Camila Chaudron

Statement of Purpose Columbia University

Having been raised between Honolulu and Madrid, I am well aware of the cultural implications
and differences between pupus and tapas, Queen Liliuokalani and Rey Juan Carlos II, and
heiaus and catedrales. Now that Ive also lived in Paris, Washington D.C. and Chicago, I have
often been forced to reconcile my preconceived notions on beauty or goodness with those
that prevail in my newfound culture. Many artists of the 20th century have faced similar internal
conflicts upon migrating from their native lands to new cities, creating their own cultural and
artistic identit mlang as they went along.

Though the term third culture kid is a relatively recent invention, the phenomenon of cultural
interchange has been an enduring source of artistic inspiration. From Gauguins Tahitian
paintings to Picassos African period, the artists obsession with an exotic other has long been
admired and studied. However, I am interested in researching the more subtle ways in which
migration and the subsequent cross-cultural exchanges of Western European artists affected
their artistic product and that of their contemporaries. While I expect that my research interests
will evolve naturally with further coursework, I am particularly interested in studying the effect of
intercultural exchange on artistic movements of the early twentieth century, including
abstractionism and the avant-garde.

I would look forward to working with Professor Rosalind Krauss if accepted to Columbia
Universitys History of Art PhD program. Professor Krauss groundbreaking publications on
modern artists of the avant-garde in the journals October and Artforum, as well as the recent
dissertations she has directed, lead me to believe that my proposed topic of study would benefit
tremendously from her expert guidance and tutelage. I also admire the multi-disciplinary nature
of Professor Krauss publications, as she critiques photographers, sculptors, and painters of the
modern era; I certainly hope to involve several artistic mediums in my area of study as well.

During my senior year at Georgetown, I was enrolled in four graduate-level courses, three of
which were art history courses: Museum Education/Interpretation, Cultural Heritage Protection,
and Russian and Soviet Art of the 20th Century. Although I did not receive graduate credit, the
material and the expectations of my professors were those of a graduate-level course and my
high performance in these courses is demonstrative of my ability to succeed in a graduate
school setting.

In my senior seminar entitled Abstraction, taught by Professor Elizabeth Prelinger, I wrote an
in-depth analysis of Frantisek Kupkas colorful abstract series, Disks of Newton. Using primary
and secondary documents, written in both English and French, I sought to reveal the cultural
framework of Kupkas early artistic outputs while also investigating the scientific underpinnings
of his color theory. Importantly, Kupka was an immigrant, having first moved from his native
Bohemia to Vienna and then later settling in Paris. Kupkas art was certainly influenced by
these dmnagements as he became better acquainted with French artists and fellow Czech
ex-patriots, such as Alphonse Mucha, and even exhibiting in the Salon des Indpendents in
Paris in 1912. I then presented the findings of my research project to my class with an oral and
visual presentation of Kupkas uvre.

However, perhaps the most transformative academic project of my undergraduate career was a
four-part essay on how the American invasion of Babylon affected the integrity of the
eponymous archeological site (attached herein as my writing sample, Bringing Back Babylon.)
This project was completed under the supervision of Professor Lisa Kahn for a graduate-level
course entitled Cultural Heritage Protection. While the content of my essay was largely based
in archeological research and the political context surrounding the ancient site, the segmented
nature of the project helped bolster my analytical skills. Because my research for this project
was based on traditional and modern sources alike, I became especially critical of my sources
and have come to view secondary and tertiary documents as essential yet thorny objects. The
modern sources included web news articles with hidden political biases and agendas, which I
analyzed as part of the project. This experience taught me to be vigilant of the motivations of
each source, a lesson that is equally necessary when reading traditional historical texts.

Upon graduating from Georgetown in the spring of 2012, I initially attempted to find employment
in an area relating to art history, but found that I was unqualified for these positions -given my
lack of a graduate degree- so I accepted employment as a paralegal. This position has allowed
me to strengthen both my writing and my research skills while also allowing me time to reflect
on the seriousness of my desire to pursue a graduate degree in the history of art, which has
remained steadfast. As a paralegal, I am often asked to research topics relevant to potential
new cases; recently I conducted research on salmonella growth in food sources as well as the
various effects of the pseudomonas virus post-surgery. Although these topics are obviously
unrelated to art history, my researching capabilities continue to be tested and honed.

A particularly exceptional aspect about Columbia Universitys program is its emphasis on
studying art at the source, i.e. in New Yorks museums, which appeals to my engaged style of
learning. My volunteer positions at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of
Contemporary Art of Chicago have kept my engagement in the arts community alive. In a
recent exhibit at the Art Institute entitled They Seek a City: Chicago and the Art of Migration,
1910-1950, dealt with the subject of art and migration. I was struck by the vivid depictions of
music and squalor as the predominately southern artists settled into and created new
Chicagoan communities. They Seek a City examined the difficulties of maintaining a native
culture in a foreign and culturally diverse environment; this issue is something I hope to dissect
and expand upon further through my research on western European migration of the same
period.

My professional goal is to become an art historian and a teacher in the field of modern
European art. Seeing as both of my parents have doctorate degrees and are both university
professors, the importance of conducting research and publishing peer-reviewed articles while
also being accessible to students has been instilled in me from an early age. I am ready and
eager to begin studying art history in Columbia Universitys rigorous and professional
environment, using my focus on migration and cultural interchange as a lens to shape my future
research projects.