Final Entry 4- The Final Autoethnographic Work and Artist Statement

Growth

13" x 18 "

Acrylic and Pen on Canvas

Artist Statement:

This piece Growth is a visual representation of my past, current and future teaching experiences. I incorporate 4 altered images of myself with fragments of the forms disintegrating into the canvas. The beginning of my teaching journey involved a multitude of misunderstandings regarding the way that I approach the classroom and how to communicate clearly to students in a timely manner. One thing that has remained the same for me throughout every circumstance I’ve been in is the concept of being my authentic self. For this reason, I incorporated 4 fragments of self-portraiture. Contrary to past paintings of myself, I alter and distort my face to make it unrecognizable. This is crucial to the meaning of growth and change I’ve endured throughout my experiences, resulting in a visual representation of a forever learning and changing educator. Not only does the fluid imagery in the middle of the canvas depict my hair, but also refers to the changes that I’ve made and will continue to make in the future. Working at Beattie has given me the foundation that I need to fully understand how to teach art to a young group of students. Making connections and creating an efficient classroom management environment has never been difficult for me due to the experiences I’ve gained from working with kids while coaching and teaching in 3rd world countries. The biggest take away was how to take these previous skills and apply them to a classroom where I teach art. My biggest influence in creating this final work of art has to do with reflecting on the idea of changing and evolving. I really wanted to show this notion of growth and for that reason, the reference photo that I chose had to visually communicate that concept which is why I chose to paint this piece rather than paint the other compositions that I had come up with. Creating a painting played an important role to understand me as an artist as well as a teacher. I could have just printed out the original image that I had created but instead, I made the conscious decision to make a painting. Painting has been and will always be my ideal way of communicating my ideas through art above all other methods of approaches and mediums. To maximize my ideas to the viewer I decided to use acrylic paint and pen. These materials used were crucial to creating the fluid illusion that my photo reference contained while still allowing room for my own creativity to flourish. Initially, I wanted my painting to look exactly like what I had originally composed in my photo but that changed. For me as an artist, its important to remember and maintain the fun aspect behind the processes and creation of the piece. Contrary to my reference, I added my own touches, for example, the minute white lines that can be seen throughout almost all of my journal entries as well as in my own art practice. Creating this piece was nothing less than fun for me due to the fact that I love painting in general and I had all the freedom I wanted to create a unique piece that represented me and my journey. I enjoy the fact that I can combine my two favorite things (teaching and painting) in one visual representation that I can keep forever. Furthermore, the hardest part of creating this autoethnographic piece was knowing when to stop painting. Sometimes I get ahead of myself and forget the underline meaning and reason for which I am creating a work of art so I had to consciously remind myself during this whole process. After reflecting on this art-making process and looking at my final work, the idea of metacognition is brought to me for which I will continue to remember in my future teaching and learning. It’s imperative to always be thinking about your own thinking as well as reflecting in order to better your art-making as well as becoming the best learner and educator you can be.

Final presentation:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14XA6QrDiVn0pHkoVyFqkzVdT4RTA9XfryBLZExH9yWs/edit?usp=sharing