Personal Story

     When I was 6 years old, I told my mom that I needed ‘real art lessons’; the lessons and crafts we created at home were not enough to fulfill my big ambitions. I began with private lessons to build foundational drawing skills that opened my eyes to see the world from a new point of view. I remember learning about perspective and how I could use parallel lines and angles to effectively create a world of depth on a flat sheet of paper. I drew nothing but cubes and city-scapes for months. I still continued experiments in jewelry making, fashion design, wood whittling, and clay sculpture at home - and I took great joy in bestowing my unique creations upon family and friends at Christmas. My sisters would take delight in describing to you the entire outfit I once crocheted out of yarn: the halter-top, skirt, hat with tassels, and even slippers. 

   

    However, my primary passion is drawing and painting. I took a large leap forward when I enrolled in an art institute where I began using sheets of paper almost larger than me. I explored the capabilities of messy charcoal and went home after every class wearing the remnants of my work in smudged, black marks across my face. However, the beginnings of my true passion ignited when I opened those big cabinets at the institute filled with a spectrum of colors in acrylic paints. Of course, my previous endeavors had led to some contact with painting; but now I was introduced to color theory, schemes, saturation, tone, brush marks, energy, lighting, composition, and conceptual ideas. I filled sketchbooks with thumbnail drawings as I explored compositions to effectively relay the message or story I was trying to tell through my paintings. My world changed: I saw the purpose behind the placement of objects in advertisements, I understood why the camera angle would move in certain directions in horror movies, and I recognized repeating patterns in both the natural and commercial world that I could incorporate into my own creations. 

    Recently, I began to experiment with a variety texture by adding different mediums to my pieces. If you were to flip through my current sketchbook, you would find one page covered in a gritty paste next to another page where I painstakingly placed tiny glitter sequins one by one to create an iridescent pattern. This development in my artistic journey has kindled a new area of intrigue as I break out beyond the two dimensional barrier. In my most recent works, I explored the use of string, fabric, and wire to extend my message outside the flat surface of my paintings. In painting, the brush becomes an extension of my arm to relay energetic marks. In using these other materials, my hands become the actual tools.

     I have discovered that my hands-on creative nature affects every area of my life. I see the world differently: I don’t just observe the events that take place around me, I plan out how I would record, explain, or manipulate them through lines, color, and now three dimensional forms. My actions are similarly influenced as well. For example, when I studied the psychological development of the brain, I sculpted an anatomical brain with color-coded structures to aid in my understanding of the subject. When I am required to memorize facts, I write and rewrite the information because the physical motion in my hand aids my mental processes. 

   As I take the next step in my creative career, attending SUNY New Paltz with the plan to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Visual Arts degree,  I hope to continually engage my artistic personality and outlook on life.