Challenge brief:
Use objects from around your home to create a custom avatar of yourself. The objects selected should not be random: they must tell a story or mean something to you. There are no other rules and you are encouraged to get visual and have some fun.
Once finished, take a picture of your avatar and post it to the forum. Include a paragraph or two about the objects selected and what they mean to you. You might want to use the avatar as your profile picture.
Challenge reflections:
When I first read the project brief I thought that it’d be hard to find sentimental objects around my house. Previously I lived out of a backpack for 2 years, so I left most of my long-term possessions at my parent’s place in Somerset, UK. Nevertheless it turns out I’ve managed to accumulate a wide range of sentimental objects and in the end I found it hard to narrow down!
(starting top left, clockwise)
• Stack of postcards: I am a rather sentimental person, so whilst traveling I carried round a collection of postcards from people & places that mean something to me. Here is a vintage postcard of Brighton, a card from a close friend and a watercolour painted by my grandmother.
• Handmade candle: I bought this on the beach on a recent roadtrip with someone who means alot to me. I love roadtrips and the beach!
• Textiles: I collect artesian textiles. The top piece was made by my weaving Maestra who taught me backstrap weaving in the Peruvian Andes. The lace is a traditional craft here in Florianópolis, the island in Brazil I call home.
• Tea: My biggest vice, this Rooibos tea was sent in the post by my mum all the way from England, even after I told her that I thought it was silly to send tea across the Atlantic, I’m grateful that she sent it anyway.
• Bits in the middle: A fun twisty lilac candle sent in the post from a good friend, I burn candles or incense almost every day. My favourite pencil from HAY as I love drawing and maintaining a non-digital creative practice is important to me. Scissors from my Fashion degree, with a little knot of fabric from my final collection.
• My Journal: I find writing by hand a therapeutic process, and I enjoy reading back to remember how I felt at different points in my life. In the end I enjoyed the process of putting together this avatar, and I feel like the combination of objects represents me pretty well. I’ve also really enjoyed seeing other students’ assignments, I think it’s been a fun, creative way to get a sneak peek of our peers’ personalities and styles.