It’s funny where you end up sometimes.
I thought by the time I was in my last semester of art school I would have better answers to two of the three questions people inevitably ask when I mention what I’m studying in school: “What are you going to do with an art degree?” and “What kind of art do you make?” The third one, “So do you have to like… draw naked people?” at least has a definitive answer.
I thought by the time I was in my last semester of art school I would have better answers to two of the three questions people inevitably ask when I mention what I’m studying in school: “What are you going to do with an art degree?” and “What kind of art do you make?” The third one, “So do you have to like… draw naked people?” at least has a definitive answer.
For the first, I hope the answer is that I’ll make more art. A lot more. That’s
not really something I need a degree for—it was going to happen either way. I’ve
been making things for as long as I can remember, whether it was with Play-Doh, crayons, or more serious media. At the moment, it’s hard to say if I want to be a practicing
artist or try to find a career in a somewhat related field. But when I’m put on
the spot with this one, the defense mechanisms kick in and before I know it I’ve
answered, “Hang it on the wall.”
If anything, that second question one should be easier. “What kind of art do you make?” There’s a few ways to answer that. In terms of media—it changes, but ‘Oh, you know, this and that’ isn’t really a category. The journey to the point where I’m finally putting together a thesis body of work had a lot of twists and turns. While I enjoy the process of painting, from the way the image builds to the activity of mixing paint, it hasn’t been working out for me in terms of communicating what I want. Whether it’s my approach or my concept, I’ve yet to resolve a piece that really gets at the heart of what I want to work with. There’s a difference between painting buildings and communicating the feeling of living within them and being surrounded by them. There are several artists whose work inspires me, but it's their work, not mine, and I have to find something different to do.
If anything, that second question one should be easier. “What kind of art do you make?” There’s a few ways to answer that. In terms of media—it changes, but ‘Oh, you know, this and that’ isn’t really a category. The journey to the point where I’m finally putting together a thesis body of work had a lot of twists and turns. While I enjoy the process of painting, from the way the image builds to the activity of mixing paint, it hasn’t been working out for me in terms of communicating what I want. Whether it’s my approach or my concept, I’ve yet to resolve a piece that really gets at the heart of what I want to work with. There’s a difference between painting buildings and communicating the feeling of living within them and being surrounded by them. There are several artists whose work inspires me, but it's their work, not mine, and I have to find something different to do.
There's Jeremy Mann, for example, who has a way of capturing not only the architecture of a city, but also a sense of its motion. His work really has the feel of what it's like to be within those spaces, surrounded by the lights and the bustle and the sometimes overwhelming density and height of the buildings around you.
That's also a lot to address all at once. After months that have seen me cutting up papers, discarding paintings, and playing with transfers, I've found a method of working that allows me to focus on cities as constructed spaces. I think that by working with one element at a time, maybe I can start to sort out my fascination with cities. It's something that stretches beyond architecture, but the physical aspects of a cityscape are a place to start.
Katy Missio "Untitled", 11x15 in. Photo etching, 2014
Instead of reaching a point where I’ve settled in and focused on just one
medium, I’ve learned that sometimes the best thing to do when the work just isn’t
working is to try something new. By allowing myself to be flexible with the
medium I work in, hopefully I can continue with a practice that allows me to
explore new media as I move forward.
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