In response to my chosen values, Akoranga and whanaungatanga I’ve created a piece that reflects by showing my progression and willingness to learn and connect and collaborate with people around me through symbolism. The symbolism of the eyes and windows shows my transparency to others and my learning style learning through watching and doing. I am a curious designer and see the beauty in the things that might not spark joy in others and I tried to translate that within my artwork with the organic shapes and ears to show that curiosity. In creating this piece, I took inspiration from Max Ernst's painting Attirement of the Bride when looking at the overall form. This was done by implementing illusionistic surrealism creating organic unsettling yet intriguing subjects. I was inspired by the use of Max Ernst's symbolism of subject matter and the use of dark yet strong vibrant contrasting colors. When thinking about what inspired me and the intent behind the piece, I was influenced by Surrealism’s Influence on Today’s Art and Design. This allowed me to show my values by abstracting things from my current life and situation, for example, I am heavily influenced by my surroundings, and Wellington's old villas with strange windows and structures fill me with joy. I wanted to show this since I am forever learning and changing and no piece of design will ever be the same, always morphing and changing till the day I die. What I hope to achieve, and how people interact with this piece, can also be seen in Neri Oxman's work. I wanted to disturb yet intrigue people. I wanted to instill curiosity within them, make them wonder why without telling them, and let them create their theories and hypotheticals. When people give you the answers it ruins the excitement of the chase and stops you thinking, I want to feed the hunger of the curious cat within everyone. What I find most interesting about Neri Oxman's career/work is you can see her development she is always exploring and making mistakes and showing those mistakes and you can see her developing as a designer and I think that is such an important skill not afraid of your mistakes and keep brainstorming and creating. 

My visual output is a combination of key things I see as crucial to my design process. I value Akoranga and whanaungatanga. My visual output therefore, encompasses this by showing my current headspace right now with influence from my surroundings (the old villas) the colors are deep reds and blue due to the unknown future ( I am going on an exchange to Singapore) but there is a glowy warm yellow at the end of the tunnel encapsulating my hope and excitement for the future. The symbolism of the cross is for my granny Ann always supporting me and showing me signs that she is always with me. 

The process and decisions I made while creating this piece also embody where I currently am as a designer because even though as a designer I want to create products I get a lot of my inspiration from other artistic outputs like painting and drawing and I wanted to showcase that through a painting of my headspace right now. My values are present in my visual output not only because of what you visually see but also because of the way I’ve approached this assignment. I’ve done this by approaching it from an unusual angle even though I am an industrial designer. I find my inspiration in the little things, getting my ideas from drawing in the sand painting, or making gifts for my friends and family. From the above, you can see how this has guided my work. In outlining this, I have learned a lot about myself and how I show myself, and how I love to enforce curiosity into people make them wonder why! It just instills so much excitement in me when someone asks me why! I just find so much happiness in confusing people wondering if they should find it grotesque or wonderful.

 I believe there are a few things that have led me to be the designer I am today. Throughout my life, I have struggled with school reading and writing maths. All were very hard for me. The only place I succeeded was in sports and arts. My parents doctors and teachers all knew something was wrong and I was constantly tested for different learning disorders but to no avail. I was unable to receive help due to not having any diagnosis even though I was struggling. Luckily my parents could afford private tutoring and I got by. It meant I had to try my absolute hardest to get to the same levels as other kids who weren't even trying. Instead of discouraging me, it allowed me to flourish and it taught me that my hard work does pay off eventually and I haven't allowed myself to put less than 100% effort into anything ever since. I remember wishing that I was smart but now I know I am smart. I am just not smart in the conventional way school wants and that's okay. Once I got to year 12 in high school where we could choose the majority of our classes, I flourished. I felt so happy because I was putting in the same amount of effort, but I was getting praise and acceptance. This pushed me to keep going even more and I just kept pushing and pushing I love the feeling of actually improving and learning this, especially in Design which I have always wanted to be my life, but I wasn't sure it would be a viable career. I thought I had to be a doctor or a lawyer. I think my parents saw my passion for arts at a young age and allowed me to explore it even though I did make a mess sometimes it was my way of exploring the world. 

These points have led me to choose a path that upholds my values and allows me to see a future where I can be the type of designer that I am today. This pain and growth is what I try to explore through all my designs. We are always learning. The whole point of living is learning. If you aren't learning you aren't living. Throughout this course, I’ve discovered that I am heavily influenced by my emotions and surroundings, and this can be seen in my output when looking at work throughout the year and how I am influenced by my classmates, the trips I go on, and the people I meet. I hope to be forever learning and keep creating beautiful and maintaining relationships within my career and of course never stop creating wonderful disturbing things.