Born and raised on Long Island, I have been blessed my whole life with an easy access to New York City, the ultimate hub of all things artistic and enterprising. Since my first visits to the city in my early youth, I always knew it was where I was meant to be. The never-ending action, the constant feeling of potential, the smell of sidewalk pretzels and cigarette ashes, and a Dunkin Donuts on every block- what’s not to love?
The main driving force behind my inherent need to be in the city stems from my innate sense of individualism and creativity. I’ve always viewed myself as an artist; from an early age, I have channeled this creative energy into performing in musical theater productions, writing (in every medium, from short stories, to blog posts, to plays, to essays and papers), and using fashion and makeup as a daily outlet to release this sacred energy. To a non-artist, it may sound a tad dramatic to use the word “sacred” in this sense; but for anyone who can relate to the daily, internal buzzing of waiting (not so patiently) to conquer creativity blocks and burst out into some sort of expression, there is no exaggeration in the slightest. As a matter of fact, when I go too long without channeling this energy into some sort of outlet, I experience pretty intense consequences; I have trouble focusing, I start to feel anxious and hopeless, and I sometimes even use destruction in a desperate attempt to make up for my lack of creation. I know many artists go through these same fluctuations of energy, so I feel it is important to surround myself with as many like-minded artists and individuals as possible. It is so important to learn as much as we can from each other, not only in terms of inspiration, but even more so in terms of channeling this inspiration once the seed has been planted. The future of innovation lies in this idea.
In my life, I try to apply this philosophy to all my creative endeavors. Surprisingly, it’s not always my creativity that motivates me; I often begin new creative projects with like-minded artists simply because I am so inspired by the energy I experience in the collaboration aspect of it. For example, my friend Jenna is an aspiring photojournalist. Whenever she has an idea for a new photoshoot, I am the first person she reaches out to because she values my talent and passion for styling and modeling. We both gain great unique insight from each photoshoot we do together because we truly respect and value each other as artistic individuals. Because of this mutually beneficial artistic relationship, we feel greatly renewed after each of our projects are completed because we thrive off of the energy being rallied. It is a truly cathartic experience.
I am so excited to be apart of the Precollege Program at FIT (attending the class HFM 065 55A Product Development: Creativity and Business) this fall because FIT is a school founded off of these same ideas that I hold so dear. Surrounded by a community of like-minded artists and innovators from all walks of life, it is no wonder that FIT students have a reputation for taking the fashion and art world by storm. Personally, I cannot wait to experience the same exhilarating creative interactions with the students at FIT that I experience in my neighborhood with my friend Jenna. I plan to take what I learn from both the class and my fellow students at the Precollege Program to further expand my creative stamina and increase my creative output. I want to completely eliminate the dreaded “block” phase of the creative cycle, and center my life completely around emitting an endless stream of artistry into the universe, letting each project and medium I achieve this through be equally joyous and fulfilling for both artist and consumer.
-Alivia