My Teaching Philosophy
I tell students that art emerges from belief. I guide them in transforming imagination and intuition into statements that ring true to them. I teach them to fail more productively. An art practice is just that, I say, practice. The only path to mastery is through making, failing, and learning from the experience. There’s no other way to investigate the creative potential of ideas and materials. And you must study the work of those who came before you. Knowledge of history is indispensable to an artist.
Even the most ethereal concept must live in the real world. One of the students in my Structure class at Ohio University was determined to make a wedding gown out of paper napkins. They kept ripping and falling apart. After many failed attempts to sew the fragile tissue, I encouraged her to turn things around, to think about the material itself, not just what she was trying to do to it. After discussion and a few experiments, we devised a gentler technique, combining stitches and glue, that made her project possible.
I believe in the value of an open environment. My group critiques are structured around three questions: “What do I see? What do I know? What do I want to know?” This simple inquiry encourages students to analyze a piece objectively, from an external perspective, but also to view work from the vantage point of an inner sense of truth. There is a dynamic between seeing and saying. Fellow artists can help us find the balance.
Ultimately, my teaching strategies are anchored in the conviction that every human being is an artist by nature and has the potential to show the world something new about life.