This post begins a new series on the Academy’s blog about the unique opportunity offered through the Postgraduate Fellowship at the New York Academy of Art.
Each year, the Academy selects three outstanding graduating students to serve as postgraduate fellows. During their fellowship year, these artists are able to take advantage of studio accommodations at the Academy, exhibition offerings, tutorial support and opportunities for teaching assistantships. At the beginning of the school year following their appointment (September), the Academy holds an exhibition dedicated to the work the fellows have done during their residency.
Fellows often find this opportunity instrumental in the definition of their artistic voices. The 2010-2011 Fellows John O’Reilly, Maya Brodsky and Austin Park will be exploring this exciting time in their careers with a series of brief Q & A posts over their residency. Follow the fellows on this blog and see their progress!
John: During my fellowship, I hope to create more complex schematics and expand on my initial artist’s statement by combing traditional modeling techniques with the exploration of contemporary ideas focusing on the commonalities between the human figure and animal species. I hope to collaborate and aid emerging artist by relaying my experiences to incoming students. I wish use this opportunity to start my professional career, paying tribute to the Academy by serving as an example of a successful rising artist in the contemporary world of art.
Maya: I hope to learn how to effectively express what is important to me. To accomplish this, my strategy is to spend as much time as possible working in the studio, reading, writing, and looking at lots of art. I often spend too much time theorizing and trying to figure out what I need to do, how to do it, and what isn’t good enough in my past work. I hope to pause this practice in order to paint and see what happens.
Austin: On the surface, the fellowship allows me to continue the momentum of a series of work that began the summer between first and second year at the academy. But most importantly, this opportunity keeps me immersed in an environment of feedback and dialogue about the type of art that excites and inspires me. It is an experience beyond just creating art as there is still so much more to absorb and learn in all aspects of being a professional artist during this time. There is potential for certain things I’ve discovered in my work but I’m looking forward to exploring some ideas that I haven’t yet developed and experimenting more with materials. I plan on continuing to make work that uses the figure and environment at odds with each other and emphasize an infatuation with generic cinematic body language. I would like to also continue more printmaking, specifically reductive and multi-block woodcuts that were started near the end of last year.