Studio art programmes at graduate schools may require a statement of purpose to demonstrate your passion and artistic vision. This document presents my background and motivation for applying to the MFA programme, and outlines how this opportunity aligns with my long-term creative goals.

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My practice as an artist is an inquiry into the relationship between memory, material, and impermanence. Painting has always been my primary creative language — a medium through which I investigate how colour and texture encode the emotional residue of lived experience. I am applying to the MFA studio art programme at Riverstone College of Fine Arts because I believe its environment of critical dialogue and material experimentation is precisely what my work needs in order to evolve.

I am driven by the conviction that abstract forms carry an emotional weight that representational images cannot always reach. A childhood spent moving between countries left me with a fragmented sense of belonging, and my painting became the one constant through which I processed those transitions. I return repeatedly to themes of displacement and intimacy — exploring how physical marks on a surface can preserve the intangible. These defining experiences continue to shape every curatorial and formal decision I make in the studio.

I have carefully researched the studio art programmes I am applying to. At Riverstone College of Fine Arts, Professor Elaine Sato's work in process-led abstraction and Professor Daniel Webb's investigations into materiality directly intersect with the questions at the core of my practice. The programme's emphasis on critique culture and interdisciplinary studio practice aligns with my belief that meaningful art emerges from rigorous self-interrogation within a community of peers and mentors.

I completed my BFA in Fine Art with a specialisation in painting at Ashford University of the Arts, graduating with first-class honours. My undergraduate thesis, 'Surfaces of Loss,' was a suite of large-scale canvases informed by the textile traditions of my grandmother's homeland. Professors who profoundly shaped my thinking include Dr. Clara Ruiz, whose seminar on colour field painting introduced me to the work of Helen Frankenthaler and Alma Thomas, artists whose practice continues to inform my use of staining and layering techniques.

Since graduating, I have exhibited in several group and solo shows, including a solo exhibition at the Meridian Arts Centre in 2024. I have participated in two artist residencies — at the Hillside Studio Residency in Vermont and at the Croft International Residency in Portugal — both of which significantly expanded my studio practice and my understanding of site and community as generative forces. I also work as an arts educator, facilitating workshops for youth from under-resourced communities.

Attending Riverstone College of Fine Arts will benefit me as an artist by providing dedicated studio space, access to a network of working artists and curators, and the structure of sustained critical feedback that independent studio practice cannot offer. After completing the MFA, I intend to continue exhibiting professionally, pursue opportunities in arts education at the tertiary level, and develop a collaborative project that brings studio art practice into dialogue with community memory-keeping initiatives. I am eager to contribute to the intellectual and creative life of the programme.

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