Hello everyone!
I am a visual artist who recently graduated with a Master's of Fine Art degree from the Department of Art at UCLA. I held staff positions as Adjunct Curator and Curatorial Resident at the University of Toronto's Justina M. Barnicke Gallery. I had the wonderful opportunity to organize museum exhibitions, write catalogue essays on contemporary art, coordinate panel discussions with academics and artists, and organize student-focussed workshops (such as collaborative filmmaking!).
At UCLA, I specialized in making video and installation art, which I absolutely love! I worked as a Teaching Assistant for nine courses in the Departments of Art, Art History, and Design Media Arts. I'm well versed in material from pre-colonial to contemporary art of Africa, contemporary art, architecture, design and history!
As a Teaching Assistant I had the distinct pleasure of teaching 260 students! I absolutely love to teach! Working with students is a wonderful gift.
As a tutor I specialize in Visual Art training as well as preparation in wide range of Humanities disciplines, particularly Art History, History, English, and Classics. I am passionate about art and able to teach a wide range of skills from drawing and painting, photography, and greatly enjoy working with video. As a knowledgeable and published writer I specialize in honing students' skills in the essay form as well as research methods - skills which are applicable across school curriculums. I offer instruction and assistance which ranges from personally a designed curriculum for you, to assisting the improvement of targeted skills. I am happy to work with students of all ages!
My writing philosophy is guided by these thoughts:
“What do you notice?” is the seemingly straightforward question which guides my teaching philosophy. Using this question, I first ask students to arrest judgment and begin critically looking at an art object, architectural building, or written text. I use this question to suggest to students that they have something to say about an artistic or written text before reading second hand source material. I asks them to consider how “what they notice” may be motivated by their interests and social concerns which are a part of larger inquiry unique to them as people. As such, the practice of critical observation, inquiry, and writing is both a reflection on an artistic or written text, as well as a self-reflection on a student’s attempt to represent it.
I enjoy working with students to formulate clear, concise, while also rigorous and self-reflexive techniques of writing which remain attentive to the manner an object of inquiry is represented. My writing experience as a Teaching Assistant revolves largely around the essay form. And my site of teaching is within the larger rubric of the humanities, in which the notion of a “discussion between thinkers” remains a central ethos. As such, I ask students to consider their essays as a discussion between themselves, an author, and other commentators. From an early stage, students are encouraged to conceive of themselves are participants within a dialogue so to remain aware of how their own specific readings complement, complicate, or reveal an oversight of other commentators before them. I encourage students to consider uniqueness of their inquiries.
Learning something new about the world around us is fascinating! I relish and enjoy in watching a piece of great art come to life, from a sketch to a vivid painting or captivating video! The research phases of a project always excite me, and the process of seeing it culminate in a finished work of writing always satisfying!
I hope we'll have the chance to work together!
Warmest,
Tejpal
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