Reflecting On This Semester And This Course

This has been one hell of a semester. I don’t remember a time where school has been so stressful for me. This has very little to do with the difficulty of the courses, but everything to do with the situation surrounding and shaping this experience. Covid has changed a lot for all of us. School is just one of those things. I have mentioned this to many of my other classes this semester, I am not a fan on online classes. I have actively avoided them for my entire academic career, so when I was accepted into this program and I knew it was going to be on line, I was rightfully worried. That being said, this course has been amazing for me. It’s a combination of the you, Regan, as instructor, as well as my peers. I have enjoyed this journey a lot more than I anticipated, though the disappointment of missing out on the studio experience (and fresh bread) is still there.

Through this experience I have come out more compassionate to the personal struggles of instructors and students. I want compassion, kindness and understanding to be at the heart of my practice as a teacher. The vulnerability you’ve shown us this semester, as well as your compassion and kindness has really stuck out to me. The teachers who have moved and inspired me in the past shared these traits as well. Art is what we do and teach, but that is not all there is to being a teacher or a mentor. I am excited to see how my personal teaching perspective continues to evolve as I continue this program and get into my practicums.

As an artist, I fell unchanged. Unfortunately, art making has been low on my to do list since school has started. I feel like my perspective and processes of art marking have not changed, but instead I have been exposed to new artists who inspire me. My peers from this course all have such a wide range of talents. Some that I relate to and some that are new and exciting. I feel like my biggest artistic takeaway form this course is the community we created here. I hope to stay in touch and continue to collaborate with these artist and emerging teachers in both my professional and personal artistic journey.

Now that I am done rambling, I should  do what I have been avoiding. Writing am artist statement. I have never liked writing these, though I understand their importance. Lets see what I can come up with.

Artist Statement

Perhaps artist is not the right term for me: I draw, I paint, I write, sculpt, I design, I sew, I create. Creativity is at the core of my passions, but my methods of creating are fluid and change for specific purposes. Rather than a renaissance woman, I am more of a jack of all trades, but master of none. Being a creative has shaped the way I approach and view the world around me. It shapes my relationships and my goals. I have been inspired by the creatives in my life, from family to friends. My understanding of art, craft, and design has been influenced by how other’s create, express themselves and teach through their art. Through my own art making, I wish to do the same and inspire other creatives to create. This lends itself to why I decided to go into teaching. The pieces I shared in class are a good example of some of the variety of my creative processes, but not all. I am interested in repetitions and focusing on things I know, experimenting with new techniques and methods, and accepting my own failures in the face of new discoveries. Success and failure walk hand in hand with me and my practice, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

– Rena Kanya, 2020