Ambitions

Maja Hagen 
Illustration and Visual Media 

Starting my DPS experience I had a clear idea in mind of how my DPS year should go. I was convinced that the only way for me to make this year productive was to find as many internships as I could. I did have a successful interview with Sarabande and was offered a 3 month internship starting in November. Unfortunately it was then pushed back to start January although I am still very much excited about this opportunity. This gave me a lot of extra time which I have been using to work on private commissions that have helped me get back into my illustration practice. In addition I used the time to redesigned my portfolio and website to better suit the jobs I would like to apply to and hope this will be more effective in securing internships. 


Although finding more internships is still an essential part of my year I also chose to use this time to focus on finding out what truly excites me in the creative industry. I have been lacking motivation regarding my current practice for a while now and people who have experienced this will know how incredibly frustrating it can be. As artists our emotional state is so closely connected to our practice that this frustration will reflect in our work. I always heard stories of people having moments of self discovery but I could never fully understand them until I experienced it myself. After days of research and sleepless nights I realised I had spend over two years dreaming of studying fashion design but was hesitant to fully admit it to my tutors or even myself. However after a very helpful meeting with Stephanie and a long talk with my parents I came to the conclusion that I should start fully concentrating on this ambition. I feel so lucky to have people around me who fully support this decision and the DPS programme gives me the perfect opportunity to start this process. 


For now this means I will be preparing a fashion portfolio which I will use to apply for a fashion course in January. I tailored my SIP to be supportive of this process and plan to do short courses to help me develop skillsets that are needed for this industry. At the moment I am working on gathering research by following an online course which has helped me understand the fashion designing process. At the moment I am learning about how to create mood boards and gather inspiration. This work has helped me to finally feel motivated and excited about my projects again and with a clear goal in mind I have been much more productive. I am writing about this experience because I want to be an example to everyone who might feel similarly frustrated to find the courage to follow whatever excites you, because this will ultimately reflect in the quality of your work. Having said this I think it is important to understand that these last two years have not been a waste by any means. I needed this time to reflect on my ambitions and the improvements I have seen in my illustration work over the last two years have been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. 

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