Addie Kae Mingilton

My approach to painting during my time at RISD has changed not only through its procedural methods but its material methods as well. This is due to my own realization of where the work is being made and who is viewing the work during and after receiving an MFA. I am here to receive a $40,000 piece of paper representing the commodification of the artist and their works privy to the caste system within the art sphere. However despite the many studio visits telling me otherwise I will not become a piece of the system that burns my skin when touched.They want me to be grateful that they let me be here, and among them. Instead I will surround myself with love, my higher power.  I am here for my ancestors that were brought in chains, I am here for those that never made it out and will never make it out. I realize that my existence within the higher education system is literally taking years off of my life. All so that I am ready to face the “real world” afterwards. But through this I have learned that I must hold my ancestors and their love by my heart, they make me and I make them.