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A Theory Of General Relativity, Madeleine Mae Morris

Theses and Dissertations

"A Theory of General Relativity" is a quiet exploration into the poetic and scientific ways we inhabit space and time. This work is a manifestation of the time I spent being my grandmother's caretaker and exists now in the form of an artist book, an exhibition of framed photographs with glass objects, and this written thesis. Throughout those five years, I became consumed by the relationships between Mothers and Daughters, which brought into excruciatingly sharp focus seemingly simple questions like: who are we, what have we done to each other, what do we owe to each other, do I reap …

Orbiting Forward (Thoughts On The Nature Of Conflict - Sighs On The Struggles Of Change), Bushra A. Alsughayer

Theses and Dissertations

Today’s world is a wide open hyper-connected sphere where human societies worldwide exist in a complex crossroads of historical conditions, ideologies, and power structures. A pool of constant confrontations, minor or major, between the traditional and the progressive, the local and the international, the materialistic and the transcendent, the pragmatic and the idealistic, and countless layers of meaning. For an individual who exists in such an intense moment of history, it seems almost inescapable to be exposed to, affected by, or even involved in a major conflict. A situation that makes individuals always in a critical position where every role …

Lifetime, Emily E. Kuchenbecker

Theses and Dissertations

Time is my bully. Time marks the start of something, as well as the end. We are all carrying out the inexorable passing of time as it relates to our impending mortalities.

I do not fear death.

The awareness of my body’s impermanence employs me to feel that much more connected to the vessel containing that of which I am.

But what am I? Am I my body- or is it much deeper?

Through the work executed during my graduate research, I have attempted to quantify my existence through the archiving my time and body. This document ushers you through …

I Thought The Earth Remembered Me, Hannah Bates

Theses and Dissertations

The forest is teeming with activity: fungi transform dead logs into nutrients, roots entangle themselves with the earth, and strong winds break resilient boughs. Like the forest, the human body functions according to a complex system of agents - from the micro bacteria in the gut to the pores of the skin. The built world has often been rendered in opposition to these processes of nature. As a vessel through which the world is experienced, the body is an intermediary between raw matter and fabricated things. The planet is suffused with human life, and there is a critical tension between …

Climbing Mt. Rainier, Kathleen O'Connor

Theses and Dissertations

My work addresses notions of the American landscape through image, memory, and experience. Using found images, video, and a variety of materials to make objects I investigate the intersection of external representations of landscape in American culture and internalized desires of landscapes.

Dispersal: A Multidisciplinary Investigation Of Plant Life, Alexandra E. Arzt

Theses and Dissertations

Using plants as a basis for exploring the interstices between the human and nonhuman, this thesis investigates ideas of awareness, intelligence, deep time, animism, and the fluctuating human perception of the agency of Nature. It outlines environmental art practices since the 1950s involving vegetal life. In addition, the paper provides a critical analysis of plant perception of Jakob von Uexküll’s work and theories of vital materialism and “critical plant studies” while noting recent studies in plant neurobiology. In my work, plants become active participants via their movement, seeding, and smell. This study takes the form of imitation, purposeful symbiosis, anthropomorphism, …

A Perception Of Change, A Change Of Perception, Christopher D. White

Theses and Dissertations

Change is a constant reminder that permanence is the ultimate illusion. It is through the creation of hyper-realistic, ceramic sculpture that I explore the relationship between nature, humans, and the phenomenon of impermanence. I seek to expose the beauty that often results from decay while, at the same time, making my viewer question their own perception of the world around them. The juxtaposition of natural and man-made features in combination with the skewing of scale, proportion, and material, creates an altered perspective – forcing the viewer to look closer. By combining both human and natural elements within my work I …

Postcession, Evan D. Pomerantz

Theses and Dissertations

This is a series of daily writings. Each day consists of a new topic and is closed at the end of the day. The ideas presented are philosophical, humorous, rambling, lamentations, incantations, doubt-ridden, aesthetic pep talks which combine into an affective representation of my studio practice’s becoming. There will be little congruency, some stories, and a lot of parallels because that is who I am.

Mob2030 – A Place Between Solitude And Collaboration, Xuan Liu

Theses and Dissertations

The design of an experimental interdisciplinary design lab–MOB 2030–within a waterfront building in Richmond, Virginia, provides an opportunity for designers to find infinite inspirations. The tools of interior design are used to manipulate a wide range of functional and formal elements to define designers’ relationship to space, work and nature. The final project provides three studios, three galleries, rooftop and waterfront landscapes, and collaboration steps connect other spaces together.

The Nature Of Architecture, Andrew Cossaboon

Theses and Dissertations

I enjoy driving in the city. It makes me feel minuscule against the skyscrapers and monuments. I wonder about who has lived in the city and admire the craftsmanship, the creative design, and the intelligence it takes to engineer and build these structures. The clean lines, geometric shapes, and surface textures of the buildings inspire my works. My obsession with construction and architecture has driven my creativity. In ceramics, I reflect on architecture when forming vases and jars. I hand-build and wheel-throw my pieces, and add surface texture and lines reminiscent of stone and brickwork. Only white and black glazes …

Underlying Conditions, Mariam Eqbal

Theses and Dissertations

The following is a collection of lines, curves, and dots on a plane, representing words fashioned to communicate my ideas about relationships between the thing and the nothing. This thesis is like a map, a contour drawing, an assortment of lines, speaking my thoughts about things in relation to space and time. As something moving, developing into another thing, as a thing sentient, I am viewing, performing, and processing incremental acts. I am looking at water and I can see my reflection break into a thousand pieces. It is like watching time.

Joy In Nature, Rebecca Morgan

Theses and Dissertations

Artist Statement I am fascinated with colors in nature and how it affects our moods. The colors of a sunset and moonlit sky; the feeling of a brewing storm; the laziness of a cold, gray day; the roar of an ocean; and the feel of sand on your feet are elements that I want to capture in my drawings and paintings. In addition to the natural environment, animals are an integral part of nature that I incorporate in my work. Pets are the unspoken blessings that bring joy and laughter to my life. Pets, especially dogs, are proven to relieve …

Outside Things, Jacob Sorenson

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis is a description of the issues encountered during the process of research and construction of the objects leading to, and consisting of, the work shown in Outside Things. The work is my attempt to gain personal insight into the complicated relationship between nature and culture. Through abstract furniture objects, floral patterns, and robots I explore the relationship between actual landscape and the constructed man-made bio-mimicry that convolutes the definition of Nature.

A Brush With Nature, Laurie Hoen

Theses and Dissertations

My work investigates both the objective and the subjective nature of my intimate relationship with nature. I explore my embrace of both art and science, the realistic and the abstract in my search for the immanence of goodness in creation. From a grain of pollen to a beautiful blossom to a decaying pod, the natural world celebrates life’s insistence on recreating itself. All around me, nature is quietly dancing to a peaceful song of restoration and balance that offers me hope of a continuance and beauty in spite of the neglect I sometimes offer in return. My recent work, in …

Bottom Creek, Bent Mountain, Va, Genesis Chapman

Theses and Dissertations

The title of this thesis Bottom Creek, Bent Mountain, VA is the subject of my large ink drawings. Starting with the spring outside my window, this book describes the creeks as it flows across the mountain that I grew up on. My drawings document the experience of walking along the banks of Bottom Creek as it flows past farms fields and along the roadside. Described as a seemingly insignificant place, the creek is in fact it is one of the most basic, and important parts of this mountain’s landscape, because the creek’s natural process it is responsible for producing the …

Nature Calls, Angela White

Theses and Dissertations

I am wandering wonderingly through the unplanned material atmosphere shaped by differences in temperature and moisture. The chaotic nature of weather phenomena is the catalyst for visual exploration of the subterranean catacombs of reality. The work is metaphor of nature and its creation of form and substance. Observing art and nature: I am allowing nature to be the instigator of art.

Finding Myself Here, Cari Freno

Theses and Dissertations

Both the natural and civilized worlds establish a context within which I may understand my own existence. My search for “self” and the emotive qualities of life within these contexts provides the impetus for my work. I create juxtapositions: from found art assemblages to, more recently, intimate experiences in public park environments. Within these curated experiences I challenge myself to open up to unknown experiences derived from my relationship to the landscape and the life forms found within. My videos are a kind of self-surveillance fostering absurdly promiscuous behavior when I am alone, in front of a camera. These conjured …

Fundamentals In Nature, Andrea Quam

Theses and Dissertations

This project explores innovative methodologies for design education. It is an investigation of teaching design fundamentals in an outdoor classroom.

Integrating Nature Into Urban Educational Environments, Caroline Anne Davenport

Theses and Dissertations

Urban educational environments struggle to offer green space and natural light to their students. Studies have shown that exposure to natural elements, such as natural light, ventilation and vegetation improves student performance and concentration. The Waldorf School understands a child's innate need for natural learning; making it a natural choice when studying design options that integrating nature into the educational environment. The emphasis on nature based learning in the curriculum leads Waldorf to be the perfect school to test the boundaries of what is possible in urban educational environments. The project integrates nature into an urban adaptive re-use school environment, …

Organic Space, Lisa Gardner

Theses and Dissertations

My works evolve from a concrete vision but tend to lack recognizable imagery. Color and texture are central to my process. By isolating the element of color, I strive for purely formal qualities in my color field paintings. Working on textured suraces, such as burlap, allows me to capture textural elements, which further adds to the aesthetic components of my art. The lack of realistic imagery provides an opportunity for the viewer to personally interpret the visual elements. It is my objective that during the aesthetic experience, the viewer becomes captivated by the unique ways that colors play within tiny …

Toward A New Kinship Constellation, Nellie Helen Frances Appleby

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis attempts to elaborate on my artwork during my graduate studies, while contextualizing it within the framework of the art world and the works of other artists. A main project during this time was to minimize the singular interpretation and framing of a fine art photographic print, while expanding its possibilities of meaning through the addition of important ephemera and objects such as plants, drawings, moving imagery, conversation and the unknown.

Invisible Green, Amanda Sauer

Theses and Dissertations

How is nature conceived today, a generation into the environmental movement? Many contemporary artists grapple with how to reconcile our inheritance of both a precarious natural world and the culture that created it. My work investigates the subtle intricacies of our relationship with nature. I use photography to develop a way of seeing that points to the often-unnoticed nature in front of us. In particular, my work recognizes and re-imagines nature's deep connections in the context of our ecologically changed world.

Healing Interior: Using Eastern Design Principles In Hotel Design, Yunju Lee Koh

Theses and Dissertations

The main goal of this thesis is to explore how interior spaces in hotel designs can provide a less stressful environment and promote health and harmony by using Feng Shui Principles. It will first discuss the principles of Feng Shui and general hotel design, and then move on to demonstrate how the application of Feng Shui principles can be used to create a hotel environment that encourages health and harmony in its occupants. This project will demonstrate principles that not only can be applied to hotel space, but also can be practiced in any other interior space. This thesis, therefore, …

Trees, Kara M. Drinkwater

Theses and Dissertations

The intention behind my work is to draw the viewer's attention to the intimate, beautiful details found in nature. For example, I am awed and inspired by the unique qualities found in every tree whose varieties are seemingly infinite. The basic concept of my work is to portray the images of trees close to the viewer's eye to instill a sense of nature's grandness.

Natural Selection, Jeffrey A. Vick

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis work is about imagination. I use the collaborative efforts of the viewer's mind and my sculptures, or specimens, to make associations of real life animals. I feel this engages the viewer and in turn invites them to inspect the work on closer level. This is my ultimate goal in the work, to take hold of the viewer's curiosity and have them examine the work on a closer level.

Feng Shui And Neighborhood Development, Kevin Allen Walters

Theses and Dissertations

Planning is a rational process where we rely on training and our five senses, but not so much on our instincts. How can we reclaim this missing element and balance the rational with the intuitive? Feng Shui provides a method for enhancing the current planning process by evaluating the physical form through observation and management of the movement of ch'i energy. The Feng Shui Neighborhood Evaluation checklist, created in Excel, allows the planner to examine the form of a neighborhood to assess the quality of the ch'i. Individual ratings are input for each evaluation point within a category. The Bagua …

A Shift In Perspective, Andrew Patrick Ilnicki

Theses and Dissertations

Responsible design practice should include environmental advocacy and a focus on community — subjects often lacking in design education. My creative project is the result of investigations into how designers integrate nature into their design process. By increasing their awareness for communal and environmental advocacy at the undergraduate level, students can develop responsible design practices at the beginning of their career. The result is the student's accumulation of integrity.

Textural Diversity, Paul Eskew

Theses and Dissertations

The sculptures I create reflect the elements of the natural world such as trees, the lumpy bush, clumps of turf. They have imperfect yet fascinating textures, picturesque in form, seemingly fractal in design, working together harmoniously to serve the aesthetic. My sculptures, like these natural shapes, are heavy or thicker toward the bottom and lighter toward the top, like a tree or stone. I strive to echo the mercurial, the animated natural surfaces, and the enticing vignettes one would experience on a woodland stroll.

Foliage And Fabrication, Carrie Rosicky Garvey

Theses and Dissertations

In my photographic work, I contrast natural and man-made objects abstracted by manipulation of scale. Details of the objects are blown up to proportions larger than life. By distorting the scale, I aim to allow the audience to view the image out of context, enabling the viewer to see it for its aesthetic value rather than the object's functional purpose.

Love Of Nature, Marguerite Z. Ratliff

Theses and Dissertations

I stand in awe of nature's beauty. The natural forms and colors of my subjects inspire me to create paintings and three-dimensional clay pieces. As I marvel at God's handiwork, my soul is enriched by the pure sight of His canvas. The rich bright colors of the organic shapes compel me to visually interpret what I experience as an expression of who and what I am, and what I want others to see. My intent is to focus on the elements of the subject matter where the color, shape, and form dominate the space.