My Philosophy. . .
Teaching Statement |
Artist Statement |
Like most students, I had a difficult time in school finding the curriculum relatable or trying to understand why what I was learning was important. This is partly because many of my teachers focused on teaching a specific skill set rather than teaching transferable ideals or concepts. Because of this I was unable to connect the skills and ideas from all of my classes to create a larger, more complex perspective of the world that school is suppose to be preparing me for. I know that this can be especially true in the art room. As an art teacher, it can be very easy to get caught teaching students a skill and forget to help them understand the importance of art and it’s relevancy in our world today.
Growing up I had lots of art teachers who taught me to draw, paint, and sculpt. But very few who taught me about contemporary art and it’s effect on my life and worldview. As a prospective teacher, I want to bring relevancy back into the art room. While I have students in my classroom, I want to show them the power of art in our world today, not just in the past. I want to teach them how to use art to create something meaningful both to themselves and others. My hope is to help students gain a greater worldview through art and how art can be used to affect their perspective and daily life. Art has personally helped me attain a larger, more complex perspective on the ideas and issues of the world today. It has taught me that the truth resists simplicity and to view others complexly. While learning the technical skills are important, I believe that learning the ideas and reasons why we create art is a much more valuable lesson and that is what I want to teach in my classroom. |
Who we are is a constantly changing process. This is especially true in young kids and teenagers, who are constantly exploring and discovering new things to uncover who they are. The ideals and standards created by our society and our individual beliefs on identity have a great effect on how we create our identity. These are the ideas that my work as a photographer explores and questions. For example, in my series, “Cakeface,” I question ideals about makeup by photographing women wearing cake icing as makeup in public settings. I believe that makeup plays an important role in the development of women’s identity and self-esteem. These ideas are explored further in my series, “Creating Beauty,” when I documented girls applying makeup.
How we use visual clues to define people according to social stereotypes and standards are also ideas that I explore in my art. In a series titled, “(Object)ification,” I created portraits based on 18th century French portraiture to showcase how we use objects and portraiture to represent status and define our identities to others. The individuals are surrounded by objects to give off an exemplary image of them. I feel that these are important issues to be discussed in the classroom. It’s important to discuss what can affect how we see ourselves and how we see others. The art room is a great place to start this discussion because so much of what creates these social standards is art. Advertisements, movies, and celebrity culture all influence how we see ourselves and how we see each other. We should use art education to talk about the issues and redefine social standards of identity. |