MFA: Painting & Drawing Personal Statement (Suggestions/Revision Help)

[dezz2011]

Hello everyone. I am writing my personal statement for mfa program in chicago. I am starting my application very early. This is a very rough draft and gets sort of choppy at the bottom and just has statements that I want to develop in the essay. I would love some editing help and suggestions.

Thanks

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I come from a family of artists and musicians. My parents, grandparents, and their parents which allows me to say I was born an artist. I have always challenged myself in my studies, attending Fine and Performing Arts schools, participating in events from Sports Competitions to National Art Exhibitions.

During my undergraduate studies my interest in painting had evolved from casual renderings of friends into a passion to of exploring the aesthetic of composing a portrait. My BFA in Graphic Design gave me a foundation of principles regarding use of color, complexity and design. My background in music contributes to the ability to applying multiple elements to construct a composition. The merge of the the two were inevitable. Painting was appropriate as a medium combination of the two disciplines.

The first painting that I completed was a portrait with "Bono-like" features. I just came upon this song "City of Blinding Lights" and the arrangement of the song was very captivating to me. The harmony, the chord progression, the key change. A composer with the ability to capture all these elements to convey an emotion to the audience was something that was amazing to me. It grew almost as an impulse to see if I could accomplish the same reaction that I got from this song, through the medium of painting. Substituting word description and music chord combinations on paper for paint and canvas.

My body of work work includes two aspects: The Physical representation + the concept (of the person), in which the two are combined to achieve an experience of the person (my subject). Therefore, displaying the "personality" or the mood of the person is more engaging to the viewer.

My second influence come from people. Portraying the human body is so complex- emotionally and physically. In my studies, I found that the best way to portray the true essence of a person, which reveals more about the subject was: caught-off-guard, unflattering, mid-moment snapshot-like representations. The most memorable aspect of a person is something that is distinctive like an unusual habit, a frequent gesture. Something as simple as a girl biting her lip…

I wish to pursue painting and drawing at the graduate level at ++++ … studying at an art school with facilities … Self challenging program which the encouragement of expression and exploration within the program is something that draws me to ++++++ . Painting Materials courses which interests me a lot and contends to what I have independent;y studied about experimental approaches and techniques of paintings and the use of different type of mediums. The Chicago area has an eclectic group of people which inspires me as a portrait painter. The arts environment is essential to a growing artist. Studying under established artists such as +++ +++++ would challenge me to develop and utilize my knowledge of design, typography and systems. similar aspects of work.. to challenge to sub conscious. I have planned to live in Chicago and work out of a studio in the downtown area. In many ways it reminds me of Detroit, the city that I grew up in, but offers more opportunity as an artist

Thusly, the underlining inspiration of my creativity comes from the culture of my surroundings. I enjoy the city culture and the diversity of people influenced by it.

My future goals are to study new perspectives of human interaction and portraiture and explore new ways to capture their identity.

My future aspirations art director