Contents
i. Artwork
Intro 1
Painting 2-6
Drawing 7-9
Sculpture 10 - 11
Photography 12 -13
ii. Landscape Design
Intro 14
Modeling Processes 15 - 18
Emma Xue Mapping Phenomena 19 - 21
Portfolio
Schematic Design 22 - 26
Selected works 2009-2013
i. Artwork
This selection of artwork mirrors inspiring moments in my
life when I perceive, contemplate, express and create.
LEFT: Moon in the river, Digital photograph / Personal / 2009
1
Painting
Untitled, Oil on canvas / 14''x16.5'' / Personal / 2010
Growing up in a dense urban area in Chengdu, China,
I used to crave for an undisrupted life in the country. I
was obsessed with the idea of of Nature.
But Nature in itself is unintelligible. The concept of
absolute wilderness is mixed with a tinted feeling of
nostalgia. I was not lost in the landscape. I was merely
lost in a nuance, a painting.
2
Untitled, Watercolor on paper / 10''x12.5'' / Personal / 2013
When I face the surrounding environment again, I am
fascinated by the physical and functional structure of
our cities. Even if the human species is not the only
one that is social and architectural, the scale, depth
and complexity of our urban development is not found
anywhere else.
I am interested in re-thinking about the relationship
between the natural and the built environments.
3
Skull, Watercolor on tinted paper / 10''x12.5'' / Academic / 2012
Living or dead, organisms leave unique traces of life
behind themselves. Their bodily structures, bone
textures and interactions with light are all intriguing.
4
After Joris Howfuage, Egg tempera on paper / 5''x 5'' / Personal
/ 2012
Sometimes it is hard to give a clear distinction between
‘the natural’ and “the man-made”.
The narrative of this painting focuses on a flower, a
chestnut, and a dragonfly, but the setting is certainly
modified to be pleasing to our eyes. The beauty
presented in front of us is obvious, but by no means
untouched by us.
The beauty is not whether in the object or the viewer. It
is a result of the interplay of both.
5
LEFT: Still Life,Oil on canvas /14''x16.5''/ Academic / 2010
BELOW: Dried Hydrangea, Watercolor on paper / 12''x9''/
Academic / 2011
Paintings, Oil and Watercolor / Academic /14''x16.5'' / 12''x9'' /
2010 & 2011
These paintings show an alternative to thinking about
landscapes. If we take a closer look at things, we
discover unique landscapes on their own scales.
Both the still life composition and the flower petal
arrangements can be seen as landscapes that bring
different experience to the viewer. Nature and Culture
seen as separate in a traditional view are reunited
through the lens of landscapes.
Nature and Culture are one.
6
ABOVE: Canadian Helmlock
FAR LEFT: Umbrella Pine
LEFT: Tree forms
Drawing
Tree Studies, Graphite on paper / 14''x16.5'' / Personal/ 2013
There are multiple approaches to observing the natural
world. Among them, drawing is the most lively one.
Through sketching, I can internalize the outside world,
then re-objectify it. This is a process of active seeking,
taking, and returning—a complete life-cycle.
7
Portraits, Graphite on paper / Personal and Academic /10'' x 12.5''
/ 8.5'' x 11'' / 2012 & 2013
Only recently did I start drawing people.
A figure can hardly be fully portrayed by merely
capturing the spatial relationships between bodily
parts. Expressions of the figure root more deeply than
on the face and the skin, which are to be translated
into a visual language in the drawing.
LEFT: Man Reading Newspaper, Pencil on paper / 8.5'' x 11'' /
Personal / 2013
FAR LEFT: Portraits, Charcoal on newsprint / 10'' x 12.5'' /
Academic / 2012
8
45-second Gesture Drawings, Pencil on newsprint / 6''x12'' /
Academic / 2012
Drawing is seeing, but drawing is not only seeing.
Active drawing requires not only the coordination
between the eyes and the hand, but also the mind and
the body as a whole.
The goal of this set of gesture drawing was to
participate in the movements and impulses of the
figures rather than merely to reproduce their shapes.
9
Sculpture
Sculptures, Recycled stapes, coffee sticks, tooth picks, glue, fridge
magnet/ 2.5''x2.5''x2.5'' / Personal / 2013
All materials used in constructing these sculptures
were collected during an office cleaning. My goal in
this design is to maintain the flexibility of the scattering
staples while forming a cohesive whole. It is achieved
by the equillibrium between gravity and magnetism. A
shape has to conquer gravity to be a shape. The result
is an apparent state of rest but in fact held in tension.
10
Sculptures, Recycled staples, punched paper dots, hair pins, foam /
Personal / 2013
A pile of paper dots could themselves create dynamic
and interesting visual experience. But instead of
making a drawing with them on a flat surface, I
challenged myself to create a sculpture.
Similar to the precedent project, it requires a balance
between the presence of each individual dot and that
of the greater sculpture. I see this piece more as an
experiment than a final solution.
11
Photography
This selection of photos were taken during my
internship at a local furniture factory, where all furniture
was hand-made.
It was an opportunity for me to observe and appreciate
fine craftsmanship, while at the same time I discovered
my ambition in larger-scale design that could be more
powerful and influential.
12
RIGHT & ABOVE: Artisans' hands, Photo Essay,
Digital photos / Professional / 2011
13
II. Landscape Design
All of my artistic moments stream into a passion in creating
beautiful and meaningful space to the public.
This chapter includes three projects that I completed during
the 2013 Career Discovery.
THIS PAGE: Quarry Model, Digital photograph
14
1 2
1. Flatten the area in which mine resources 2. Measure and mark the perimeter of a lower
are found. Remove all excess soil. level of mining. Leave a path for machinery
and people to pass.
Modeling Processes
"Being itself in a process of becoming, a landscape is fully bound into the
effects of nature and time."
-- Marot, The Reclaiming of Sites
This exercise integrated the processes of land operation with two clay
models.
3 4 I explored techniques, intensities and speeds of removing clay, imitating
3. Drill and crush enclosed materials, starting 4.Repeat steps above until reaching the possible processes in the operation of a quarry.
from the edge inwards. Remove all excess bottom of quarry. Then the quarry structure is
materials while flattening a lower level of abandoned and will be filled with rain water as
drilling. time passes.
15
ABOVE: Quarry Operation Model, Clay
LEFT: Sliced Quarry
Model, Clay / In parts
LEFT: Topography Mesh,
Graphite on paper /
Based on measurements
collected from sliced
model sections
In this section, I studied the topographic changes of the first model.
The Quarry Operation Model was sliced into twelve transverse sections.
Altitudes were measured at 169 points, forming a topography mesh, which
was developed into a cardboard mesh model. Serial sections were also
drawn to help understand the relationship between points on the grid.
LEFT: Mesh Model,
Cardboard / Based on
measurements collected
from sliced model sections ABOVE: Serial Sections, Graphite on paper 16
1. Waste materials are accumulated near the 2. Solid tailings are concentrated and flattened 3. Liquid tailings are discharged locally into
quarry, where a small portion is processed and into blocks, and piled up by the facilities. the bay or sea. Submarine tailings disposal is
used as construction materials for facilities. sometimes carried out through tubes.
ABOVE: Quarry Tailing Transformation Model, Clay
All materials removed from the first quarry model were used to build
this second model, which shows the use of mine materials and the
transformation of quarry tailings.
17
Precedent Project: Tabu Hijau Mine, West Nusa Tenggara Island, Indonesia
Three diagrams are made based on research on Tabu Hijau Mine, an open-
pit gold-copper quarry in Indonesia.
I analyzed the existing flows on the site and visualized possible changes
of the flows. In my interventions, I mainly addressed pollution issues and
proposed a new economic development model.
FAR LEFT: Existing Diagram
LEFT: Projected Diagrams
18
Mapping Phenomena
Site Location: Plaza at Harvard Science Center, Cambridge, MA
This exercise introduced the concept of visual thinking through site analysis.
Three phenomena were identified and mapped during different times of a
day: foot traffic flow, bird traces (sky and ground), and noise level.
LEFT: Plaza Plan
19
9:00 AM 5:30 PM 11:30 PM
LEGEND Bird Traces
Foot Traffic
ABOVE: Mapped Plans and Sections
Noise Level 20
ABOVE: Transverse Section
RIGHT: Longitudal Section
21
schematic design
Site Location: Brickbottom, Sommerville, MA
Situated at the bottom of the bowl-shaped topography, the Brickbottom transect
encloses solid waste and water run-off, making the site unsuitable for intimate
interaction with the public. I propose to turn the transect into a phytoremediation
center with a terraced wetland structure and a riparian buffer zone. Water runoff
from the industrial sites and rail tracks on the east is channeled and remediated.
Cleaned water is harvested for groundwater recharge and irrigation on site, forming
both a visual and physical connection between two sides of the McGrath highway.
THIS PAGE: Photo Collage of design proposal 22
The New Charlse River Dam
blocking the natural outlet of
The first set of public sewers
New Drainage System pro-
The Millers river was filled,
were built in Brickbottom.
90 Miles of pipelines were
The first public sewer was
completed, covering 90%
posed by civil Engineer.
were built along what is
4,000 ft of sewer lines
of land of Somerville.
McGrath Hwy today.
Amelia Earhart Dam
the drainage system.
built in Somerville.
was built.
was built.
1813 1863 1913 1963
Buses replace streetrail
McGrath Highway
streetrail develops
Red Line Extended
Lowell Railroad
A'
The research focused on movement of water and people through the site. It put the
transect into both a geographic and a historical context.
Sewage system performance and public transportation accessibility were chosen
as two flows, represented by the blue and yellow lines above respectively. Relevant
influential events were summarized and highlighted from 1815 to 2013. This
research laid foundation to a critical analysis of the site that is not enclosed by the
boundaries of the transect.
UPPER LEFT: Regional Plan
LEFT: Regional Section
ABOVE: Brickbottom Timeline
A A' / Group work with Ellen Xie
23
To p o g r a p h y + Topography+Efficiency
Increased speed of Water Flow Speed
water run-off
The designed wetland maximizes remediation efficiency and increases biodiversity
Elongated on the site.
Elongated edges
Edge Conditions
The remediation center is constructed with terraced vegetation patches. Storm
water runoff speed is modified by the slope, texture and volume of each terrace. The
pattern of each terrace is a combination of rectangular shapes and elongated edge
conditions. The soil extracted from the construction of the wetland is piled up beside
the wetland, where trees and shrubs are planted for soil waste treatment.
The wetland creates a rich visual experience to the public, while physical access is
limited. The former traffic island is turned into a dynamic public space with a similar
visual language.
FAR LEFT: Logical Formation of Design
UPPER LEFT: Proposed Transect Plan
LEFT: Proposed Transect Section
Limited pedestrian paths
24
Winter 2014
Spring 2015
Summer 2016
Fall 2017
LEFT: Transect Sections in Time 25
THIS PAGE: Physical Model 26
Thank You.
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