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If 2021 could teach me anything, it’s that the processing of grief is the hardest challenge I have faced thus far, and that getting through it would be even harder. Within the span of the year, I lost four family members, two of those four in one weekend. It hurts to lose loved ones, especially within such a short span of time. However, two of the deaths I experienced hit me harder than I could’ve ever imagined. On January 17 I lost my cousin Eric, who was thirty-three, and on September 23 I lost my grandmother, who was seventy-four. My cousin and I were very close despite our large age difference. When I was born, he loved to carry me around everywhere, and it was often said that I was his “favorite” of the younger kids in my family. As I got older, we became closer and as a result, a lot of my interests came from him. When I would come home from college, he’d be there texting me when I’d be free so he could visit me before I left again. I considered my grandmother to be a second mother to me. She always encouraged me to pursue an art career, to continue my education, and to eat her cooking despite being at the limit of bursting. Family was the most important thing to her. She taught me the importance of togetherness, and I never knew how lonely the holidays could be without her around. They both were the biggest presences in my life, and losing them both left holes in my heart that I really can’t explain.

 What I learned from both, however, was the importance of music. They both loved music, and it seemed as if it followed them wherever they went. Despite their love of it and my love for their music, after they passed, listening to their favorite songs or songs that reminded me of them was something I couldn’t do anymore. I still couldn’t till this day. I want to embrace their presence again and attempt to heal not only myself, but my family as well, as we all were so heavily affected by the loss. To do this, I intend to make six motion graphics, three for either of them, with animation tied to a song that reminds me of them, or one of their favorite songs. Once completed, I plan on compiling them into an in-memoriam website I will design that will contain pictures of them and I and memories I have of them alongside the graphics. By doing this, I hope to create an easy way to share the memory of Eric and my grandmother to my family and friends of the family. At the end of this project, I hope to have mended the hole in my family left when they passed, have learned a new skill, as well as regain the ability to participate in the one activity they loved to do most: listen to their music. 

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