Ten days from today is my last (actually my only) final exam and the first day of this term’s Open Studios.  (invitation: http://public.sva.edu/evite/openstudios/)  Then my first year as an MFA candidate will be over.  One more year to go.  And will I have mastered the issues I’m struggling with in my art?  Will I have gotten any teaching or writing job offers?  Will I have managed to get rid of the growing pile of old art that sits in the middle of my small living room like a post-modern tepee?  I’m tempted to burn it, but I’d have to move my sofa and disable the sprinkler system and prepare for the fire department to arrest me… well, you see why the pile is growing.

Jiwon Choi, BFA Fine Arts
Infinity as Dots, Black
Infinity as Dots, White

My first year has been frustrating, exasperating, exhilarating, and did I mention frustrating?  I have not taken up drinking or smoking, but my language is admittedly saltier than when I first got here.  And sometimes I write it on the walls of my studio.  In big black letters.  My teachers push me hard to change what I’m doing.  It’s their job, and I appreciate the creative ways they torture me.  (More salty language.)  It’s time to take what I’ve learned this year and begin to plan the work I’ll make for my MFA exhibition and my written thesis. Time is fleeting.  (Does that make you think of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, or is that just me?  Is there a thesis topic hidden in there somewhere?  No.  No.  Stop it.)

Boyoun Kim, BFA Fine Arts, Printmaking
Secret Pleasure

Boyoun Kim,
BFA Fine Arts, Printmaking
Summer

So the long explanation of why my blog posts have gotten a teensy bit scarce is that I’m busy biting my fingernails and getting ready for the term end.  In addition to my exam, I have two group critiques, term review by two strangers, and three days of sitting in my studio trying not to scare off the art-lookers who wander by.  They would really rather look in my studio when I’m not there, but what if one of them wants a conversation?  What if one of them is a curator?  Conundrum.  Maybe I’ll just loiter in the hallway as if I am a civilian and then pounce if they look interested.  That wouldn’t be creepy at all.

Michael Lee, BFA Fine Arts
Castillo

But in the middle of anguish, there is always art.  Especially in New York.  Yesterday as I was headed into my studio building I noticed two new exhibitions on the ground floor.  Both were by undergraduates.  One was posters of movies made by the students in the digital art department.  And the other was a beautifully curated small show of BFA students from several different departments.

Ting Yu Tsai
Interior Design
Model

Deep breath.  Look at the art.  Admire the creativity.  Remember why I’m here.  And don’t lose my day job.