Junior Cookie Dou loves what she does. As a pre-med student with a double major in biology and studio art, she takes special pride in the sense of accomplishment that accompanies a completed piece of art. She said that she gets lost in her art and in the process. Dou compared her artistic process to that of an athlete in the zone. She said, “My professor, Bryan Munays, recently introduced me to the concept of flow, which happens for both artists and athletes. It’s like a high where you lose yourself and don’t have to think about what you’re doing.”
Dou entered Swarthmore with the hope of being pre-med and a biology major and hadn’t planned to formally commit to art as well. However, she said she found herself taking art classes, starting with a fundamentals drawing class her freshman year. “I’ve been doing art my entire life,” she said, “and I decided it would kind of be a waste not to pursue it here.”
Dou’s primary medium is oil paint, although she has always been an avid sketcher. “I’m a little stuck in the past,” Dou said. She is heavily influenced by art from the classical, Italian Renaissance and Baroque periods.
“I love all of these styles that are not necessarily falling apart but not as heavily praised. I feel like contemporary art is moving toward a very different form of art which focuses on the social purpose of the piece,” she said. “Things are more about the message rather than the quality.” While Dou can appreciate contemporary art, she is enthralled with the classics and artists such as Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Da Vinci. She said, “My favorite art is not so much about the message as much as it’s a work that is so brilliant and talented.”
Dou’s fascination and inspiration from the classics comes from her first art teacher, who was obsessed with it as well. When she was seven years old, Dou began taking personal art lessons with a private teacher. She has taken art classes since then, throughout high school but her pursuit of art has been mostly personal and individual. For instance, Dou said she included a stop-motion animation in an application for a healthcare company to answer the question of why they should hire her. “I always try to integrate art into whatever I’m doing,” she said.
Last semester, Dou studied abroad in Australia. While she was busy taking biology classes, she tried to keep a sketchbook to continue to find time for her art as well. This semester she is currently taking a mixed media class and the junior workshop where she and other junior studio art majors can work individually on their pieces.
Like any Swarthmore student, Dou is juggling her passions and commitments, and oscillating between her science and studio art classes. Her double major is especially demanding, however, the studio art department doesn’t allow for a minor. Dou explained, “The department doesn’t allow for a minor because the theory behind it is art is all or nothing.” While Dou joked generally junior and senior schedules are intended to be less hectic, he science and art classes take up large, three-hour chunks of her afternoon. “If I’m not in the studio, I’m in the lab. It’s a huge time commitment,” she said.
Dou said she has been pleased with the art community at Swarthmore. This semester’s junior workshop has been especially supportive. Dou said, “[The junior workshop] is great. Everyone works together and it’s very collaborative. I feel like art classes in high school were very competitive. There were no group critiques and everyone was very self-involved. I definitely don’t find that here.”
This semester, Dou is focusing primarily on continuing her oil painting while branching out and experimenting with other mediums as well. Her emphasis is on figure composition and the expression of the body through analyzing portraits and interpretations of classical art.
While Dou’s pre-med track will dominate her professional future, she will continue to pursue art. She acknowledged the possibility of selling her art on the side but said, “Whether or not I make a profit, art will always be a part of of my life and I will always be painting.”
