I don’t usually identify myself as an artist right off the bat, but trying to think of something unique to write about myself made me realize I can vaguely fit into that category. I thought about what I like to do in my free time, because what we do during those times is what really identifies us.
So in my free time, I find myself starting “projects” and they usually tend to be long term. I really enjoy hand-making things, keeping myself busy. So it all started with my love for the NYC subway system. In middle school, I made a paper maché desktop organizer with the MTA subway map, because I just loved how nicely the colors intertwined. Most teenagers have a poster of their favorite band or actor/actress on their wall. I have the subway map.
On my daily commute in sophomore year of high school, the large mosaics, so intricately pieced together, at every other NYC subway station inspired me to start a project. For this project, I began to collect MetroCards. Note that I went to a NYC public high school, and I received “Student Metros” which are white in color and provide 3 free rides daily. The MetroCards that I gathered are the regular -yellow/blue- ones. So I patiently accumulated used MetroCards, from my parents, from my weekend usage, and occasionally from my friends. I finally accumulated enough cards to start my project in senior year.
I cut up about twenty to thirty MetroCards into tiny pieces, only to glue them back together on an 8’’ by 11’’ to form a larger and to-scale MetroCard. It took me about fifteen hours of constant cutting and gluing, over the span of a little more than a week, in my senior year. My end result: I felt really accomplished. It gave me reason to continue doing art. This represents what I do.
