The fall semester has now officially begun! I’ve had a little over a full week of classes now so I’ve had a little time to get adjusted. On Monday, I worked from a model in my painting class for the first time this semester. Then on Wednesday, we painted from a different model, and since we’ll be doing more sessions with this model, I decided to paint over my canvas from Monday. I actually left Monday’s figure in the background and it turned out pretty interesting. Also on Monday and Wednesday, I had my Finite Math class. We’re learning about linear equations and how to apply them to real world situations.
On Tuesday, I had my first Fine Art Seminar! I have been really excited for this class. In the morning, we meet with Audrey Goldstein to work on an assignment for her in the studio and in class with a lecture, and in the afternoon we meet with Randal Thurston to go see art around Boston! This week, Audrey went over the syllabus with us and gave us our first assignment: the Janus double self portrait. Janus is a Roman god with two heads: one looking toward the past, and one looking toward the future. Our assignment is to create two self portraits, one inspired and created with data and strict information, and the other from psychological and emotional information. Our first set of ideas and sketches are due this coming Tuesday. After our lunch break, we met with Randal to go over his syllabus and walk over to the Thayer Street Galleries! We went to the Howard Yezerski gallery, which had photographer Lalla Essaydi and cut paper artist Imi Hwangbo, as well as Kingston Gallery which currently has a very cool show, Gifted, curated by Nesad’s own Debra Davidson! My favorite of the shows we saw was L’Enfant-Femme at Carroll and Sons Gallery by the photographer Rania Matar. The photographs showed pre-teen girls posing for the camera in ways that the world and society has taught them to act in front of a camera: ways that are meant to make the viewer feel a twinge of discomfort, not only at the poses but at what these young girls are exposed to. The photographer is currently showing at the MFA in Boston as well in a show featuring Middle Eastern Female Photographers, which I definitely need to check out! Tuesday night, my science class met and focused on a few current science articles. I found one particularly interesting: this article focused on the lack of women in the science and math fields.
Today, I had my Contemporary Trends and Practice class. In the morning, we hung out in the wood shop at Nesad and got training on how to use the different tools and machinery! This will be useful in the future for art, and also for the desk I’m planning on making for my studio. In the afternoon, we had a lecture on Post-Modernism and Pop Art. I love hearing lecture and learning about art that isn’t from the High Renaissance for the first time in a while! We also learned about current artists who used deconstruction as a means of creating art. This is the concept our project for this week is based on, stay tuned! 🙂
It sounds like your semester is off to an exciting start! I love how you’re blending technical skills with contemporary themes. Speaking of aesthetics, have you seen some Owens Corning onyx black shingles pictures? They really show how material choices can elevate both art and architecture.