James Hsieh Wander in Wonder

As we grow into adulthood, we lose our sense of childlike wonderment. The radiance of childhood is so vital that it can never really be lost, only forgotten. Instead, we learn to fear and we protect ourselves, becoming more cautious than ever. We should work to recall and regain our wonderment and curiosity. Childhood memories often manifest in dreams. Dreams preserve the original happiness and sadness and reflect the past and present. I want to evoke wonderment in my viewers by visually and aurally transforming dreams to produce images, narratives, spaces, and immersive environments. The animation invites the viewer to enter my internal fantastical world, while the sculptures that surround the video create a surreal environment in the real space. The video is a non-linear narrative that creates a feeling of dislocation. In the immersive installation, reality and fantasy collide to create a dreamland.