Victoria Woon
Born in Singapore, Victoria Woon originally came to Parsons for fashion, but changed her focus to illustration when she realized her talents lay in drawing, painting, and “making things.” “I’ve really gotten into Picture Story Workshop with Ben Katchor,” says Woon, whose ideas have taken flight in text-and-image “mini-books” that explore everything from dreams and childhood memories to TV. Woon explains how the book format allows her to circumvent the limitations of working in two dimensions: “In Picture Story Workshop, a page can fold out into multiple panels to show multiple TV screens, making two dimensions become three.”
Woon particularly likes the emphasis of the class on creative development. “Ben is a lot more interested in the thought process behind a project than a professional, finished piece of work,” she says, “though a finished piece is always the goal. Ideas come from everywhere. We might start by discussing the history of the speech bubble, move on to sound waves, and end up on a new topic that none of us could have anticipated. It’s very creatively freeing.”