OVERVIEW

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Angel with Clipped Wings is a 70-page floating accordion-style book that asks a simple yet profound question: What is the purpose of living? The story follows an angel who, paralyzed by the fear of failure, clips her own wings. It is a visual meditation on mindfulness and learning to notice beauty in everyday life. The piece merges lyrical storytelling with immersive design, blurring the line between literature, illustration, and installation art.

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CHALLENGE

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• Creating a 28-foot-long floating accordion book without any existing guides/precedents

• Balancing storytelling with poetic language while keeping the narrative approachable

• Engineering a suspended structure that appeared weightless, yet was stable and readable

• Designing a cohesive experience that bridged writing, illustration, motion, and exhibition design

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PROCESS

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• Writing: Crafted a lyrical yet accessible dialogue-driven narrative exploring fear, mindfulness, and wonder

• Design: Used Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator to develop layout and illustrations; incorporated After Effects and p5.js for motion elements

• Construction: Experimented through trial and error to fabricate the 28-foot accordion structure, ensuring it hung securely while maintaining the illusion of floating

• Exhibition: Designed an immersive gallery installation featuring a suspended S-curve book, 1,000 hanging crystal droplets, and 30 crystal birds to echo the story’s themes

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OUTCOME

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• Successful installation of a 28-foot floating book displayed at eye level in a gallery setting

• Exhibition drew over 300 visitors on opening night, sparking conversations about mindfulness and the beauty of small moments

• Project demonstrated the integration of writing, illustration, bookmaking, motion design, and spatial experience into one cohesive narrative