Susana Terrell –Teaching Statement 2004-05
Lecturer of Arts

           The artist-teacher is pulled between personal work, which can only succeed and thrive with a self-centered focus, and the act of teaching, selfless and giving. For me, making art is the realm of the introvert, research into a personal imaginative realm, signified by image and media manipulation. Pulling me out of this private world into teaching, the realm of the extrovert, is my conviction that art is socially invaluable and culturally significant. Teaching gives me the opportunity to share ideas about art's importance and power; it is also a way to test ideas about art and perception, aesthetics and expression.

        Art is about vision, an inner vision and an outer vision.   The inner vision encompasses ideas about intention, expression, art history, critical and aesthetic theory.  In other words, inner vision includes the "why" of art-making. The external vision encompasses ideas about perception, formal theory, design elements and principles, technique, media, representation, and abstraction. This is the "how” of art-making. Structurally, the "how" becomes a basis for the "why." I introduce and demonstrate to students various traditional technical approaches and formal fundamentals, gradually stepping up the complexity of the graphic demands as a course progresses, intentionally upsetting any habitual approaches of seeing or making art early in the quarter. Simultaneously, I frame the technical and formal progression with increasingly complex conceptual goals, in relation to art history and other art contexts, encouraging innovation with an eye on the profession and contemporary art scene.

        The "round robin" portrait drawing session is a good example of these aspects. Observational portraiture is a traditional genre which I cover.  In the studio class, students draw for 15 minutes on a portrait and then shifting seats, draw on another's portrait. Sequentially, they draw 5 people, and each portrait will record the observations of 5 students.  They learn that drawing is a series of adjustments, here a nurtured process of building upon or revising classmates' drawings.  At the same time, I put this in the context of portraiture's evolution to the postmodern artist working with assistants who help to produce work for an exhibition, sometimes taking a major role in the execution.  The exercise teaches them about technique, accelerates their rate of visual learning, and puts it in a contemporary context, bringing up questions of the role of originality and artistic purpose.

        Another emphasis in my courses is the constant encouragement of the "self." Even for the beginner, the non-art major, or the major who is not interested in drawing, I make personal involvement a required component in the exploration of the assignments.  In this way, they are driven to push the rate of their technical acquisition in a framework which has relevance to their personal aesthetic sensibility. In addition to a steady number of studio and homework assignments, students are required in all my classes to keep a sketch journal, recording visual thinking, responses, observations, experimentations, and visual reflections on their inner and outer worlds. I want them to think about the "why" of making art in personal terms, daily if possible.

        In recent years, I have noticed that there is growing preponderance of students using imagery influenced by anime and commercial illustration, particularly tattoo and video art.  They have highly developed skills within these genres, because that is their passion and their aesthetic taste. A problem arises. It is not the difficulty in teaching students who value art that looks different than what I value. I love the art of many underground comic artists, even if I do not share their aesthetic; I see personal integrity in their work.  Instead, the challenge is that some of these stylistic modes of representation co-opt the personal.  Thus, while I am working from a pedagogical basis of stylistic inclusion and recognize that as key to the postmodern art world, the notion of inclusion becomes inverted. These styles operate as an aesthetic and are diametrical to the vision arrived at through the personally sensed surface or a quirky, creative inventiveness.

        The growing dependence and attachment to these types of images and styles is an issue with political implications; students are locked into an art which generalizes and depersonalizes, not unlike the highly polished styles of propaganda art. When students communicate to me that the use of this style is an individual statement because their personal lives are wrapped up in these worlds, I am concerned because the repetitive use of this kind of imagery denies the opportunity for a highly developed  individualism in the artist. Since artistic individualism operates as a signpost of a free-thinking society and democracy, I promote the idea of the artist as a thinker and a visionary with an existential authenticity as part of my political obligation.  My goal in exploring these ideas with students is not to deny their freedom of choice, their values, aesthetic taste, or their independence; I am their staunch advocate for exploring and promoting all of those things. I work to open their eyes and want them to examine their choices in another light.

         In Art 80A: Intro to Drawing for the Non-Major, Art 20: Intro to Drawing for the Major, or Art 107: Mixed Media Works on Paper, my  first and continuous responsibility as an instructor is to nurture the interaction and health of a group of individuals from vastly divergent contexts, histories, and intentions. Working to create a healthy climate for creativity, I strive for a community of individuals that functions as a unit, that learns from and supports one another.  I reach out to each student as an individual, whether I have a class of 95 or 20, by immediately learning names,  making personal contact, getting to know them in some small way, and by actively giving them individualized feedback on their work.

        Despite the fact that the students work within my curriculum, syllabus, and educational goals, I make it clear by my actions that  I value them and what they can bring to our joint experience. Consequently, they recognize my commitment to their learning experience and willingness to consider them as individuals, with their own perspective. In the large foundation course, I have been fortunate to have long-standing Teaching Assistants that share this philosophy and are equally passionate and committed to the individual artistic growth of each student.  Over the years, as a team, we have developed effective methods in coaching the visual growth of the students. Inclusion is a foundation for the joint exploration of art. Instruction, a give and take process within a highly structured framework, becomes a work of art itself, a creative joint endeavor. Students get something out of the class that promotes their artistic growth, and I learn alongside them; together we gain insight and inspiration.

        I try not to miss the opportunity to frame an idea or image in a new context or from an unexamined point of view so I constantly adjust the balance between imparting what I know and  what I want them to learn  with what they want to learn. Typically, the goals are the same, that is why they are in the class. Yet sometimes, I discover that there are other elements, and I view it as my job to integrate these into the course. In hanging artwork from an assignment for a critique, there are always unexpected variations or interpretations of what is commonly being explored. Certainly, we discuss the technical aspects, the assignment parameters, the visual and expressive effects of the media, composition, style, and subject. But I also take this opportunity to ask philosophical questions about the nature of depiction and expression, considering these questions in relation to what ideas are suggested by the students and their art.

        My favorite aspect of the critique is to explore meaning and interpretation based on the imagery and physical components of the piece, checking it with the artist's intentions.  Usually, students learn that their artistic choices, though intuitive and sometimes random, carry weight and significance, at times coinciding with the original intent. The critique session allows for the recognition and understanding of both the process and the expressive product. The most challenging aspect of the critique is the balance between support for effort and the clear statement of areas for improvement. I am mindful that my comments reinforce students' aesthetic intentions rather than my personal taste.

             Not only is it the excellent students who help me achieve excellence, it is also those students who are only in the class to meet a requirement, those who have social or perceptual differences, and those who are barely hanging onto their academic experience due to complacency, social  indulgence, personal challenge, or even tragedy.  Certainly the high achievers who fulfill every assignment with a high level of commitment and regularly go beyond what is required with personal integrity and engagement reflect most positively on instruction.  Yet, the others  make me strive for their success, and in working for this success, I find myself experimenting, learning, and growing.   Indeed, it is because of this combination of students that I am compelled to try new ways to achieve my pedagogical goals.

        Whether a student is an art major or not, but especially if they are, my purpose is to develop their perceptual acuity, to get them to consider being visionary, and to help them gain the means to follow a personal path.  In the climate of the university, where art is respected as an important area of research and an intellectual endeavor, unlike the peripheral or commercial role to which it is relinquished in society at large, I am truly privileged to be able to explore with my students, inclusively, the boundaries and boundless nature of artistic vision.