Personal Statement and Portfolio (Lee, Goun 2022195181)

"About Me"

To start simply, I am Goun lee, an ordinary person living a mundane routine life. I define Ordinary as simplicity since I do activities I am used to and am familiar with daily. Although this is what a lot of people feel nowadays, something that I struggle with that I feel alone in, is my fear of trying something out of my comfort zone. Whether it be new or challenging, I overthink and put myself down over minuscule chores that often other people might view as everyday occurrences i.e.. Calls and one-on-one social interactions.

I feel that because of this, I hold myself back from experiencing opportunities that I could have been living if not for my crippling fear. I would frequently be given comments from others, telling me to ask for help, but that was just another layer of panic. Asking for assistance has always been a problem for me that I can't help but feel reluctant to go through with let alone try, in hopes of not burdening others with my meaningless questions and tasks. whilst I am already an adult I have not fully passed on from this negative mindset, that many probably grew out of past high school. Nonetheless, I overcame little hurdles bit by bit and reminded myself that each obstacle I face is just another stepping stone for growth.

My passion that I hold dearly is art. I love drawing and would always doodle in my free time. Topics could range from my hyper fixations or imagery I find beautiful and cool. As much as art hides deeper meanings, I am a simple person and a very shallow one too. I draw what I find visually appealing with no meaning and reason, yet to me that is enough reason and meaning in itself to draw. I love to look at landscapes and observe my surroundings, like taking a prolonged mental photograph in my head. This brings me to my interest in this course. To be completely honest, I had not read the syllabus before the first meeting because of the vacation mood that distracted me during the break. I have only relied on the title to get a gist of what the course would be about.

On another unrelated topic, a very defining personality trait I have is that I am extremely dense, and so the first thing that came to mind when reading the title was the information about architecture, as in buildings and structures. So, it came as a surprise to be mistaken during the first orientation, though a welcomed one. I am interested in exploring and furthering my knowledge on related topics that I like such as environments and hope I can implement what I learn into my art. I hope I get to learn about efficiently organizing my thoughts and separating them into what is generally most useful. Moreover, to gain experience in this field and to try for myself what I can, and am willing to challenge myself.

Segwaying into my dreams, as an artist the thought of my future lingers on the back of my head and it constantly makes me anxious from time to time, With questions of if I can get a career with my passion or if I can ever get there. Knowing myself I would be satisfied having a job that requires one to draw, yet my dream goes a bit deeper, to work in the gaming industry, creating promotional material, concepts, and official designs for characters and environments. I strive every day to get better at fundamentals and to develop my creative thought process. I hope one day I get to make something that inspires at least one person as an anonymous and ordinary person. To meet and stand alongside creators I respect and admire and gain self-confidence and stability to support my livelihood.

As someone who stays in the lane of personal security and comfort, I hope through this course I get to venture a bit more and learn new topics that can potentially boost/spice up my work, mindset, and routine. Furthermore, I look forward to knowing my professor and classmates better this semester and getting along well with them throughout the various activities and projects we work on together with patience and understanding.

My Personal Portfolio

These are Observational studies that i have painted from photos found online, ranging from movie screen captures, landscape photography, and media.