Senior accepted into London master’s program for fine art

By Bryce Johnson •

PHOTO BY DANNA BERTEL
Aria Tan, senior marketing major, presents her “Fish Market” artwork.

In September, Aria Tan, senior marketing major, will attend Goldsmiths, University of London, to study for her master’s in fine art.

Alumni include artist Damien Hirst and filmmaker Steve McQueen.

The Guardian newspaper ranks Goldsmiths as the No. 4 university in the United Kingdom for fine art.

“They’re a very highly ranked and very competitive school to get into, so I’m very much looking forward to going,” Tan said. “Kandy Lopez-Moreno, program director of the Art + Design program in the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts, was mentoring me and helping me choose which school to apply to.”

Lopez had Tan as a student in Painting II last semester.

“She is a very technically advanced artist, but I do think that a lot of it has been self-taught,” Lopez said. “Trying to connect where you fit in the art world is a challenge, especially as a minority female passing for white. I think she’s going to get challenges with that, especially in London. But that might push her work into a different direction, which I’m excited to see.”

Kayle Medredos, junior biology major, took Painting II with Tan.

“I’ve always noticed how intricate and detailed her paintings were,” Medredos said. “You can see how much love she puts into her paintings.”

For the senior exhibition, Tan showcased selected work from her “Fish Market” collection. One of her favorite oil paintings from it is “Sardines.”

“I just really loved how it was such a comprehensive and intimate medium for storytelling,” Tan said. “My artistic motivation is to tell stories that are both relatable and accessible to everyone. So with painting, I don’t have to worry about language barriers. I don’t have to worry about physical, logistical barriers.”

Gabriella Neves, senior Art + Design major, also had art featured in the senior exhibition. Neves remembers seeing Tan’s work on display.

“I was just amazed by it. And I remember the minute she left the gallery, I went to go peek at it because I was just astonished. It’s like a massive market stand,” Neves said. “She’s very thoughtful. She’s a very warm person and incredibly helpful for this art program, and she always volunteers and provides really constructive feedback for all of us.”

Born in Texas, Tan has lived in the Malaysian state Penang, San Francisco and Maine. She originally came to NSU for marine biology, changing courses when she realized she wanted to take a more creative direction.

“I started taking painting classes and then I realized I really, really liked it, and I found out I was very good at it,” Tan said. “I love that the kind of learning and teaching is curated per individual as well as grading. It’s not as black and white as STEM is, and there’s so much room for growth and experimentation within that kind of classroom.”

For her future work, Tan would like to create art in a style similar to Kehinde Wiley, an African American artist who paints Black people in traditional Renaissance paintings. Ultimately, her career goal is to teach undergraduate art.

“I think that being in an artistic and academic environment is not only good for myself and my development as an artist, but it’s also good for the students around me. It’s a great opportunity to continuously receive and provide criticism on artwork, which I think is essential to being a successful artist,” Tan said.

Lopez is excited for Tan to be an art teacher and hopes for her success at Goldsmiths.

“Anytime she was in class when we were doing critiques, she was the one I was more excited to hear feedback from regarding other students’ works,” Lopez said. “I think that she has been the most focused student I’ve had, because it clicked for her.”