The time of my first film experience took place I was six years old. I was sick with the flue and was unable to attend school for a week. To cheer me up my grandmother allowed me to watch my very first big-girl film: Victor Fleming’s Gone with the Wind It became my first introduction to American classics. Until this day I remember being completely taken by the glamour of colorful costumes, the power of magnificent landscapes and the thrill of breathtaking love affairs. My fascination with Vivien Leigh’s character, Scarlet O’Hara, transformed playtime entirely. I remember in the day, reenacting the Wind-dance scene with my Barbie dolls and stuffed animals, and in the night, dreaming of being a famous and kissing Clark Gabel’s character as we work on the sequel. Two of the biggest dreams that I had throughout my childhood were - moving to America and becoming an Oscar winning actress. Though one of those dreams actually came true, the other one faded as I grew older and developed new interests and fantasies. During my teenage years I got involved with painting and decided to attend art school after graduation. One of the required courses for the freshman year at Massachusetts College of Art was Visual Language. The course was designed to introduce students to digital media. Some of the interrelated medias studied in class were digital photography, sound art, and filmmaking. I was taught to identify different element that make up a movie, and to appreciate films not only from the perspective of a person in the audience, but from the perspective of a filmmaker as well. I was given the opportunity to practice screenwriting, shooting and editing. For my final project I decided to make a short video that would describe an experience that is both physical and emotional.
I wanted the video to be a presentation to the meditative state that the artist submits herself to when she enters the act of figure drawing. What her thought process becomes as she draws; he different ideas for composition that she considers; how she takes in information that is presented to her in 3D form and translates it to fit 2D format. I wanted the viewer to be able to observe her physical actions, along with what is running through her head.
After completing Visual Language course my freshmen year I strongly reconsidered committing to painting as a major. I ended up switching over to sculpture, for the sculpture department was more open to experimentation with a greater variety medias. Though it wasn’t until my junior year that I worked with elements of filmmaking again. I used the skills that I gained while working on my video, to create a video-based installation. The installation was a collage of video and audio recordings, taken during a trip to Russia. They were organized and edited to fit a nightmare pattern. The imagery of the installation was intended to give out nostalgic, melancholy, and at times even anxious feel. Then, I took object that were similar to the objects present in the video, painted them white, and rearranged them to form a projection screen.
