SOP help

[fineartstef]

I just finished my Statement of Purpose (finally!) and wanted to post it for feedback. Critiques are very much appreciated.

I am apply to University of British Columbia, UW, PSU, PNCA, University of California Berkley and Santa Barbra, SFAI, Mills, Clarmont and Otis

Thank You

My work is about giving reverence to small wonders in a world full of complexities derived from living in an overwhelming environment. With the advent of contemporary society, we have been hounded hourly by information and images. Within all the ugliness of war, climate change and poverty I am still bewildered by the beauty of life. By using this dichotomy of ugly/ beauty my work becomes a spiritual practice of taking in the horrors and transforming them into a condition of beauty. Within this transformation, painting becomes an act of grace. Looking closely at the world with childish wonder I say thank you to it. This closeness determines the content of my work, which revolves around microscopic life and nature. By painting bacteria, viruses and other aggravations the artwork becomes a discussion of the ugly/beauty dichotomy. What makes something beautiful or ugly? Can a repulsive or distressing life have glimmers of hope in it? These are the questions that I am striving to answer in my work.

This theme of finding beauty in the hopeless has resonated true throughout my life. Growing up my mother was an artist, but she was also an alcoholic. Because I lived with the cliché of the starving alcoholic artist I feared my own artistic desires. So instead of going to art school I enrolled in the College of Santa Fe’s undergraduate art therapy program where I thought I could use my painful childhood to “help others through art”. My experience with art therapy and psychology left me disillusioned and apathetic. I wanted to be an artist, not just help others find their own creativity. So right before I graduated I changed my direction in life, and as soon as I got my degree, I left art therapy behind and I started pursuing my own art.

I am going to graduate school to dedicate my life entirely to art. I started this process when I went back to school a year and half ago to strengthen my abilities, by taking advanced painting classes, and eventually assistant teaching beginning painting and advanced painting with Susan Harlan at Portland State University. During that time I have advanced my content and compositions considerably. My method of preparation for each painting determines much of my expression of abstraction. This includes creating references from torn images of microscopic life and nature, which I combined into a collage, and maps where I use the roads and waterways for the compositional arrangement. To enhance a composition I layer shapes and line over the image. Once I start painting, my process is one of glazes and blending in a precise and traditional method, using an vivid palette based from microscopic photos. With this technique I can create an illusion of texture and luminous light. This attentive process becomes ritual meditation similar to Tibetan sand painting (though I do not destroy my painting afterword) just as my conceptual ideas of beauty and ugliness become spiritual musings.

While at _______ I plan to continue my deliberations of the beauty/ ugly dichotomy, but I would also like to theoretically and contextually diversify by visually exploring more weighted subjects like global warming, war and poverty, along with the lighter subject matters (bed bugs, e-coli, etc). These are subjects I am passionate about, but I need a way to speak about them without abandoning my visual abstraction and process. While at graduate school I plan to investigate and propel these ideas while also pushing the structures and compositions of my work. With the space and facilities at ________ I hope to be able to create larger mural size paintings (my largest piece is 4’ X 7’), while also considering the possibility of pushing my paintings into 3-d forms and installations, similar to the artist Aurora Robson’s work. Through the use of the facilities and studios, community interaction and collaboration, and by fostering relationships with faculty like ________ and _________ I am confident that ______’s program will stimulate my use of abstraction and space and foster conceptual ideas while propelling me into the next level of my career. An art career centered in a theoretical and spiritual position of beauty and pain dramatized in an abstracted visual reality.

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[fineartstef]

I have slightly updated my Statement:

I would love to help others with there statements, just post them. I feel like writing this has been the hardest part of the application process. What do others think, has it been hard for you?

My work gives reverence to small wonders in a world full of complexities exacerbated by living in an overwhelming environment. Contemporary society hounds and barrages us hourly by information and images. Amidst the ugliness of war, climate change and poverty I am l astounded by the beauty of life. By using this dichotomy of ugly/ beauty my work becomes a spiritual practice of taking in the horrors and transforming them into a condition of beauty. Within this transformation, painting becomes an act of grace. Looking closely at the world with childish wonder I say thank you to it. This closeness determines the content of my work, revolving around microscopic life and nature. By painting bacteria, viruses and other aggravations the artwork becomes a discussion of the ugly/beauty dichotomy. What makes something beautiful or ugly? Can a repulsive or distressing life have glimmers of hope in it? These are the questions that I am striving to answer in my work.

This theme of finding beauty in the hopeless has resonated true throughout my life. Growing up my mother was an artist, but she was also an alcoholic. Living with the cliché of a starving alcoholic artist I feared my own artistic desires. So instead of going to art school I enrolled in the College of Santa Fe’s undergraduate art therapy program where I thought I could use my painful childhood to “help others through art”. My experience with art therapy and psychology left me disillusioned and apathetic. I wanted to be an artist, beyond helping others find their own creativity. So right before I graduated I changed my direction in life, and as soon as I got my degree, I left art therapy behind and I started pursuing my own art.

I am going to graduate school to dedicate my life entirely to art. I started this process when I went back to school a year and half ago to strengthen my abilities. After taking advanced painting classes, Susan Harlan at Portland State University invited me to be an assistant teacher for beginning and advanced painting. During that time I have advanced my content and compositions considerably.

My method of preparation for each painting determines much of my expression of abstraction. This includes creating references from torn images of microscopic life and nature, which I combined into a collage, and maps where I use the roads and waterways for the compositional arrangement. To enhance a composition I layer shapes and line over the image. Once I start painting, my process is one of glazes and blending in a precise and traditional method, using a vivid palette based on microscopic photos. With this technique, I create an illusion of texture and luminous light. This attentive process becomes ritual meditation similar to Tibetan sand painting (though I do not destroy my painting afterword) just as my conceptual ideas of beauty and ugliness become spiritual musings.

While at _______ I plan to continue my deliberations of the beauty/ ugly dichotomy. I would also like to theoretically and contextually diversify by visually exploring more weighted subjects like global warming, war and poverty, along with the lighter (although no less ugly) subject matters such as bed bugs, e-coli, etc. These are subjects I am passionate about and I am seeking a way to speak about them without abandoning my visual abstraction and process. While at graduate school, I plan to investigate and propel these ideas while also pushing the structures and compositions of my work. With the space and facilities at ________ I hope to be able to create larger mural size paintings (my largest piece is 4’ X 7’), while also considering the possibility of pushing my paintings into 3-d forms and installations, similar to the artist Aurora Robson’s work.

Through the use of the facilities and studios, community interaction and collaboration, and by fostering relationships with faculty like ________ and _________ I am confident that ______’s program will stimulate my use of abstraction and space and foster conceptual ideas while propelling me into the next level of my career. An art career centered in a theoretical and spiritual exploration of beauty and pain dramatized in an abstracted visual reality.

.