Hope is the thing with Feathers —
a poem by Emily Dickinson
When the world came crashing down and I found myself alone, I began to look for a glimmer of joy in the mundane around me. At 3 am on a restless night, I started flipping through my old poetry books. Emily Dickinson’s dark but childlike, free-spirited voice compelled me in a way I didn’t expect. She sees the darkness of the world and embraces it, finds beauty through simplicity and humor in morbidity. I was inspired by her notion that hope is this fleeting thing that we could never seem to catch, but always remained with us. This project is dedicated to Emily Dickinson, for helping me find light in the dark.
Emily Dickinson’s handwritten poem
Letter by Letter
I created this video using Procreate and Photoshop. I traced Dickinson’s handwriting and wrote each line letter by letter, for over 450 frames. I traced precisely in some, and haphazardly in others, creating unique forms for each frame. This process is what helped me achieve the “jumping” text effect.