The last part of the course probably represents one of the most challenging, almost surreal experiences I've had on the Foundation Course and in my creative experience, but it also stands out as the one that opened my eyes to new creative possibilities in ways I could never, ever imagine before.

As the global situation became more alarming everyday, the fast closure of the university had a massive impact on my emotional and creative stability, which eventually led me to not being able to carry on with my project for an extended period of time. As a creative I always had in mind that no matter what situation I'm in, I'm capable of finding ways to develop my practice, by finding new ways to do so, but as it turned out, this was a situation that was more than anyone would ever expect; one that turned everything upside down.

I realised that now, my most important aim is to regain my mental stability and to take my time processing everything that's going on. Having the possibility to do so, while. being reunited with my family opened my eyes wide to one thing that I kind of overlooked: in order to keep my creative process going, my sanity needs to be equally as important, not inversely proportional.

The Knit and Crochet Journal started from this need of keeping myself sane and creative (apart from the FMP) at the same time. Aiming to crochet at least one granny square a day, this exercise got me very involved with being consistent as it made me feel productive. Not only that I became involved into learning other new techniques, but even the one a day I used to make in the first few days uplifted my spirit and it facilitated my wellbeing.

Restarting the Final Project has been quite challenging, but what encouraged me to do so was looking through old pictures of my mom and talking with her about her childhood memories As my project talks about empathy and connection within humans, she really inspired me to create, despite the situation we are in.

After revisiting my initial proposal, I've realised that my outcome is very different from what I originally proposed to do, but at the same time, I feel like it ties more to my actual ideas than what I thought I will do: from the first stages of development to the finished garment. From restricted access to materials (and sourcing them from neighbours) to not having my mannequin (and draping experimentally with a chair as a structure on my brother), this experiences made me, perhaps, more engaged into the process. Moreover, it ended up being a pretty interesting brainstorming exercise, one I would never think I will have to do. 

Even though I didn't have the academic facilities I would've had if things were normal, this experience made me aware that our creativity shouldn't be bounded by the normal standards of our fields; we should overcome them and think innovative; only this time, in terms of present innovation rather than future innovation.

Last but not least, my mom helping me crochet the garment has been the best and the most emotional out of it all. As she was the first person to teach me how to knit and crochet when I was a kid, collaborating with her gave my project a very personal feel. Even though I wasn't quite able to create a collective sensorial experience by developing interactive textures, as I proposed, I managed to fulfil my wish to establish the empathic connection between humans, and souls; which, in my opinion, is the most important aim in our artistic practice.