Corine - MIDTERM INTERVENTION 1

MIDTERM INTERVENTION 1: In Real Life “Shadow Stories Animation”

Link To Slides: https://www.canva.com/design/DAG3I8yW_CU/dDVyC6hq-zphZWjxcgZW3w/edit?utm_content=DAG3I8yW_CU&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Project Description:

For this intervention, I wanted to merge my identity as an animator with activism through visual storytelling. Inspired by our readings on art and activism, I chose to focus on visibility and mutual support among Black women, honoring the emotional and physical ways we uplift each other. I wanted to create something that communicates without text, something felt before it is explained.

The concept began when I saw an image of tiny animal silhouettes climbing along a wall. Because I work with motion all the time in animation, I immediately thought about the possibility of capturing movement in a still, physical space. I designed a sequence of silhouettes showing two women moving through emotional gestures: tired, leaning, reaching, receiving help, and rising. Even though these figures don’t move, the poses imply motion, like animation frames frozen mid-transition.

I was inspired by Kara Walker’s silhouette installations. Seeing how she uses silhouettes to tell powerful stories made me realize that I also create silhouettes in my work to communicate narrative, identity, and emotion. Her work showed me that a silhouette can hold entire histories. I also thought about how Frank Bowling layers forms and color to create emotional depth; while my installation is monochrome, the meaning comes from how the figures are layered together to build one shared story.

“Art that is placed in public space has the power to interrupt the everyday and demand recognition.”(Art & Activism textbook)

I chose to install the piece in the dorm hallway. This location matters because the dorms are where students live, decompress, laugh, share space, and learn who they are. It’s where emotional labor actually happens. By placing the silhouettes there, I wanted the artwork to feel like it belonged to the environment, like the women were moving with the people who walk those halls every day.

Students passing through reacted with curiosity. Some paused, some smiled softly, and a few asked questions like, “Is she helping her up?” These small reactions opened conversations about support systems, exhaustion, identity, and the quiet strength Black women carry.

“Art can be a tool of care, connection, and social repair.” (Reading on community-based art practice)

How This Works as an Intervention

This project brings visibility to emotional stories that often go unseen. By interrupting a familiar space, a hallway, the work asks viewers to consider how we hold each other and how resilience is shared.