I am Mariel Zook, creator and head of Topaz, my own design company as well as my alter-ego.Topaz represents my vision of the future, of it's myths and ideals as well as it's reality, as expressed through fashion design, illustration, graphics, etc. Currently a student at Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, as well as a former student of Parsons School of Design, I major in fashion design but explore many other areas, both in and out of the field of design...these have included, to varying degrees: architecture, fine art, poetry and spoken word, breakdance, social science, business, web design/computer graphics, anime, music, cooking, travel, cultures, politics, language, etc., etc. (not that I am an expert in any of it--I just have endless curiosity).
I am obsessed with the blurred and ever-shifting identities with which the many different people of the world label themselves. Nothing is black and white and probably never was, and there are strange and constantly thinning borders between ancient and modern that become more complex the more that "first-world" and developing nations and traditional and modern cultures clash and press against one another, both physically, sociopolitically, and philosophically. Cultural (and gender) identities have been and are changing quickly, and old ways of life are disappearing or being adapted to fit new ones. Where does this leave us in terms of our own sense of identity? How do we reconcile the different cultures we come from with our modern culture, and how do we reconcile them with our own personal philosophies? How do we borrow from other cultures without exploiting them? How do we remain rooted? How do we define who we are to others?
These ideas and questions are what inspire me, not just in my designs but in everything i do. I struggle with them and wonder about them all the time. For instance, how would things be different if, for example, Africans instead of Europeans had conquered and colonized the Americas? How would America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, or Australia be now if they hadn't been "westernized" or overpowered by "western" empires and had instead developed on their own into "first world" continents/countries? What would things look like now?
