Foundations Review Rewind: Spring 2020

Reflective Statement

Jeanette Walls, one of my favorite authors, once said that “one of the most challenging aspects of writing a memoir is finding your own voice.” The same can be said in regard to art. When I first began thinking of my future in art, I didn’t know where I was heading. I also didn’t realize that my knowledge of what art is and can be was so much of an unexplored territory. My experience in theFoundations program has broadened my horizons in a way that I could never have expected. Upon stepping foot on campus,I never could have imagined myself using saws, or welding, or learning how to make a pinhole camera.Yet here I am in the aftermath of it all, and I ambewildered by how much I have experienced and accomplished inonlytwoyears. With each assignment I found new obstacles to overcome, and with each problem that I found a new solution to, I found a new aspect of myself. I learned that I am unnecessarily hard on myself, that I am terrified of all things related to metal work, that I overestimate my own capabilities at times, and that I can always find more work to be done ina piece. It is also true that I learned to love new ways of art that I never thought I could thrive in, and that I learned that it is okay for art to be a collaborative process between more than one person’s mind and efforts. The artistic voice, I’ve found, is fluid, rather than something stable or static. Therefore, it is our job to take that everchanging chaos and tame it to our command. I’m thankful to have begun this learning process through these introductory courses, and feel that I will continue to learn everyday that I spend with my art and others.

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Reflective Statement

To expand my understanding of my own identity and to fulfill a promise I’d made to my father, I transitioned from medicine to art in 2016. My first experience with sculpture in studio art was, for me, a science experiment. With my surgeon’s dexterity and an in-depth knowledge of anatomy, I naturally excelled with 3D art forms. It awakened a new interest in art and raised my expectations. But it was not till I started painting that the real dialogue with art opened up in my mind. I realized that my basic knowledge of art was deficient and that I needed formal training, as I was unable to convert my thoughts into reality. I felt frozen creatively. I needed to learn the rules so I could change the 3D images in my mind into 2D art. Following the advice of my learned professors(albeit very reluctantly),I decided to take foundation courses. And, I admit, the process of learning art finally began to make sense.The higher studio art had helped me cultivate artistic discipline, but it was the foundation classes which taught me the formal language of art, of the elements and principles—that mixture of bricks and mortar from which an artist’s core is built.I started seeing things anew in Art 217, during my first discussion of composition, lines, shape, texture, value, depth and perspectives. I was like a blind person seeing for the first time, and the more I knew, the less I felt I knew. It was crystal clear now thatI had to learn the core concepts well, train my eyes to perceive, my brains to interpret and apply the concepts, so my hands could orchestrate them just right.Eureka! Always driven to push myself to the limit, now with my newfound knowledge, I wanted to push my art further, to go beyond just mundane realism and pristine perfection. I wanted my art to be transparent, to show the process, to be wild and emotional, with no barriers between art forms.I wanted to create a pure form of self-expression, a mix of hard-edged abstraction with textured, complex, organic forms, and to merge my art with environmental science, the cosmos, and cellular biology. To blend a cocktail of minimalism and maximalism, to mix figures and non-representational abstraction in my art and to express my passions for life, my trials and tribulations, and incorporate the social media frenzy around me. I’d always been highly conceptual, but reticent to express my ideas explicitly in art.I admit, I had been afraid to make mistakes.The foundations gave me the confidence to take risks, make huge blunders, and still make my ideas happen.I had fed my heart on art fantasies for long, it was time now to be one with my art, and to turn the unimaginable into reality.

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Reflective Statement

Switching from Public Relations to Art, the Foundations Experience solidified my confidence as a designer and enlightened me to the value of unabated experimentation. Switching majors halfway through college is daunting and can cause anxiety as to whether you are  making the right decision, even more so when that switch is into the art and design field. The rigor and vast array of conceptual and technical challenges of the Foundations Experience helped me realize that this field is the path I want to walk. The Foundations Experience taught me that within the field of art and design, being present isn’t enough; you must be engaged with the media and the conceptual message. Within that same vein, the Foundations Experience taught me how imperative experimentation is as part of the creative process. In my previous major, failing was seen as a negative; now, failing is seen as a celebration and an opportunity to learn rather than a detriment. By failing, you know that you are learning, challenging yourself, and experimenting; three invaluable things. It’s through relentless experimentation, unshackled from fear and anxiety, where truly miraculous ideas form. That simple yet crucial lesson will stay with me. I stepped up to the challenges of the Foundations Experience and because of every tribulation and triumph, I am a more developed and ambitious designer.

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Reflective Statement

Before Marshall, I did not think of myself as an artist or someone even capable of creating art. That topic today is still very debatable, but the foundations courses have made sure that I understand the concept that anyone can make art regardless if that’s what they set
out to do. These courses have brought very mixed feelings to me as an individual and even more so as an “artist,” but they have provided a push or shove in the right direction to developing an artistic identity. I still will not say that I am an artist or that I have found my style
or identity; foundations courses are not meant to turn you into a world-renowned artist as fast as possible, or they would have been named something different. Foundations has done what you would assume and made a foundation for me to build off of.

Foundations showed me art, artistic attempts and many failures. The courses introduced many different media and skills, and regardless if I enjoyed them, they have widened my skill set and led me down a path following the types of art that I have come to really enjoy. These classes have shown me most all I know about art and the history of art, they helped me understand the emotions that can be evoked by art and how to make my work look professional and finished as well as things to avoid and things to focus on. These courses felt
silly as I was taking them, but when looking back they have made sure that am following the right path and that my work will only continue to improve. I look forward to the future to be able to create with full creative freedom and confidence.

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Reflective Statement

I’ve always enjoyed creating artwork and took pride in what I created but Foundations is something that was able to challenge not only the way I thought of art, but the different mediums I could use to express my ideas. Little did I know how much foundations would  challenge me, though. I’ve been introduced to so many mediums that I’d never touched before (some that I haven’t even heard of). The rigor of these classes has pushed me to do my best and really see what I’m capable of. It’s amazing that I’ve surprised myself with my  results. I thought I already knew what I was capable of but then I convinced myself otherwise. I’ve created things in my foundations classes that I never thought I could do. Who knew I could transform a room with painter’s tape?
I never knew I would make eight 3D works on one semester. I didn’t think I’d ever take pictures with a paint bucket! I have grown so much as an artist since I started at Marshall.

I’ve learned that although I might not enjoy every medium, the opportunity to create something new with an unfamiliar material is a great learning experience. Even if I wasn’t pleased with what I made in the end, I learned more about myself. I know more about my strengths, weaknesses, and interests, which is what has helped me narrow down which track I want to take going forward. My whole journey through foundations has made me more excited to keep pursuing my degree in graphic design.

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Reflective Statement

In the summer of 2017, I switched majors from Radio and Television Production to Art. Going into the fall semester, I had no idea what I was going to get myself into. It was a new experience for me, mainly because I never took any art classes. Most of the classes I found myself struggling in throughout most of the classes trying to come up with ideas on projects. Some of the classes that I took needed a second go-around for me to get adapted to the flow of things.

Through this Foundations experience, I have gained new skills in art, hopefully to prepare myself for if I pursue a career in this field of study. I have taken an interest in a variety of fields in art, some of them I am hoping to continue once I complete my studies here. The professors have been a great help when I needed help, and the peers in my classes have been good to get along with. Overall, I have enjoyed my Foundations experience here at Marshall.

If there was anything I learned from my foundations experience, especially from the Fall 2019 semester, it was to think outside the box when it comes to making projects. One of the problems that I had when I began the Foundations experience was that I thought conservatively.  Maybe because I never went home on the weekends when it came to some projects. Looking back on the previous projects I’ve done, I felt like I was not being that creative when it came to most of my projects, but I guess I felt myself improving overtime.  Having realized this now, I wish I could go back in time and redo my Foundations experience and hopefully be more creative like I am now than I was before.

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