Jeremiah Aneke Brooklyn College Art Portfolio

Sculptures, Paintings, and Digital Art

September 2026

New York City

My work is rooted in an exploration of art and science, and how the former can impact how the latter is perceived, despite their formal modern distinction. Each piece in this series represents one of the natural sciences: evolutionary biology, paleontology and neurology, expressed through the lenses of biology, psychology, and chemistry. My creative intent is to bring together my two central passions, art and science, into a unified visual language. Scientific subjects like evolutionary biology have a controversial history, in terms of how cultural bias within the scientific community led to racial and ethnic prejudice. Since art has widespread public appeal, it can be used to display the modern day understanding of complex scientific subjects, while minimizing misconceptions that stem from the leftovers of historic scientific inaccuracies. Through this series, I hope to reveal that both disciplines supplement the human desire to understand our place in a larger system.

Jeremiah Aneke
CUNY Brooklyn College
Spring Semester 2027
1 September 2026

Having completed my enrollment at CUNY York College with a BA in Studio Art, I am applying to the Brooklyn College Performance & Media Arts MFA Program because of my interest in art, science, and their relationship with society. My goals for graduate study are to strengthen my traditional and digital media skills while developing my understanding of conceptual literacy and cultural sensitivity. In traditional media, I want to explore less acknowledged forms of artwork, particularly from other cultures. In digital media, I want to improve my skills in graphic design, website building, and commission-based collaboration. I want to use art to communicate complex concepts accurately while minimizing misconceptions and misinformation. At the same time, I want to better understand how artistic depictions and judgements of foreign cultures, especially through ethnocentrism, can become outdated as conceptual and cultural awareness frameworks develop more nuance over time. My employment goals range from a Conceptual Visual Communicator to a Multimedia Interactive Designer for cultural institutions, in person and online.

At York College, for my Art History courses, I participated in events such as Roving Reverie and attended workshops and exhibitions involving archiving, curation, and conservation. These include working with the York College Artist Archive and at the Asia Art Archive, and the Queens Public Library at Central. The visits allowed me to recognize the importance of preserving undermined ethnocultural artwork. These experiences gave me practice on the handling and organization of documents and photographs in a conservation space.

I have over a decade of experience with online commissions, collaborations, and personal projects, developing teamwork skills within a digital environment. With my permission, YouTubers have discussed and displayed my artwork, showing me the importance of giving and receiving artistic credit. I created digital commissions for my local church community, including depictions of the biblical Archangels, for display in its youth section, which showed me what it’s like to make a gallery display, like at a museum. I published a monthly comedy comic strip at my high school, which taught me to work on a tight schedule and follow rules on what is considered appropriate depictions for a given audience.

Despite the dominance of digital art, I continue developing traditional skills because of their tangibility, investment value, and foundation within art. At Brooklyn College, I hope to work with faculty members, like Alicia Grullon, to better understand how communication design connects visual art with specific messages and audiences. This supports my goal of promoting conceptual literacy and cultural sensitivity through art, especially when addressing controversial subjects. Due to mostly doing independent projects, I want to become more competent in collaborative work, which is important in cultural exhibitions. I hope my experience across traditional and digital media and my academic background will allow me to be considered for the Brooklyn College Performance & Media Arts MFA Program.

Jeremiah Aneke
197-18 115th Avenue Saint Albans, NY 11412 347-494-3462
jerryaneke1@gmail.com
1 September 2026
Professor. John J.A. Jannone
Art Department
Brooklyn College, CUNY
2900 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11210 Jmccoy@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Dear Dr. Jannone,

I am writing this cover letter to express my strong interest in the Brooklyn College Performance & Interactive Media Arts, MFA, Program. I am eager to pursue an environment that encourages both technical experimentation and mental engagement.

The work in my portfolio is rooted in an exploration of conceptual literacy and cultural sensitivity, displaying how art can communicate complex concepts accurately, while minimizing misconceptions and misinformation, as well as how complex concepts have progressed over time. Each piece in the series represents a subject in academia. It encompasses evolutionary biology, paleontology, and neurology.

Through my experience in Traditional Media, I have developed skills in Drawing, Inking, Painting, Sculpting, Woodwork, and Metalwork. Through my experience in Digital Media, I have developed skills in Digital Art, Graphic Design, Animation, 3D Modeling, Image Editing, and Video Editing.

At York College, I participated in events such as Roving Reverie and attended workshops and exhibitions involving archiving, curation, and conservation. These include working with the York College Artist Archive and at the Asia Art Archive, and the Queens Public Library at Central. The visits allowed me to recognize the importance of preserving undermined ethnocultural artwork. These experiences gave me practice on the handling and organization of documents and photographs in a conservation space.

Courses such as Cathedrals to Contemporary, Afro-American Art, Art of Asia and the Pacific, and Contemporary Art, I developed a broader understanding of art history across Western, African American, Asian, and Pacific Art. I am interested in taking graduate level art history courses that further emphasize how ethnocentrism, imperialism, and colonialism have historically undermined the religious, cultural, and societal practices of marginalized people groups and how contemporary practices through conservational, curatorial, and archival methods have been established in an attempt to salvage and preserve what artworks are left from said marginalized people groups. I look forward to taking art history courses at Lehman College that are immanent or adjacent to these topics.

I am interested in working with interdisciplinary resources that align strongly with my goal to expand my traditional and digital practice into mixed-media forms, modeling, and installation. With my experience extending to other media such as sculpture, drawing, and photography, I am prepared to contribute a perspective rooted in both practical range and culturally engaged visualization.

Thank you for considering my application. I welcome the opportunity to discuss how my background, discipline, and creative direction align with this graduate program opportunity. I am very enthusiastic about the possibility of contributing to your community and would be happy to provide any additional materials.

Sincerely,
Jeremiah Aneke

JEREMIAH ANEKE
Queens, NY
+1 347-494-3462
Jerryaneke1@gmail.com
https://jerryaneke1.wixsite.com/jeremiah-aneke-art-c

Education

2025 BA in Studio Art, York College, City University of New York, Summa Cum Laude (4.0 GPA) Valedictorian, Class of 2026

Grants/Awards/Honors

2026 Dean’s List, York College, City University of New York (Spring & Fall)

2019 2nd place, The New York Scholastic Press Association’s

2019 Award for Best Illustration/Comic/Political Cartoon, Midwood High School (Fall)

Exhibitions

2026 Student Exhibition, Fine Art Gallery, York College, City University of New York

2024 Student Exhibition, Fine Art Gallery, York College, City University of New York

Commissions

2022 Public Art Commission, Archangels, large scale digital paintings (12 x 24 ft), Our Lady of Victory Church, NYC

Website Publications

Marcia Moxan-Comrie, "From Marine to Mastery: Studio Art Major Named Valedictorian of the Class of 2026," York College City University of New York, April 9, 2026. https://www.york.cuny.edu/news/2026/from-marine-to-mastery-studio-art-major-named-valedictorian-of-the-class-of-2026

""The Anti-Climactic Life of Anna" by Jerry Aneke," The Midwood Argus, June 7, 2020. https://www.midwoodargus.com/blog/2020/6/3/the-anti-climactic-life-of-anna-by-jerry-aneke

Shamail Naseer & Yesenia Peregrina, "Argus Winds Awards at Journalism Conference," The Midwood Argus, November 26, 2019. https://www.midwoodargus.com/blog/2019/11/26/argus-wins-awards-at-journalism-conference

"The Anti-Climactic Life of Anna," The Midwood Argus, June 18, 2019. https://www.midwoodargus.com/blog/2019/6/18/the-anti-climactic-life-of-anna

Professor Emily Verla Bovino
Professor Maki Hajikano
Professor Zoe Chan