meaning- art, life (no separation)

(The questions come from a Studio Project Study Plan I passed in for my first semester at Vermont College)

1. Describe your project and goals for this project, and how you have addressed issues
raised by your Guidance Committee in reviews and critiques.

I am collaborating with artists, teachers, students, dancers, mothers, home builders, my child, and husband as well as strangers on various pieces in varied media in order to blur our personal boundaries. A thought was raised in one review, if for me, an artist is a painter, and to a degree painting is the ‘highest’ form of expression. I will try to deconstruct this thought and the elitism that goes with it. The other more pertinent question raised was “what am I trying to say?” and after all the discussions my interest lies in breaking the line, the edge, so that there is a space for us to meet.

2. How would you like your work to change or "improve" during the course of this project: medium(s), technique, subject matter/imagery, content, style/form, scale and productivity.

I would like my art process to expand, from thinking of ‘art’ as a painting I do in my studio to a living daily process that incorporates various media such as pen and ink on paper, clay, photo, video, found materials, as well as paint, based on the different interaction with each individual. I will not only construct or find clean spaces that allow plenty of natural light and air in which to conduct the exchanges but also will try to generate mental space for each happening, with a meditation practice.

3. What are your long‑range goals, and how does this project relate to these goals?

A long-range goal is to incorporate art into everyday practice, not an isolated miracle. Through this project, or many little collaborative exchanges, I hope to branch out from working in the one-bedroom space I had designed for my ‘art’ practice, to working in the entire space I occupy at many moments.

4. Why and how is this particular work important to you personally, artistically and in terms of its relationship to society?

Personally, I would like to restructure, or rewire, the way I think of art, for this thought pattern has come against its limits. The same goes for my practice artistically. I have been dedicated to oil painting for some time and due to its time commitment and toxicity, I would like to learn different media to intertwine my life and art practice. In relation to society, with these collaborations I do get out of working by myself in an isolated space, to working with others in various but specific contexts which alone challenge the definition of art for myself and those directly and indirectly involved.


5. What kind, and how much work do you think you will complete by the end of the term? (Be specific and concrete as to media, subject matter, scale, quantity, etc.)

I am not sure as to the quantity as well as the medium of the collaborations. I do have a daily, a weekly and a monthly practice in place. I hope to resolve 3-5 collaborations by the end of the semester.

6. What criteria will you use to evaluate your study?

Completing 3-5 collaborations and feedback from my coworkers.