To put it in the most cliché way I can think of: “I’ve learned a lot about myself this semester”. As cliché as that is it’s true both in terms of my growth as an artist and as a person. Although I’m not exactly sure whether my growth is positive, negative or just different…In any case, I have used this semester as an opportunity to experiment and develop my paintings and the concepts in a way that in my opinion suits me better than previous semesters.
The concept behind my latest pieces has been my personal discovery of obsolescence in some of my die hard opinions on life. To be more specific, the idea that strength, persistence, stubbornness will always keep you “on top”. I carried this idea through the majority of my “adultish” life and it probably was first conceived during my early teenage years working on farms, where strength and hard work were all you had to know and stopping or slowing down wasn’t an option. I applied these ideals to almost all aspects of my life and this is the first time in my short stay on this planet that I’ve had to question their effectiveness. The shown painting from my latest series depicts those ideals in the form of an American flag bisecting the piece and serving as thought space for the crumpled man pondering on his toilet. The man is accompanied by his dog who may be the last person/ being to still believe in him.
The best learning moment of the semester may have been participating in the BFA critique for the first time. Getting feed back and constructive criticism for the first time from the majority of the studio arts department was humbling and needed. Since then I have been trying to take more time and observe and ask members of the department for advice in arts and also looking more and more into artists who may share similar thoughts or techniques with myself.
The most inspiring artist I have discovered would probably be a toss-up between Jerome Witkin and Francis Bacon. Both artists deal with dissident themes and handle paint and form in similar ways to myself. Beyond technique, Witkin uses thought space (which is a looser conceptual rendering of ideas that is usually juxtaposed with a more recognizable form(s)) in a very way that makes sense to me and in my opinion doesn’t require a degree in psychology to understand. Which in my opinion is sometimes a nice thing.
Unfortunately, the only shows I’ve seen where those hosted in the dowd gallery (not unfortunately because they were bad shows, unfortunately because I wanted to see more). Apart from that my class mates have been a constant help to me. I have been lucky enough to be lumped in with people with similar or compatible tastes in humor. And, naturally, being a sketchbook-aholic ideas and interpretations spread like wild fire. Nine times out of ten they are funny drawings of naked people and animals but I am not adverse to looking to those monstrosities for inspiration.
My best critique moment didn’t happen at the BFA critique, there have been a number of times where I have had impromptu critiques by members of the art department, all of which were valuable and yielded enough time for an in-depth analysis.
My perspective of the arts has changed with the undertaking of my new surface for painting and the challenges it presents. When building outward into the three dimensional world I realized that “Things look different when you actually build them” (to which Professor Vaughn replied “uhhh…YEAH.”). That is an isolated happening but I think it eludes to a greater idea that the arts are not really pure-bred. Most of the times they share one another and create strange hybrids so it is important to try and understand the point of view from different disciplines.
My goals for next semester are to be excepted into thesis one and relentless build a thoughtful cohesive body of work.
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