Heartstronaut

Researcher(s)

  • Juno Dulaney, Fine Arts, University of Delaware

Faculty Mentor(s)

  • Brandan Henry, Fine Art, University of Delaware

Abstract

Last year, I used an alien character to represent masking as a queer autistic person. This character, Terra, connected with people on many levels. I was encouraged by the response to my first project to continue her story, using the metaphor of being an alien to convey other experiences queer neurodivergent people face. This project is called Heartstronaut, a portmanteau of heart and astronaut as well as a nod to the original project, Earthstronaut. As the title implies, this project shows Terra taking on a new challenge – romance. When Terra laments her struggles with dating, her supportive friends suggest a new dating app. Terra downloads the app in an attempt to connect with people like her, but she finds it to be more difficult than she thought. There are dates that are too different, too similar, or even too perfect. In the end, she finds that she already has love in her life, the love of her friends. 

This summer I chose to build on my last project by graduating from a looping animation to a complete story. My initial idea was to create a two to five minute animation, but upon starting the project, I realized that would not be feasible in the allotted time. I scaled back the project to be less than a minute, but it still tells a complete story. My medium was digital animation. I used digital art to create all aspects of the story including concept art, backgrounds, and animated characters. The short format tells a concise but impactful narrative about the difficulties of dating. Though it focuses on a queer and neurodivergent perspective, anyone can relate to the struggles of finding someone to spend their life with.