Today we’d like to introduce you to Alda Boyd.
Alda, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I graduated from Mansfield Lake Ridge high school in 2017. Around that time I had begun to teach myself how to make 3D art. After flying to New York for my first year at Parsons School of Design, I began developing an intense curiosity for virtual reality. After trying it for the first tie I was obsessed. I couldn’t believe how immersive, and real everything felt despite being entirely digital. Shortly after that started to use my self-taught 3D animation skills to create my own virtual reality projects. I like to explore themes of surrealism, emotion, and social connections in my art. Many would describe my work as “trippy” or reminding them of dreams they’ve had, which I find funny because a lot of my visual inspiration is drawn from own my dreams (they’re very vivid). I’m now approaching my senior year of undergrad at Parsons. I definitely feel like going to school here pushed me to explore the capabilities of my art.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest hurdle for me was finding my path. I didn’t have a great high school experience. I was misunderstood by many and when I told people where I planned to study after senior year I was usually responded to with a “huh?” I spent most of my years doing photography and making short cinematic videos. I didn’t have a particular interest for sports and wasn’t academically competitive despite my intelligence. It was after I left my hometown and had the chance to develop my sense of self that I finally experienced the growth I needed. I won’t lie, adjusting to life in Manhattan after spending my whole life in texas was hard. I didn’t know what *real* winter felt like until I finally moved there, and the city moves 10x faster than the sleepy suburbs, but with time I became accustomed to it.
We’d love to hear more about your art.
I specialize in 3D art and immersive experiences. Immersive meaning you ain the sense of being in an entirely different space than where you physically are. I use VR, projection mapping, and animation as mediums for my work.
What were you like growing up?
I was what most would describe as a weird, but lovable kid. I loved computers, everything internet related and I was always creating something new. I would collect rocks and color them with crayons, have photoshoots with my friends, create mangas where everyone in the class was a character, and spend an ungodly amount of time on Club Penguin. I would also stay up late in the living room watching Adult Swim after my parents had nodded off to sleep, so I’m sure that contributed to the weirdness as well. Many of my interests revolved around imaginative play. When my childhood friend and I would play with Bratz it would go on for hours. The storylines were pretty complex and each had their own unique names. Some days it would be a regular night in the dollhouse and other days it would be bungee jumping from the second floor. Our dolls lived very exciting lives, all 26 of them.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aqua.grl/
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