Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Illustrating Neuroaesthetics, Madeleine Golitz

Summer Research

This body of art attempts to bridge two subjects, visual art and neuroscience. It does so by illustrating five topics in neuroaesthetics, the study of how we see and perceive art. I believe beautiful things can happen at the intersections of interdisciplinary subjects and wanted to explore this one further.

The first piece begins with a straightforward introduction to the structure of the human eye. The drawings following increase in complexity, working further up the visual process. For instance, the second depicts intermediate pathways in the brain using Op art techniques. The third illustrates how memory influences how we see …

Pubic Hair Untamed: Viewership, Body Hair, And Primitivism In Modigliani's Female Nudes, Mary Thompson

Summer Research

Pubic Hair Untamed looks at the series of female nudes painted by early twentieth-century avant-garde artist Amedeo Modigliani, focusing primarily on Female Nude from 1916. Modigliani’s nudes are unique in that they depict women with pubic (and armpit) hair, which is a detail omitted almost entirely from women’s bodies throughout the canon of art history. Within the canon, pubic hair has been acceptable on the bodies of nude men but otherwise only seen on women’s bodies in erotic or pornographic art, or on the bodies of women of color. Therefore, in the context of Modigliani’s nudes, pubic hair on a …

Exploring Distortion And Clarity In The Modern Printed Portrait, Karina M. Harper

Summer Research

My work has focused on two sides of the artistic process: inspiration and application. While studying abroad, I read, saw, and experienced modern France, living with a host family in Dijon. In the midst of this, I researched the work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, a French printmaker who utilized the lithographic process and pushed it forward as a modern and respected art practice. Lithography is a type of art involving changing the chemical nature of limestone to attract ink where an image is drawn with greasy pens. Returning to the Puget Sound campus and to one of the few lithograph …

Printmaking And Textiles, Abbie Baldwin

Summer Research

This paper summarizes the author's exploration of the themes of destruction, re-growth, and time through the mediums of textiles and printmaking.

Who's Behind The Lens? Exploring Artistic Voice And Identity In Portrait Photography, Emily Menk

Summer Research

What methods do photographers use to insert their creative voice into photography, and how do these methods affect aesthetic qualities and viewer’s interpretation of the final product? This was a prominent question I sought to answer in hopes of utilizing the results within my own art. Intrigued by the cultural concept of photography’s ability to “capture a moment” versus the methodical, perhaps even mechanical nature of commercial photography, my research led me to explore how “captured moments” could be artificially manufactured, and in turn to explore how commercial photos can be captured from a serendipitous moment.

My focus on portraiture …

Jeff Solomon's Speech On Hide/Seek: Difference And Desire In American Portraiture, Jeff Solomon

HIDE, But Not SEEK: Censorship in Art and the Queer Community

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of The Modern Book: Understanding The Future Of The Printed Word In The Context Of Fine Printing Presses And Artist’S Books, Elisabeth Schyberg

Summer Research

In this digital age, it is easy to predict that print is dead and soon people will be reading nothing but e-books. I wanted to explore the world of fine printing presses and artists’ books, where print is still very much alive, to see what this sector thinks about the future of the physical book. I visited several fine presses and book artists in Northern California and England, as well as some libraries with unique examples of these kinds of books. I read books and articles about the place of the physical book in today’s society. My initial thought was …

Growth / Decay, Yuri Kahan

Summer Research

With or without organic matter, the Earth will continue to participate in its celestial dance with the rest of the Universe. For my work this fact is paramount. I am envisioning the Earth as a post-organic realm, as a space that will remain far beyond human existence. The Earth’s turning is not dependent on humanity, on flora or fauna, on any single living thing that inhabits it’s crust. This is an element of ‘our’ planet that I think is often ignored, forgotten, or simply unknown or not thought by most. As such, these pieces are about the purity of Earth …