Name:  Michelle Kaplun

Artist Statement: I remember when I was in the third grade and my class went on a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There was a particular piece of art that we were supposed to analyze. The tour guide told me that I could be an artist with the ideas I had to offer. I think about that day, and I look at myself now. I look around for things that aren't noticed. I look at things that aren't necessarily pretty, but when I take a camera into my hands, the world is different when I look through the viewfinder. I think about that day when the tour guide told me about me becoming an artist, and I look at myself now. I look and I feel absolutely happy in the place I am now.