Mini Group Critique

I really enjoyed the intimate group critique. I feel like I got a lot more out of a small discussion like this rather than the standing in front of the entire class talking about my work for a few minutes then answering questions that are generally only asked by the same two or three people. I'm not sure what it is but discussions seem to flourish with less people in it. Don't get me wrong, it is nice to be able share with the entire class and get feedback from everyone. Maybe it was just the people in my group or the size, what ever it was it was way more beneficial than a class critique.

My group consisted of myself, Paul, Sean, Jack, and Meagan.
Here they are!

(Paul, Jack, the back of Sean's head)

(Meagan, Paul, the back of Sean's head)

What also made the talk interesting was hearing the view points of my peers that do completely different work than me. Not everyone was from a painting background and it was somewhat refreshing to listen to comments from people of sculptural or printmaking background. 

I got out of the mini critique that I have a good direction of exploring the theory of therapy through art making. We talked about the ability to announce or own the right to accepting things, bad things, that have happened to us. There's something about making a proclamation about it that tells ourselves that we are okay and can move on. We talked about it that it was just as important to use the process of making a painting inspired by an incident to make something positive for a viewer to experience. It wasn't that I was trying to change things that have happened to me, just process them in a way that I can continue moving forward.

I was asked how my work had changed since I came to Ringling and we started listing past works that I had done. And holy crap...it's dramatically different. In a great way though. I feel more confident about what I am making and excited to keep pursuing it with different processes. Another question was raised of why I use paint to make my statement. Why not sculpture or printmaking? That is something that I have not actually thought about. Recently I have been thinking about incorporating my painting with some printmaking and more suggestions were brought up today that I would love to try. 

Overall, I am happy with the experience of the mini group critiques. It should be interesting for the next round with all new people. 

:]