School has started rolling - full on into readings for art history (Figuration in Modern Art), preparing to start writing my thesis, and composing Pictorial Space (yes, this is fancy art talk for perspective - I am now on the receiving end of my own medicine for doling out these assignments).
It was an eventful week....a few things going on here. First, art history. I don't have a very extensive background here. I know enough to talk to kids about the past and help them use it to influence what they do now, and I research what is going on now in order to pass it on. But now, in this class taught by a guy (who looks the same age as me) with 2 Masters and a PhD, I am really struggling with the readings...he is giving us excerpts of articles by art theorists and philosophers that have jargon and lingo to the point that I'm looking up every 10th word. My peers and I have been wondering, who the heck is the audience for these articles? Not sure it's us.....but then again, I do like the challenge. I hope, in a semester's time, to be getting more into these articles, to appreciate what they have to say, and to take it in stride and use it to truly look more and understand the art (and the world) around me...and maybe even use it to help me figure out my own theory. But for now, it's HARD!
Then, on Thursday, I met for the 1st time with my new mentor, who is going to help me get on the road to starting my thesis body of work. I posted some of her things a few posts back - she is an amazing artist, draughtsman, and also, might I add, a spirited Spaniard who is honest with her words. I appreciate that. I spent an hour and a half showing her my work (most of which is OLD) and talking about contempoaray artists that I like. The first thing she asked me was, why aren't you showing me other artists who DRAW? Good question. Why, in all my research, have I never looked at other drawers? I guess I just look at what I like, and the majority of art out there is painted....so I have a new assignment to not do any more art before I really look at what's out there that is being DRAWN. I also need to do some searching for personality in my art...not just what constitutes a 'body of work', but what am I trying to SAY, why am I making art....lots of questions to answer. She basically told me to stop thinking so hard about it, take some time to just have fun with art, experiment, let things happen, and see where it leads me.
Other than that, I have my perspective class Thurs up in LA too - it's a 6 hour class, so all of you kiddos who groaned through 3 hours of Conservatory...haha! I'm doing a worm's eye view of a model standing on a stair case (kudos to her for STANDING there on the stairs for 6 hours!!)....and environment is definitely not my forte. But I think that it's going to help add some dimension to my repertoire!! I finally got to see the other people in the program with me draw - it was nice. And intimidating...there are some super strong artists in the group - with strong viewpoints and skills. Which makes it even more intimidating. We did learn a super cool technique for enlarging a small planning sketch - I'll have to post some 'how-to pics' on here soon.
All in all, I guess this is what I expected from the beginning of the program. I AM here to reconsider my art, to truly delve into it and figure out where I am with it - I guess it makes sense to start from the beginning. If I was already creating a strong body of work, why would the MFA program be enticing to me...I wouldn't really need it, so it makes sense to get this type of feedback right now as much as it's hard to hear.
What a ride it's going to be..............
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