Digital Commons Network^™

(Un)Tethered, Morgan Sychtysz

Theses

(Un)Tethered is an exploration of my tendency to simultaneously build and deconstruct metaphorical structures throughout my life. This written thesis discusses visual metaphors implemented within the installation and prints, such as line and pattern, which represent my personal idiosyncrasies. These elements are realized as motifs such as step ladders, organic matter, and fibrous materials (crocheted, knotted, frayed, etc.) symbolizing my need for a thoroughly calculated life. Fibrous materials are ideal for representing my obsessive tendencies as they are continuous and malleable. One strand of torn fabric can be wrapped countless times around the crocheted form beneath, symbolizing a compulsion with …

You Can See Me But You Can't Find Me, Eric Bohrer

Theses

I finesse the atmospheric value of objects— the gestural systems brought forward in their material and forms. As Baudrillard describes, the tools we use and the furnishings we live among are increasingly defined by their formal adherence to systems of control. Individual function is suppressed for the sake of a homogeneous interrelationship between multiple objects. Through the use of a gestural system that prioritizes effort instead, objects are defined by instinct as opposed to cultural connotation. Material is liberated from the increasingly abstracted contemporary discourse surrounding its use and the object as a whole is allowed to retake an anthropomorphic …

Garden Of The Mind, Jessica Wolinski

Theses

Garden of the Mind documents my investigation of exploring drawing processes in, on, and with clay to recreate the place of my imagination. The artwork translates my perceptions as they are transcribed by drawing and transform into a ceramic object. This thesis looks into how the human spirit finds tranquility, solace, and purpose in the natural world, and ponders what it means to be truly alive. The act of drawing paired with the ceramic art object create an intersection between the places we imagine and the reality we share.

Seeking The Sublime, Gretchen Ettlie

Theses

This thesis examines a search for the sublime. Definitions of the sublime have transformed over the centuries. In the modern era, that has come to encompass an idea of the Technological Sublime. This thesis will examine a more nature-centric idea of the sublime, with a thoughtful examination of the current digital culture and it’s impact. As we continue to become more distant from our natural world, and more immersed in the digital landscape, we miss opportunities to connect with our true nature and gain-first hand knowledge of the sublime understandings that nature can impart to us. This thesis explores our …

Together | Apart: Printmaking And The Space Between, Monique Bosshard Curby

Theses

In this practice-led creative research, being both artist and identical twin, I examine sameness and difference in the relationships between two people and between multiple objects/creative works. Through the inherent ability of printmaking processes to produce multiples and the attendant installation opportunities created by punctuated space, I unfold and re-tell a doubled and ambiguous understanding of being in the world. Martin Heidegger’s notion of Being-in-the-world (Dasein) underpins and situates my understanding of being in the world, thrown into a world as an individual, and my existence as a double: being in the world with others. I relate his thinking through …

Incidental Exposure, Laural Hartman

Theses

This thesis is an exploration of my lack of environmental and situational accessibility as a Deaf person. I will be identifying and highlighting how my life experiences differ from my hearing counterparts by utilizing visual elements from my personal collection that I’ve accumulated over the years. In this thesis, I will discuss how I give the viewer an interactive way to experience incidental exposure, what I learned about the importance of experimenting with different mediums and techniques, and how I found the combination of medium and technique that best emulates and reinforces the impression of my own incidental exposure. As …

Token, Kathleen Marie Ripton Johnson

Theses

Token is a thesis body of work that combines two and three-dimensional printmaking and sculpture techniques, to highlights contemporary issues and poetry through the lens of a fable. This body of work deals with how culturally relevant information is spread by using traditional storytelling to reveal, with a certain level of absurdity, an underlying lesson, warning, or teachable moment.

In the work, the tooth is a symbol of payment or sacrifice and in our contemporary capitalist world, everything costs something. In this reality, the number of teeth lost demonstrates who you are, what you have and what you have had …

Life Structures, Melissa M. Pepin

Theses

The following document defines my creative journey as a fine arts graduate student at Rochester Institute of Technology. Through a series of personal life experiences I have selectively visualized a meaningful collection of prints on butcher-block paper.

In addition, I have described positive print experiences at a previous school. This MA studies ultimately directed my search for a MFA program that would provide breath to my research investigations. Creative problem solving in Fine Arts Studio New Forms also contributed to my exhibited work in the Bevier Gallery at RIT. By rendering stills, I was able to capture my personal environment …

Perceptions And Realities: Contemporary Impressions Of Formative And Temporal Experiences, Holly Lee Brewer

Theses

This thesis describes contemporary, non-traditional printmaking processes aimed at creating a metaphor for our perceptions of time and how the passage of time affects us both internally and externally in our attempt at constructing our self-identity. The language of this metaphor adopts the internal patterns of tree burls and altered pieces of manufactured wood in communicating the transience of time and mutability of memory. Texture is highlighted in many of the pieces for the exhibition, not only with that of irregular wood grain, but also in the series with skin-like handmade flax paper. In order to demonstrate how memory is …

Digital Chaos: Exploring Relationships Between Technological Advancement And Visual Experience, Kevin Giaquinto

Theses

More so than any other time in history, humans are being exposed to an enormity of digital images every day. The internet, combined with accompanying technological advancements in cellular communication has created an exceptionally chaotic visual experience within the daily lives of millions of people. Through the use of digital photomontage, my artwork attempts to quantify and evaluate the impact that thousands of digital images may have on the emotional and psychological state of human beings. Concurrently, I am in interested exploring the mental repercussions of visual overload, specifically, how chaotic digital experiences may impact the quality of the human …

A Lived-In Life, Sara Basher

Theses

A Lived-In Life documents the creation of my thesis work and accompanying discoveries. The movement of Fauvism and artists Vincent van Gogh, Alice Neel and Henry Darger are named as historical inspirations. Contemporaries named as influential include female figurative painters Jenny Saville, Xenia Hausner, Hung Liu, Elizabeth Peyton and Anna Bjerger.

I reflect on my position within contemporary art culture, placing myself between abstraction and photo realism. I discuss graduate school epiphanies on material, asserting my commitment to sustainable and safe practice. I address the historical use of photographic reference, as well as the role of photography in contemporary culture …

Deconstruction In Nature, Joseph Tarantelli

Theses

This paper describes the development of the artwork I created for my Thesis exhibition for an MFA in Fine Arts Studio at Rochester Institute of Technology. My initial inspiration to create came from the landscape. After finding a local scene that showed the growth of life in nature, I would paint the scene outside, or inside using a photo reference. In the winter of 2010, I used warm brown under paintings to contrast the subsequent layers of paint needed to depict the cold climate. As I painted, I worked to convey a unique interpretation of nature. The palette knife allowed …

Imagomachines, John Aymong

Theses

This thesis document was prepared in consideration for a degree of Master of Fine Arts in Fine Arts Studio from the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences. It describes the concepts within the body of the artist's work that includes imagomachines, the name given to the thesis' mixed media kinetic sculptures. Also included in the thesis are large-scale, non-toxic prints. This document describes the methods of printing, fabrication, and construction used to resolve the works and have them ready for their installation at the MFA exhibition in the Bevier Gallery at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Within the thesis, associations …

Remnants: Within An Age Of Digitalism, Marchelo Vera

Theses

21st Century civilization allows a glimpse into the progressive art paradigm that encompasses our constantly transforming technological advancements. These ideas explore the global network of our modern times and the interrelated possibilities within it. My collaborative and interdisciplinary methods give a glimpse into the future of digital/print media, augmented reality, and interactive environments. My artwork explores the hybrid, identity, culture, and an evolving reality within an age of Digitalism.

Polar Dependence, Aspasia Tsoutsoura

Theses

This thesis is an exploration of the relation between contrasting pairs and materials. For my thesis body of work I chose metal and soft materials to be my opposites. Through sculptures and prints I explore the feelings and thoughts their juxtaposition causes, bringing out both their strong and weak characteristics and showing their interdependence. Polar Dependence is what characterizes these two "opposites", showing the need for these differences in our personal life and relationships. It asks the viewer to think beyond the ordinary use of these materials, to contemplate their qualities, the relationship between soft and strong, cold and warm, …

Sans Entre Nous, Nancy Flemm

Theses

2000 ushered in an era of immediate visibility and messaging, that cultivated an idealized social identity while destroying ones personal identity. who we are isn't as important as how we appear. society greatly encourages a detachment from the self in order to obtain public perfection. sans entre nous' quadrigeminal collection visually dialogues identity struggles depicted through our unconscious sensory reactions. the innovative methodologies of intaglio-type printmaking magnify the subject in depth and texture. by virtue of imagery and medium, sans entre nous succeeds in exemplifying the need for self acceptance.

A Search For Self, Kristine Greenizen

Theses

My thesis objective is to explore the development of one's self image and sense of identity in the absence of the traditional familial role models. Some of what I expect to address is the loss of my mother in my teens and the subsequent impact on my personal development, as well as my father's disapproval and disparagement of all but my academic successes prior to his first stroke, in my early teens. The work will consist of portrait paintings and drawings of myself and family members, plus figurative paintings and prints based on myself and live models. What I hope …

Simplicity Of Form, Tricia Harrison

Theses

Not Included

Simplicity Of Form, Tricia Harrison

Theses

None provided.

Combining The Graphics Arts And Fine Arts For Artistic Expression Using The Medium Of Printmaking, Linda Condon-Howe

Theses

This thesis is divided into two sections. The first deals with my development as a printmaker. In this section I will show how my education and work experience, which include both fine arts and graphic arts, have affected the growth of my imagery. The second section I am concerned primarily with the conception and creation of the images rather than the technical production details. only when the techniques are unusual or unconventional will I discuss them.

The Print As Proustian Madeleine, Brigid A. Mast

Theses

Not Included

Variations, An Analysis, Janet Lauroesch

Theses

None provided.

Intimations, Scot Bennett

Theses

The concentration in this thesis will not necessarily focus on the print as an isolated wholistic art-form, but rather present the print as an intrinsic part of some other whole . Practically the purpose will be to manually and visually transport the viewer from a present environment to another; one in which he may hopefully identify. The works will be multi-media ones inclusive of and related to the techniques of printmaking (intaglio and lithography) .

The Adventures Of Rose And Jody, Chapter 17: Jody Does Her Thesis, Jody Williams

Theses

None provided.

Process, Color, Form, Space And Motion, Susan Pineo

Theses

None provided.

Through The Looking Glass, R. Kohloff

Theses

None provided.

Registration And Energies, Patricia Kinsey

Theses

None provided.

Composite Illusionism, Barry Dalgleish

Theses

None provided.

A Spiritual Song: A Portfolio Of Multi-Process Prints, Donald John Forsythe

Theses

None provided.

The Monoprint: Techniques And Translations, Alice Kreit

Theses

None provided.