Asenath Torres is 21, she’s a senior in Communication Design, she’s a foodie, and is starting to become a bit of a movie buff, but more than anything, she is driven.
Her professional aspirations predominantly center eSports, doing graphic design work for teams and events, and building brand identity for varying orgs, and her history reflects that. Ase grew up gaming, she was a part of high school eSports, AND she used to sell in-game Animal Crossing furniture on eBay (Reportedly making around $600!!!). She has already gotten some related work under her belt, doing editing for Asian Andy, a streamer on Twitch, and designing for her High School’s Overwatch team, as well as Marquette’s eSports team. She’s also done work for Fox Gym Sports Club, which is located in Mexico. She is also a hustler, which was made apparent by her stories of a past life as an underground Animal Crossing furniture seller. More recently though, she has been doing some event work, designing themes and decorations for baby showers and children’s birthdays. “I kinda have this mindset, where if I can make money, I’m going to try to find a way to do it.” Lastly, to close, Ase Torres is a lovely person to talk with, and very earnest. When prompted for any closing thoughts, she said, “I try to put, and give, meaning into everything that I do.” And that’s all any of us can hope for, isn’t it?
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From glancing at older posts of his, it’s clear that, regardless of subject matter, Jason McDowell writes with a dry sort of brevity. In his piece, “These buildings were demolished for soulless surface parking spaces”, this manifests as a dry wit, albeit maybe a touch macabre. When discussing the potential dangers of more parking lots, with creating more driveways, McDowell notes that, “The smaller the chance a person is going to get run over by a car, the safer and the happier they’ll be.” Beyond that though, he seems to write with an air of history. Milwaukee, as a city, has a deep history with tearing things down and building shitty things over them, and knowledge of that fact is reflected throughout this piece. “Historic buildings are razed for any number of reasons, some more honorable than others, such as forces of nature, or simply being in the way of a new, exciting project, or — most unfortunately — poor stewardship and decay.” “Installing freeways through big cities was a destructive process, razing entire swaths of land. This literally paved the way for more cars, which literally means paving the way for more parking, which further destroys the city’s history.”
A writer’s voice is very personalized to each individual, not dissimilar to our speaking voice, but maybe even more unique. While certain people may share a cadence and tone, one’s writings are a manifestation of intention and self. For some, their writing voice is near identical to their internal one, simply an externalization of the way they think, and process the world. For others, such as myself, it may deeply resemble their speaking voice, with the act of writing working as a sieve, enforcing conciseness and clarity.
The first thing I knew about Todd Mrozinski as a writer, upon reading his article, The Power of Great Paintings, was that he is a storyteller. Narrative is the air this piece breaths, it is story masquerading as review, evident by the way we walk with him through the show. Take the article’s introduction as proof; “Having visited the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. a number of times, I was thrilled to hear a portion of this museum’s art was traveling to Milwaukee. My heart raced as I showed the attendant my ticket and entered the first gallery of 'A Modern Vision: European Masterworks from The Phillips Collection' at the Milwaukee Art Museum.” He describes hearing about works coming to the city, his excitement at the prospects of witnessing them in person once more, and he does so with a tone that presents him as nothing more than an excited guest, not someone who intended to write a review of the showing, likely(hopefully) on commission. All of this to say, not only does Mrozinski write in narrative, but he does so intentionally, maybe even spinning a white lie or two, in order to make it go down smoother. Todd is also a depictive writer, playing with metaphor and visual language, using his words to paint a mental image, rather than simply describe what he sees. “The haziness of the vase contour behind the sharpness of the peach creates space like a distant mountain range on a foggy day.” “Paul Cezanne’s “Self Portrait” from 1878-80 is not so much painted as massaged. It is a self-anointed portrait which seems to have been built with his thumbs. The clay-like paint is pushed, smeared and built like the mountain, Mount Sainte-Victoire…” “Paint is slathered, smeared, dripped, glazed and scraped. The color turns to light as we enter Bonnard’s world and join his wife and cat in their glimmering domestic space.” But he not only gives such level of depth for the works, he does so for the space they occupy as well. “In the next room, I’m drawn to a Berthe Morisot painting, …” “The Pierre Bonnard room pulsates with the light of France in a master class of painting.” “Near the end of the exhibition, I spot a painting I have known and loved for years, …” It is fitting, to describe these paintings with such vivid imagery, but it speaks to the writer’s style and voice, to also do so for the museum setting as well. Lastly, I view Todd Mrozinski as, if nothing else, a person who appreciates melodrama, for how else can one describe a review of an exhibition, written as narrative non-fiction, that ends with a Nietzsche quote, of all things? |
Andrea WeistoWriter, creative, and full of opinions. ArchivesCategories |