Personal Statement

Much like Michelangelo’s Slaves, my artistic talent and personal development feel as if they are embedded in a block of marble, possessing potential and struggling immensely to unearth themselves. It has been a slow evolution, like waking from slumber, to chip away at the marble out of sheer curiosity. As each piece is extracted from the stone, my soul is being fed more knowledge and experience.

In Paul Gauguin's “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” various figures ponder three fundamental questions of human existence. I am each of the figures in the painting, contemplating these questions. I was born instinctively to make art.  Along the way through trials and many tribulations of my own, I often questioned what direction to take my art and my career. I now am reaching for the fruit of life, and ready to take the next step as a perpetual student of art and life by studying at SUNY Purchase. Earning my Masters of Fine Arts in Visual Arts/Masters of Art in Art History with a concentration in Painting and Drawing is a stepping-stone to my ultimate goal.

The dual degrees allow me to become an academic. A well-rounded art scholar would have the sophistication of working in a museum, and knowledge of both the Old and Modern Worlds taken further.  I have experience both as an art teacher K-12, and interning at the Museum of Modern Art’s Education Department. As an art teacher, it was my responsibility to know my art history as a part of my lessons. At the MOMA, I had to look up slides of artwork for the department’s outreach program, sharing with teachers how to include art to complement their lessons.

The old woman to the left of Gauguin’s painting, “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” has resigned to her destiny. Contrary to Gauguin’s intention to view this withered woman as one who is preparing to die, this woman may be seen as a sage passing her knowledge to the young woman next to her. To answer the question, “Where Am I Going?” my career plans include furthering my education with a doctoral program in Art History. Like the scholarly old woman, I will teach to the new generation.