Let me start by saying, “This was the most fun, exciting, and craziest summer I’ve ever had!!!”

Our project was to investigate both individual and communal concepts of “nest/home” and “colony/community” as a temporary shelter. We started to throw out ideas and talk about what “nest” and/or “home” means to us. Of course, when there are ten people in a room, there are at least ten different ideas. I expected this, but I had not anticipated was how exciting, confusing, and mind-blowing it would be to work through the process of putting the ideas together into a comprehensive idea with these young fresh minds.

Every day I came to our studio and saw new things. I was mesmerized by the complexity and simplicity of the minds of my youth participants. At times their innocence showed through; at times they were wise beyond their years. I loved the fact that they were truly free-living species. I believe I was there once, but I realized that I had lost some of that freeness as I grew up. The experience of the Blue Sky Project helped me find that space again in order to build and inhabit a “colony” with the youth participants.

Each of us had specific experiences and feelings about the idea of “nest/home.” Our challenge was to find a way to make our piece aesthetically cohesive. After brainstorming, making collages, drawings, and writing texts, we decided that we would construct a big cocoon as a home (= colony) where all of us (= bugs) would herd together but would eventually leave to search for each of our new homes. I felt the path to collaboration really began to reveal itself when the youth chose to make individual costumes to emerge from the big cocoon and show their own identities to the viewers.

One of my personal goals that I wanted to achieve through this residency was to lose control over my work. I wanted to let things go and watch them grow out of my hands. I wanted everybody’s hands to nourish and care for things we found in our surroundings that would eventually build our cocoon. How we communicate with the world and the final aesthetic became my biggest challenge. But I soon realized that I was worrying prematurely and I had underestimated the power and energy that living creatures could create from mindfully or even mindlessly working together in an environment. I started to see that each of us was finding his/her own role to play in this new community we were building.

It was amazing that once I started to enjoy being out of control and free myself from the usual studio madness and stress for setting up a show, more unexpectedly wonderful things started to happen. I believe that the chance to perform several times during the final exhibition was beneficial for all of us. Again, the youth surprised me for being very patient under the unbearable heat, caring for their costumes as their second skin, putting all their energy out there to perform the piece. One of the greatest ideas that came out of our group was to collaborate with Joyce Lee’s group and with this year’s program director, Shaw Pong Liu. It was such an unexpected gift that added another strong bonding moment among us and made us keep focused on our performances.

For me, the art-making process is just one of millions of ways to survive and share the world with others. I learned that this process could be so much more liberating and joyful when working closely with other artists, especially those with youthful and free spirits. I had been a lonely bug before I met my youth participants, but I was not alone when I performed with them. They were precious creatures that I will never forget. I hope they will enjoy repeating their metamorphosis throughout their lives and keep transforming themselves to experience a more exciting future.