This portfolio is all about voices; which ones we choose to deploy and when and why we choose to deploy them.
Much of my collegiate career I have privileged other voices over my own. As an English major, this impulse makes a fair amount of sense. We were supposed to read deeply into the intricacies of a poem, play, short story, or novel, but as my evolution essay explains, I often took that too far, relying more on the author’s words than on my own. This pattern spilled over into my thinking as I was hesitant to make any decisions at all without hearing where everyone stood. I was reluctant to criticize others, but always criticizing myself. That began to shift the summer before my junior year. The writing artifacts included in this portfolio show a slow progression from dipping into other established or fabricated voices (perfect pecan hands, she, and Katrina) to unapologetically owning my story (Shameful Shitters, Your Family). My project has the same impulse. By thoroughly examining my typographic aesthetic I have relied primarily on my voice, my perspective, my understanding. So perhaps it’s more about representations, discovering who we wish to be and learning how to make that happen. This is me making me happen. |