Art Personal Statement

We all have something to say. Academically and artistically speaking, the narratives that simmer inside of me are largely fueled by my passion for the study of the past and how it informs the present and future. For me, the vehicles for expressing these narratives are the pencil and paper, paint brush and canvas. The way I see it, with the Brown-RISD program, Brown will stoke the fire beneath my narrative cauldron to new heights and RISD will hone the skill-set needed to positively and effectively harness the creative energy that boils out. Specifically, I hope to dual major in Illustration at RISD and Renaissance and Early Modern Studies at Brown. Thereafter, I hope to pursue a career that surrounds me with art and continues to inspire my

I enjoy researching and studying artists, periods, styles, specific works and locations. More particularly, I am interested in Ancient Greek and Roman, Renaissance and Baroque paintings, drawings and prints, because these relate to historical periods that fascinate me. You can often find me sketching in one of The MET’s many galleries. Art is not just a passion of mine, but an extension of who I am. I find that I bring art to most everything I do. At school, in addition to being the founding member of the now defunct Classics Club, I am a leading member of the Art Club, an art contributor to the school magazine, and I serve as art/design coordinator for my high school's award-winning FIRST Robotics team. I even bring my art to my varsity swimming team, where I designed team logos and team banners. Having studied Studio Art for the past five years through my high school’s comprehensive art sequence, in addition to AP European History and AP Art History, and further improving on my skill set from high school classes, I attended the intensive studio summer art program at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design for 2 summers and an Intensive Drawing Class at Brown University this past summer. I concentrated in Drawing & Painting, focusing on an exploration of the techniques, materials and processes used in creating two-dimensional art, and reinforcing my

Art, Magic and Science in Renaissance Europe, Fantasy Painting: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of, and What’s Your Story are three courses that could easily be listed as electives for the REMS program, but taught at RISD. My life has always centered itself around stories, whether it be studying them through an academic or artistic sense. In fact, my AP Art concentration revolves around creating various stories within the works that incorporate both the works of the past and the influence of the present. I've always been awe struck by the ideas and happenings of different time periods and how such things impacted culture and what the time produced artistically, so a class like this seems to have been crafted (perhaps by magic?) My first exposure to fantastical art other than my mother’s obsession with Dali, was in AP art history class when we began to focus on surrealism and how to analyze the meanings of works of art beyond the understanding of certain symbols and archetypes. This desire to explore surrealism only furthered itself upon completing a surrealism assignment during Brown’s pre-college program under the guidance of Professor Lara Henderson. She, along with my own art teachers, have even stated that some of my most striking work really feels about world building,