Urban Tales: A Dance Concert

With USC Repertory Dance Company. Directed by Nikos Lagousakos.
USC Bing Theatre, April 26th & 27th 2012.

Scenic design, assistant lighting design by Jamie Lew.
Assistant scenic design by Nick Farmer.
Lighting design by David Hernandez.
Projection design by Annie Jankowski.
Animation by Laura Cechanowicz, Nesli Erten, Amy Lee, & Jamie Lew.

Animated GIF gallery (click).

A truly collaborative experience, Urban Tales was an experiment in merging dance with visual art and theatrical storytelling. With the theme ‘Urban Tales,’ the director encouraged the choreographers to tell their own stories through their dances. The result was 18 pieces—unique and yet at the same time connected in a very visceral way. Under the director’s trusting guidence, I began to develop an underlying visual storyline which would somehow strengthen this pre-existing connection while still satisfying the physical demands for a set. I decided that the connection between the pieces—between every individual’s story—is quite simply human nature. Human nature is urban. It’s cities and buildings and communities. But I realized that the 18 pieces in juxtaposition pointed to something more profound: human nature is to build things and destroy things.

Cities crumble. Ideas crumble. Relationships crumble… And the things that take the most passion and energy to build will cause the greatest pain when destroyed. This idea is reflected in the visual design of the show. Every set piece and prop is just a particle—18 white cubes, 13 white teddy bears, 11 white protest signs, 5 white cones, 50 white balloons—which come together for a moment before falling away just as quickly. In addition, the experience is heightened by the details… like the fact that the projections will never quite be captured on film and that the audience knows the balloons must wilt and die after every performance. Everything needed to feel as ephemeral as the dances themselves. 

There will always be an end. Only when we experience this enough times will we understand that there will always be another beginning.

Strike-Slip

By Naomi Iizuka. Directed by Tamara Ruppart.
USC Scene Dock Theatre, March 29-April 1, 2012.

Scenic Design by Jamie Lew. Assistant: Victoria Quintinar.
Lighting Design by Ryan Liu.
Costume Design by Ellen Choi.
Scenic Artist: Jamie McElrath.

Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread: Costume Designs

(A one-act play written by David Ives.)

October 2011, Acrylic, watercolor, ink

Much like an orchestral piece by Philip Glass himself, this is a play in which much is said about not much at all. Glass’s music is based upon repetition of notes and patterns. At first listen, these repetitions seem to simplify and confine the power of music, but after several minutes (or even hours), these repetitions force the mind to hear in new and surprising ways.

The costumes are designed to reflect this duality of Glass’s music. In high intensity light, the four characters appear to be naked and essentially human; but in semi-darkness (and with the use of imbedded LED lights and reflective material), they appear to be foreign wonders floating through space. 

Just as Glass’s repetitive patterns force the mind to flip to a new way of hearing, the costume design illustrates how the play forces the mind to flip to a new way of seeing other people. Although we are quick to judge others as alien to ourselves, with just a flip of the mind we can realize that we are all nothing more than humans. The space in-between is not so vast after all.

A Peter Max Circus: Costume Designs

August 2011, Acrylic, watercolor, ink

Inspired by the art of Peter Max.

Held: Marionette of Britney Spears

May 2011, Paper mache, acrylic, string, wire, cardboard, etc.

Inspired by the music video for “Hold It Against Me,” directed by Jonas Akerlund.