detail and showing the intricacies of another culture. These posts will not be limited to conventional forms of artwork such as drawing and painting. Being a henna artist, some weeks will showcase original henna designs and video lessons on how some of the designs can be replicated. These step-by-step videos and demonstrations would hopefully spread an appreciation for the art of mehndi. In order to keep a worldly perspective for this column, I will dive into the work of other artists as well, how they use their art to portray deeply rooted traditions and their own unique cultures. Maybe I’ll even throw in a bit of dance and singing just to shake it up a bit. 

I think that I have said enough. I am truly excited to get this column started and to share my love for art with all of you! If there is ever anything specific that I mention in a post or any questions regarding the topics that I discuss, please feel free to leave a comment!

Looking forward to next Sunday!

 

~ Riya

 

Personal website:   https://riyarts.weebly.com/

poco piano: ears, instinct, and emotion

jacobtw 1 Comment

This week I rehearsed with my accompanist. She’s playing the orchestra part and I’m playing the soloist part. This little excerpt is from our first rehearsal so it’s just a little messy… but it’s a work in progress and what’s most important is to keep striving! (I think the vibrations from the pianos and my stomping caused the camera to quake a bit, sorry!)

This is from the first movement of Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no. 2, just a few pages before the recapitulation (the reappearance of the majestic melody of the first theme).

This is one of my favorite parts to play because of the sweeping motions and the action! There’s real dialogue between the orchestra and the soloist, we play off of each other and there’s really no greater feeling. It’s really a whirlwind of action here and to play it means to really empty your mind and let your ears, instinct, and emotion take control.

Looking Forward: Meet the Writer

Lucy Freeman 2 Comments

Hello arts, ink readers!

Welcome to my new column here on arts, ink.: Looking Forward. My name is Lucy. I’m excited to get started on my journey as a writer in this space, but first, let me introduce myself. 

I’m a senior in LSA majoring in Communication & Media Studies with a double minor in Performing Arts Management and Writing. That’s a really long-winded way of saying that this blog is right up my alley; I’m really passionate about connecting students with the arts on campus. The talent and resources we have access to while we’re at Michigan are incredible, and I encourage everyone to take full advantage of them during your time here.

I’m currently the co-president of MUSIC Matters, a non-profit student organization that aims to use the unifying power of music to drive social impact in the community. Through our capstone event SpringFest, as well as our programming throughout the year, I’ve been able to see the breadth of work that students on campus are doing in the arts and I hope to help showcase that in this column. I’ve also worked as a Program Assistant for Arts Ambassadors through Arts at Michigan, where I got to learn 

more about the campus resources that are available to students wanting to engage in the arts. 

My professional interests lie in the intersection of arts and community, with special emphasis on diversity and accessibility. I’ve seen how the arts can bring people together, it’s a powerful force. By allowing us to see others’ forms of expression, art encourages us to engage in empathy, which the world could use more of right now. I’m excited to continue advocating for the arts and the connections it can forge throughout my career, wherever it may take me.  

Enough about me, I’m sure you’re curious about what this column is. The goal of Looking Forward is to engage in conversations with arts groups and resources on campus. Every Friday I’ll be spotlighting one, exploring the strategies that they’re implementing to continue their programs and engage with the community during this complex public health, social, and political time. I also want to provide a space where students can access information about how to engage with these arts platforms, whether by participating or viewing since it can feel very decentralized at the moment. Hopefully, you’ll find this column to be a place where you can discover arts resources, reconnect with old favorites, or just learn more about the arts scene on U-M’s campus right now. 

I’m excited to get started. If you have any questions or requests for groups or resources to spotlight, please feel free to leave a comment!

See you next week!

Lucy