Hi guys, I am glad I found this forum! It has been great viewing a lot of your work. There is some great stuff out there.
I am artist from Australia who moved to the USA 1.5 years ago (I am a permanent resident). I graduated from with a BFA in 2007 (in Melbourne) and then my Honours in 2010 (in Australia this is a 4th year but it is more like a one year post-grad program, almost to the level of Masters but definitely not as in depth).
I have spent the last 5 years practicing professionally, mainly in Australia and have had solo and group exhibitions internationally as well as residencies in Europe, the US and Asia. I recently moved to LA and I love this city! I am wanting to build up a career and life for myself here. I really want to do my Masters next year, I am applying to Roski, UCLA, CalArts, Art Center College of Design, Otis and Claremont at this stage. They are all very difficult to get into and competitive (especially the first 3) but I figure that I can study for free in Australia so I should only do my Masters in the US if it is a very highly regarded course. Also I really want to study somewhere with a recognized faculity and a focus on contmeporary art, with new media programs and facilities.
But I am nervous about not being able to get in! Also I am worried that they will look at the extent of my professional activities negatively and think that maybe it is strange that I want to do Masters now. I really want the critical engagement and to be able to focus completely on the creation of work for the 2 years - rather than worrying about the career side of things. I also want to engage in a dialogue with peers, learn how to better write and speak about my work, develop my practice to a new level, figure out a deeper understnading of what my work is 'about' and build up a community in Los Angeles.
I would love for you to check out my work: http://www.bonnielane.net/bio.html
Thank you for taking the time to look!