Mariya Morgaylo’s Cover Statement

§ December 19th, 2008 § Filed under Assignments, Portfolio: Cultural Passport

Throughout the last five years I have done art, acting, creative writing, design, photography, dance; and as a result I have considered myself an undeclared artist. Undeclared because amateur scribbles in a notebook move no one. I wrote for the Arts section of my school newspaper for two years and I don’t think I wrote a single article that the reader could connect to. Mundane writing is a waste of time, so I stopped and assumed I would never again have to write about something I knew nothing of. The extent of my art trickled to nothing but doodles along margins.
When I was asked to write about the arts again, my first instinct was to write about paintings, an old favorite of mine.  But even in the Metropolitan Museum, I was compelled to look at exhibits I had not seen before, namely of modern art; and this small step of trying something new, embracing the unfamiliar, began to change my attitude. I became eager to try new things, and more importantly, understand the motive behind them. This portfolio marks my first attempt to write about modern art, foreign film and comedy. It holds the details that stood out to me, trifles that a reader might find appreciation for: white-gloved hands, bejeweled groping the floor for loose change, changing the personal insecurity of a performer into foreign fear, a foreign perspective of what I had considered home.  These are just snippets from the creative views I produced as a result.
My writing has become a lot more focused, I picked details that stood out to me and attempted to bring them to life rather than providing an impersonal, comprehensive account of an event. I began to see writing about the arts as an art in itself, it is a reflection of my experience and my attempt to articulate it the best I can. I suppose I still worry about whether a reader will get anything from my responses, but as I continue to pursue the arts, I’m sure my voice as a writer will gain resonance.

Mariya Morgaylo