IAN WELLS​
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Find Ian's art in Issue 5.
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A Sense 1
Breathe. Just breathe. I know it’s hard. You can do this. Stay connected and consider opening up about how you’re feeling. Odds are that someone else is feeling the same way. We are all in this together. Experience love. Love others and love yourself enough to take care of your mental health in this trying time.
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A Sense 2
I need to be more impulsive sometimes and just let things work out. I need to remember how to shut my inner voice up so I can be less anxious and enjoy the wonderful everything that is my existence. It is a miracle I’m even here. I should enjoy it while it lasts. No one has forever. Cherish your time and do what makes you happy. Life is too short to do anything else.
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The Good Life
I was commanding a legion of koi fish, and we were training to overthrow this vague darkness. My grandmother, who is deceased in real life, was the organizer of this movement, and was training me to take her place as well. As part of my training, I was to catch some of the fish, fillet them, and feed them to the legions so they could keep their strength. I would do everything up to the point of feeding this carcass to its kin, but I would always hesitate here. I would ask my grandmother for permission to unleash this cannibalism, and she always said yes. I would tilt the silver platter holding the fillets and they would splash into the water to be devoured by the ravenous fish. This happened a few times until I no longer asked for permission. No remorse, no thought. At this point, my grandmother announced that her time had come, and that I had to take over for her. I began to tear up and begged her to stay. She said, “You are ready,” stood up on the railing of the balcony overlooking the koi, and fell backward. She smiled as she fell, and when she hit the water I woke up.
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Bio
As a researcher with Washington State University’s (WSU) Hydrogen Properties for Energy Research (HYPER) Center, Ian focuses on optical systems to explore cryogenic boiling phenomena. His passions for photography and aerospace have led to projects to develop technology for both extraterrestrial and terrestrial application for NASA, Janicki Industries, and the Institute for Materials Research. His current work continues this trend and, in the process, enables future human presence on the Moon and Mars.
In his leisure, he enjoys image manipulation at all stages of the creative process. He explores the limitations of the technology used in his research and optimum methods to explore the world.
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