Sydney Rector Transfer Profile, Fall 2016

Sydne y Rector TRANSFER PROFILE FALL 2016

Sydney Rector AAS Visual Arts, graduation expected spring 2015 GPA 3.51 Academic Recognition I have made the Dean’s List two semesters in a row and have been invited to join the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society for three semesters, but declined due to family obligations. Academic Transfer Interests I hope to transfer to the College of New Rochelle or SUNY Purchase. Personal Interests Include Some of my personal influences include; Cornelia Parker, Camille Claudel, Vija Celmins, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Sydne y Rector TRANSFER PROFILE FALL 2016

Westchester Community College course descriptions

ART 101: Drawing 1

Working with a range of media, students learn to

draw from direct observation, with an emphasis on

fundamental elements of visual representation,

including mass, shape, line, value, texture, and

principles of composition. Drawing is studied as a

tool to help enhance powers of observation and

imagination, and to cultivate appreciation and

understanding of drawing as a form of visual

expression. Drawing from the human figure is also

explored. Lectures and critical discussions

challenge students to respond perceptually and

conceptually to visual worked presented in the

studio (including historical examples) and to

organize their insights through analysis. No

previous art experience is necessary.

ART 102: Drawing 2

In this continuation of Drawing I, students work

from direct observation and the live model and

develop more sophisticated drawing skills and

technique. Assignments develop a strong

understanding of composition and an awareness of

the relationship between form and content through

representational, abstract, and non-objective

themes. This intermediate-level course challenges

the student to develop a personal vocabulary of

visual expression in compositionally unified

drawings.

ART 103 - Painting 1

An introduction to painting from direct

observation. Students learn basic painting

techniques and color theory through weekly

assignments. In-class projects build skills through

a sequence of monochrome, limited palette and full

palette studies from direct observation. Historical

and contemporary examples are introduced while

painting constructed still-lives and self-

portraits. Final projects place emphasis on

communicating a personal statement through both

form and content.

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ART 105 - Sculpture 1

An introduction to visual thinking in three-

dimensional form and space. Students develop an

appreciation and understanding of the elements of

line, plane, shape, volume, surface, light, and mass

as they relate to 3D form and space. Texture,

transparency, unification, modification, color, and

other effects are also incorporated. Lecture and

critiques emphasize creative expression through the

interaction of ideas, materials, tools, and expose

students to a wide range of materials and

processes through historical examples to develop a

broad three-dimensional experience. No previous

art experience is necessary.

ART 112 - 2D Design

A variety of 2D design concepts and tools are

introduced to foster visual literacy and deepen

appreciation of the role of design in art and

culture. Students create projects that explore

elements and principals of design, including line,

shape, space, value, sequence and color, while

developing fluency in the handling of media and an

increased awareness of craftsmanship. Lectures

and critiques cultivate verbal communication skills

to foster a facility with language of art and design;

basic computer skills are introduced in the creation

of an online portfolio.

ART 125 - Digital Imaging 1

An introduction to the computer as a tool for visual

art, with a focus on gaining proficiency in Adobe

Photoshop. Students learn photo retouching,

painting, collage, and drawing techniques.

Operation of scanners and printers, file

management, and digital practices are covered.

Includes discussion of digital art concepts and

examples of digital media in contemporary art and

design. No previous experience necessary.

ART 133 - Photography 1

Introduction to black and white photography.

Students learn to operate a 35-mm camera and to

adjust settings for correct exposures. Lighting

effects and the use of lenses and filters are also

explored. Darkroom procedures include film

development, contact printing, enlarging, and final

presentation of matted print. Photographic

assignments develop the student’s ability to

achieve successful photographic compositions.

Center for the Arts, White Plains. Photography

courses require that students supply their own

cameras and film.

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Transfer Statement

As the only visual arts major in my Drawing I class I surpassed my peers

extensively. I worked hard-ish, but I also knew that by comparison alone I was

guaranteed an A. The following semester I enrolled in Drawing II with the

incontrovertible assurance that I would again be at the top of my class.

Week 1: I’m nervous and have extreme diaphoresis. Professor Steinhorst is

absurdly cool and equally intimidating. I choke on the in-class still life, but so does

everyone else. I don’t sweat it.

Week 2: I arrive late. The critique starts with me. I am smugly anticipating

praise. “Needs more white. The value range is lacking.” (Rm 401, Some Jerk) Professor

Steinhorst agrees. I have found a new mortal enemy. I step back to observe the other

assignments. I am not the best in the class. This stings in a way that is unfamiliar. I have

never really allowed myself to be the subject of criticism before.

Weeks 3-4: Rinse and repeat.

Week 5: I am now seriously considering changing majors. Drawing is not the

only class I’m doing poorly in. Class starts and I smile duplicitously at my rivals. I am

bitter and I am spiteful and self-righteously so. Then it occurs to me, I am not owed

anything. This is do or die. I am determined to surpass my peers. I pour all my

sanctimonious anger into being better.

Week 10: Art is not relaxing. I cannot count how many nights my body has

hovered over my paper in a pulsing pain that radiates through my neck, into my

shoulders, and down the column of my spine. My hands are semi-permanently

paralyzed around my pencil. The taste of charcoal is immutably burnt into my throat. I

only retire because my body and my mind are both so synchronously weary that they

are useless. I lie awake critiquing and re-visualizing every aspect of my work until my

brain caves. This does not feel unhealthy, rather so systematically faultless that I could

not and would not imagine any other reality.

I find a growing common ground with my mortal enemies which develops into

an implicit intimacy. They had been giving this amount of energy all semester long and

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were self-effacing because of it. By the end of the 15th week I have not surpassed any of

them. But I gave it everything and I am humbled.

I have always understood art, which is ironic because I can’t convey it. Nothing

has felt more organic. While studying sculpture, I was introduced to Jean Tinguely.

Sculpture is it. That’s what I want to do. I love painting. I love drawing. But sculpture is

the thing. I have found my thing.

I want to attend the College of New Rochelle because I want to be challenged

with increasing intensity. With every breaking point, I develop that much more and I

want to be surrounded with exceptionally committed peers, new adversaries that force

my hand. I want to follow new mentors, teachers that do not accept minimal effort no

matter how skilled the work.

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The Wounded Amazon: Early Feminist Art

Phidias, Statue of a Wounded Amazon Roman copy of a Greek bronze statue, ca. 450–425B.C. Metropolitan Museum

Myron, Diskobolos (Discus Thrower) Roman copy of Bronze original c. 450 BCE

Since the beginning of our existence as civilized human beings, and very possibly

before, we have depicted women as subservient, weaker, dumber, and less than men.

Society has been conditioned to worship men and disregard women. Phidias’ Wounded

Amazon is a hugely important work of art for feminism. Amazons, a mythical race of

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women warriors, were a fierce representation of female potential. It is obvious that

Greek perception of men and women was very different. Myron’s, Diskobolos is one of

many examples of how differently men were observed within Greek culture. They were

idealized and designed to be worshipped for their physical excellence, an image women

could only attain when imagined. (It’s something, right?) The Wounded Amazon forces

its viewer to equalize women, because this particular figure is given none of the typical

female gender boundaries seen in other artistic portrayals of women.

The Wounded Amazon stands in contrapposto pose with her right arm elegantly

extended over her head, exposing a grievous puncture underneath her right breast. She

wears an exomis, a tunic worn by light infantry, with one breast exposed, one of the first

instances of female nudity in Greek sculpture. Female nudity had not yet been

represented. It was typically reserved for male figures, as seen in Myron’s Diskobolos,

which epitomizes the Greek ideal of human (male) perfection. The nudity of these

figures is emblematic of their purity and excellence.

Nude, able, and agile the Discobolus gracefully swings his arm preparing to hurl

the heavy discus. He conveys an incipient, balletic movement, from the position of his

right leg, bearing his weight, dragging the toes of his left foot, propelling his right arm

back and balancing himself with his left. His muscles are clearly vigorously active, but

the expression of his face is almost calming. He has full control.

Like the Discobolus in mid swing, the Wounded Amazon expresses no signs of

physical distress. Although fatally wounded her face projects a serenity and poise. She

shows complete emotional restraint, a reflection of Greek philosophy and

humanism. You could almost assume she is daydreaming. Her body echoes this

composure as she supports herself against a pillar and continues to stare off, despite

her mortal wound. Women, as well as men were often depicted with this facial

aloofness. However, this particular piece is so important because of its context. She is

not the even-tempered Hippodamia, keeping her serene expression as she is being

raped by a centaur (as seen in Libon’s West Pediment at the Temple of Zeus-Olympia,

471-456 BCE). She is not a goddess recumbent and enjoying the spoils of divinity (as

depicted in Phidias’s the East Pediment of the Parthenon-Acropolis, Athens, Greece, 438-

432 BCE). She is a warrior dying a noble death.

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Both the Discobolus and the Wounded Amazon transmit powerful messages of

strength and virtue. However, they do so in very different ways. The Amazon warrior is

still and relaxed in her posture. Her tranquility is almost eerie given her condition. She

is powerful, but resting; her musculature evident, yet relaxed. In spite of dying and the

exposure of her breasts not one ounce of her body communicates any

vulnerability. Instead she eludes a vitality and a dedication to that vitality. She is not

disheveled; her hair is neatly combed and her tunic hangs loosely around her hips,

illustrating her total fortitude as a warrior. The Discobolus, on the other hand, contrasts

this posture. Every inch of his body is tense. His muscles are thoroughly flexed,

showcasing the veins and tendons throughout his body. Nonetheless, he exhibits a

placid disposition, not displaying any gesture of weakness.

It is important to note that the Discobolus commemorates an Olympic champion.

It is not a portrait but was intended as a trophy. The athlete’s body is idealized and

proportioned in the Polykleitos Canon, a set of aesthetic principles used to manage the

dimensions of the figure. The Discobolus along with the Wounded Amazon are highly

naturalistic in style, which is indicative of Greek classical sculpture.

From the creases in her right palm to the definition of the muscles in her arms and

chest, slope of her breasts, and curvature of her calves, the detail of the Wounded

Amazon is nothing short of remarkable. Often Greek classical sculptures of women

lacked this amount of depth. For example, the colossal Statue of Athena

Parthenos (c. 438 BCE) depicts the Goddess adorned in her customary aegis (gorgon’s

hat and goatskin cape). Her body is completely covered from neck to foot leaving no

space for this extraordinary detail in her body. The Wounded Amazon was given the

same attention to detail given to renderings of males like the Discobolus, in her

composition.

The Wounded Amazon did not greatly alter the world’s perception of women. But

it was the first Greek portrayal of a woman carried out with as much thought, detail, and

appreciation as male figures. She was a figure of greatness, beauty, and perfection and

was executed with the same precision, and awe as the Discobolus. It may not have

accomplished much in furthering women in society, but it was a slither of hope for the

female gender.

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References Online Textbook http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/greece/paganism/amazons.html Other works mentioned:

Lapiths and Centaurs West Pediment, Temple of Zeus Olympia, 471-456 BCE

Phidias, Three Goddesses From the East Pediment of the Parthenon Acropolis, Athens, Greece, 438-432 BCE

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Phidias, Statue of Athena Parthenos The Parthenon, Athens, Greece, 447 BCE

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CHECKLIST

cover page

basic info page

transcript

course descriptions

transfer statement

writing sample