Statement of Purpose (Edited from yesterday)
SO.....
Anyone wanna proofread my SOP for MFA programs? If so -->HERE<--
Through out my education and career I have always found inspiration from my peers, instructors, and in the last few years, my own students. Coming from a small town and State University, I understand the importance of expanding my professional experiences through travel and networking. I spent two separate summers studying in Italy and Russia, and was a visiting artist at London Metropolitan University in England. I have always been driven to experience and do as much as I can, which for me meant travel and studying with exceptional individuals. I chose to complete an MA degree in order develop my voice as an artist in response to the positive feedback from mentors, to take time off from being a student to inspire young students, make work outside an educational institution, and to meet other artists.
Aesthetically, my work has always been inspired by classical art that is coupled with a contemporary edge meant to assist the disruption of emotional connections made with the viewer. I drew inspiration from my own family but in a way that investigated issues of childhood abuse and neglect, and highlighted a fascination with family photographic albums that assume a utopian family unit. I re-purposed those images to focus on the time between the snap of a camera, smiling children weirdly discontent, distortion and a mono-chromatic color scheme alluding to the passage of time. Breaking away from standard application of materials, paint and charcoal were applied with rags, tooth brushes, and sponges.
The work that inspires me ranges from Michelangelo to Takashi Murakami. As a student, I found that being amongst artists working in a range of techniques and styles provided a fuller learning experience. Sharing space with individuals whose aesthetic sensibilities are derived from street life or from the pages of a comic book kept all on our metaphorical artistic toes. Intertwining my interest in the classical and others more contemporary street and pop-culture knowledge I feel was invaluable for my artistic development. This aspect of a unique student body provides an excellent fit for me, where no two people are doing the same thing, fostering an environment ideal for exponential growth as a creator. I am eager to re-enter the studio and classroom with challenging individuals and to continue a deeper artistic exploration and understanding of contemporary aesthetics.
Currently I am straddling two different series that have moved away from being auto-biographical yet still dealing with similar central themes. Figures contorted beyond physical capabilities, laid on the page so that the negative space of the paper is molding them into something new. Portraits, seemingly at rest, identity and gender ambiguous, but tension comes through in the line of the jaw or squint of an eye. Combined with a recent exploration of non-traditional media such as bleach, acetone, and xylene which erodes the surface the images emote a slightly disturbing feel.
My future research will be in the form of large scale drawings and paintings that will work as a time-based installation, exploring more completely the ideas of materials that destroy to create. I will be questioning the aspects of memory, protection and devastation, as well as the possibility of metamorphosis through time and experience.
(This paragraph is the kiss-ass paragraph)
For these reasons I am eager for the opportunity to study at (University X). The art work by both the faculty and students are what drew me to your program, as well as the wide variety of technical and conceptual methods exhibited. I would be interested in studying with...
(PERSON X and PERSON Y at Institution) ….give specifics here for each university. Location positives, facilities positives, etc...
You can post comments here or email them to: lindseyguile@gmail.com
Thanks, in advance!
Anyone wanna proofread my SOP for MFA programs? If so -->HERE<--
Through out my education and career I have always found inspiration from my peers, instructors, and in the last few years, my own students. Coming from a small town and State University, I understand the importance of expanding my professional experiences through travel and networking. I spent two separate summers studying in Italy and Russia, and was a visiting artist at London Metropolitan University in England. I have always been driven to experience and do as much as I can, which for me meant travel and studying with exceptional individuals. I chose to complete an MA degree in order develop my voice as an artist in response to the positive feedback from mentors, to take time off from being a student to inspire young students, make work outside an educational institution, and to meet other artists.
Aesthetically, my work has always been inspired by classical art that is coupled with a contemporary edge meant to assist the disruption of emotional connections made with the viewer. I drew inspiration from my own family but in a way that investigated issues of childhood abuse and neglect, and highlighted a fascination with family photographic albums that assume a utopian family unit. I re-purposed those images to focus on the time between the snap of a camera, smiling children weirdly discontent, distortion and a mono-chromatic color scheme alluding to the passage of time. Breaking away from standard application of materials, paint and charcoal were applied with rags, tooth brushes, and sponges.
The work that inspires me ranges from Michelangelo to Takashi Murakami. As a student, I found that being amongst artists working in a range of techniques and styles provided a fuller learning experience. Sharing space with individuals whose aesthetic sensibilities are derived from street life or from the pages of a comic book kept all on our metaphorical artistic toes. Intertwining my interest in the classical and others more contemporary street and pop-culture knowledge I feel was invaluable for my artistic development. This aspect of a unique student body provides an excellent fit for me, where no two people are doing the same thing, fostering an environment ideal for exponential growth as a creator. I am eager to re-enter the studio and classroom with challenging individuals and to continue a deeper artistic exploration and understanding of contemporary aesthetics.
Currently I am straddling two different series that have moved away from being auto-biographical yet still dealing with similar central themes. Figures contorted beyond physical capabilities, laid on the page so that the negative space of the paper is molding them into something new. Portraits, seemingly at rest, identity and gender ambiguous, but tension comes through in the line of the jaw or squint of an eye. Combined with a recent exploration of non-traditional media such as bleach, acetone, and xylene which erodes the surface the images emote a slightly disturbing feel.
My future research will be in the form of large scale drawings and paintings that will work as a time-based installation, exploring more completely the ideas of materials that destroy to create. I will be questioning the aspects of memory, protection and devastation, as well as the possibility of metamorphosis through time and experience.
(This paragraph is the kiss-ass paragraph)
For these reasons I am eager for the opportunity to study at (University X). The art work by both the faculty and students are what drew me to your program, as well as the wide variety of technical and conceptual methods exhibited. I would be interested in studying with...
(PERSON X and PERSON Y at Institution) ….give specifics here for each university. Location positives, facilities positives, etc...
You can post comments here or email them to: lindseyguile@gmail.com
Thanks, in advance!