Mélissa Nicolet | Our intern tells about her project: Vas Nager

Summer is here and our last intern from last school year is also leaving our studio. If you’ve been here for the past six months, you definitely know her: Mélissa Nicolet from Switzerland. Before she takes the train back home, to complete her education there after the summer, we would like to ask her a few more questions.

You were our guest as an intern for six months. Why did you decide to do your internship at AGA LAB?

I am used to working on the computer a lot. Of course I can do almost anything on a computer, but because of the infinite possibilities it is also easy to lose the meaning of my work. That’s why I really wanted to learn analog techniques. And I didn’t just want to be involved in designing, but also to get acquainted with visual art. That is why I ended up at AGA LAB. Because in this studio there are about as many graphic designers as free visual artists.

How did you like working here? Because not only visual art was new to you, also Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the language?

I found it all quite overwhelming. I was a bit blown away by the new town speaking English instead of French and all the new people. And then all the techniques and departments within the AGA LAB studio. It took a while before I could make a plan of what I wanted to do here and what the possibilities were. At some point I decided to just jump into the water and then feel if it was cold or not.

The title of your work reads: Vas Nager, go swim! So that opening sentence stayed with you?

At one point I was busy in the studio and had to think about water and the movement that takes you when you lie in the water. It was all exciting and new, but I noticed that I could move more and more with the flow. If at some point you are in a creative process, the flow takes you along. Each new image is followed by another. I have become part of the vast AGA LAB ocean of new people and experiences and I am very happy about that.

What are you most proud of?

I think on my poster Vas Nager in which I have tried to incorporate all the elements that I have learned here during these six months. At some point I got a taste for screen printing. In this poster I worked with black and the residual shapes yellow and purple. I’ve tried different things with layers and colours. What is above, which layer is below and how do the movements slide?

I know you dance a lot too and that’s what came to mind when I saw your shapes. Have you used dance in your designs?

Yes, I dance a lot and I have also tried to translate the flexibility that I needed into my collages and shapes. The manoeuvrability, flexibility, also the gracefulness attracts me.

I am very inspired by artists who work with the imagination of the body. I especially find the shape and movement of our physical expression very interesting. For example, many artists now work with how trauma influences our posture and movements. In my own work here I have also looked for the connections between body and trauma with the help of photography. I developed the images myself and came into contact with Argyrotype ‘par accident’. I printed several series with it and through those experiments I now understand how the colours and shapes can come out beautifully. Photography was completely new to me and through this project I now understand a lot more about it.

Melissa Nicolet Vas Nager

Thank you Mélissa for all your help! We are very curious how you will develop further. Good luck back at school in Genève next year and we hope to hear from you again.