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Doubting Thomas: The Testaments, Ivan Riascos Jan 2014

Doubting Thomas: The Testaments, Ivan Riascos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper will discuss the creation of my artwork, which has been inspired by my experiences and understandings of Catholicism and its icons. I will consider how iconography works in art, its influence, and how and why I have created this artwork dealing with my beliefs. I will also refer to the works of contemporary artists Duane Michals and Michael Wesely to help explain my exhibition, which I have titled "Doubting Thomas: The Testaments."


Projected Surfaces, Jason Flynn Jan 2014

Projected Surfaces, Jason Flynn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this paper I will address the philosophies of Susan Sontag, Roland Barthes and Thomas Ruff by considering the object, materials and processes of photography as my primary motivator to create art. I will examine the contrast between photographic imagery, as an illusion of the past, and sculpture, as a physical manifestation of the present, when creating works that ask, "What else can photography be?"


Investigation Of The Home, A Metaphor For Belonging, Jeremy Eldridge Jan 2013

Investigation Of The Home, A Metaphor For Belonging, Jeremy Eldridge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research done for this investigation deals with both the motivation of the artist, the personal history and the individual's artistic process. This process is examined through two bodies of art work dealing with the home as a metaphor. The shared themes of belonging, loss and longing are further reinforced by "visual cues" represented in the photographic works. For the Home Divided series, I approached the style of the photographs and the subject matter through indexical photographs of multi-unit homes and the visual representation of a distinct and bilateral division of the structure. The imagery presented in this series deals …


The Bed As Object And Metaphor, Heather Comparetto Jan 2012

The Bed As Object And Metaphor, Heather Comparetto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This series of work explores the nature of the bed as object and metaphor. The bed is an object where an action, such as thinking and laying awake takes place. In a metaphorical sense, the bed in my work represents moods and emotions that are psychologically tied to the bed. In this body of work I explore the relationship between the person and the bed. The bed represents not only an intimate space, but also a hiding place of retreat and self-imposed alienation. This series pulls from personal experience, influences such as Alison Brady and Sophie Callie, and select films …


The Fabricated Shopping Experience: An Impersonal Impression On Consumerism, Sherri Nienass Jan 2012

The Fabricated Shopping Experience: An Impersonal Impression On Consumerism, Sherri Nienass

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I have a compulsion to document my surroundings. I do this in all forms possible; through a picture text-message, a point-and-shoot camera, or through a high end camera. Like most women in contemporary society, I feel an expectation to be gorgeous. While I do not feel this pressure directly from my boyfriend or close friends, I am constantly surrounded by advertisements for beauty products enforcing the importance of being attractive. My current occupation as a cosmetic counter makeup artist relies on convincing women to enhance their appearance. I am fascinated by how easily I can persuade clients to purchase unnecessary …


The Individual Behind The Image Female Idols In Their Various Forms, Patricia Lois Nuss Jan 2011

The Individual Behind The Image Female Idols In Their Various Forms, Patricia Lois Nuss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research investigated the artistic and photographic processes corresponding with two studies motivated by the artist's personal history and focused on the role, affect, and history of various female idols represented in art history, religion, and modern American popular media. The first part of the study documented female models as they were simultaneously asked by the artist to think of a range of personal but nonspecific moments from her life, the women were asked not to share their thoughts, only the moment spent thinking, with the artist. The second part of the study documented aspiring models as they awoke during …


Visual Stamp, Jeanay Fullerton Jan 2010

Visual Stamp, Jeanay Fullerton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I create images in a painterly manner illustrating a visual dialog, which suggests simultaneous moments, yet are actually a separated collision of moments and time. I have stretched these ideas from a slowed manipulation of time, to a calculated capture of segmented moments. My work undermines the importance of the decisive moment theory. This theory was the catalyst for my new series, VISUAL STAMP. "The decisive moment, it is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression." - …


Divining The Divine: Pop Mythology And Its Worth, James Hall Jan 2010

Divining The Divine: Pop Mythology And Its Worth, James Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis compares classic mythology of cultures like ancient Greece to the mythology that has risen from the popular culture of contemporary western civilizations like America. While there are some differences, the two use the same archetypes that humanity has used for generations. In my work I use sculpture and photography to show their similarities and differences in form and story.


Place, Space, And Form Captured Through Photographic Meditation, Sarah Stead Jan 2010

Place, Space, And Form Captured Through Photographic Meditation, Sarah Stead

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Inspired by Buddhist philosophy, the photographic series Architectural Zen attempts to beautify banal and pragmatic architecture through limiting and preexisting artificial light conditions. The selective illumination of artificial light eliminates the non-essential details and enhances the pure forms and saturated color presented by the camera lens. This encourages the photographer and the viewer to enter a state of meditation. The resulting process is similar to a Zen approach to image making. The ancient Zen artist's compositions are strengthened by a meditation on form and subsequent elimination of the non-essential elements of the subject. Through embracing this Zen mentality and mindfulness,aspects …


Deep Within, Caberbe Joseph Jan 2009

Deep Within, Caberbe Joseph

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As a contemporary photographer, I focus most on light and color to bring out the uniqueness of my images. Photography is about lighting and I manipulate lights to raise questions in my viewers. Manipulating light is my way of being curious about how it may change mood physically and emotionally. Inspired by classical paintings, I have developed a body of photographs that can be admired by anyone. Although the main focus of my work is light and color, this body of work is also intended to empower those with little confidence in themselves and those who have been rejected, abused, …


Dimensions Of Identity, Alice Kramer Jan 2009

Dimensions Of Identity, Alice Kramer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Imagination and fantasy environments created by writers and artists have always drawn people into their worlds. Advances in technology have blurred the lines between reality and imagination. My interest has always been to question the validity of these worlds and their cultures and to transcend the evolving virtual dimension by fusing it with what we perceive to be reality.


Perceptions Of Cuteness And Beauty, Danielle Jones Jan 2009

Perceptions Of Cuteness And Beauty, Danielle Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Upbringing and psychological make-up inspire individual norms for beauty and cuteness. The mannerist approach in my work is a product of the figural liberties found in cartooning, illustration and art history. By altering facial and bodily features, I relate the proportions of an infant to cuteness and innocence. However, I tailor the photographs to empower the subjects all the while mirroring trends in contemporary pop culture. I'm interested in themes of everyday life, vitality and emotion placed in obscure, imaginary or exaggerated venues. I fictionalize subjects of my reality to compel viewers to identify with and fancy emotions, circumstances, moods …


Many Telling Moments:The Essence Of Fragmented Image Culture, Bonnie Ebner Jan 2008

Many Telling Moments:The Essence Of Fragmented Image Culture, Bonnie Ebner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My purpose in entering the UCF MFA program was to further explore and develop my passion for photography. During my time in the program, I developed my methodology--from having the traditional photography paradigm ingrained in my mind (and wanting to fit into it) to accepting and valuing my own unique process. I construct installations using diverse imagery and non-traditional presentation. In my installations, one may witness a reflection of the contemporary pace of image perception--fragmented, complex, abundant, and disordered. Together, images and their arrangements are used to create a unified piece that satisfies a new system within apparent disorder. The …


Without A Camera, Brian Kulbaba Jan 2008

Without A Camera, Brian Kulbaba

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The method for creating my art is a matter of experimental process, manipulation of photographic elements, and time spent. I am a photographer in a digital age that does not use a camera. My moment of creativity occurs without the snap of a shutter, but relies on my understanding and control of the chemical components of photography. My work deconstructs the notion of duplication commonly found in photography. The procedure can be repeated but the results are variable. The process of creating my work often results in a multitude of prints, but the pieces that I select as art capture …


Memories And Milestones: The Brighton Seminole Tribe Of Florida And The Digitization Of Culture, April Van Camps Jan 2008

Memories And Milestones: The Brighton Seminole Tribe Of Florida And The Digitization Of Culture, April Van Camps

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation project discusses individual photographs of the Brighton Seminole Tribe of Florida from the early 1900s to the current period, each organized by way of their institutional significance, not their place in chronological history. Following Jean Mohr and John Berger's model in Another Way of Telling, I create a narrative for the pictures with a discussion of historical information, current data from interviews, Tribal members' stories, and my own personal story as it is tethered to the tribe. The research addresses the following questions: Can photography offer a technological means to communicate culture in a vital, organic way? Can …


Series Of Disintegrated Memories, Simona Balas Jan 2007

Series Of Disintegrated Memories, Simona Balas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Being absent from things or places for a period of time, we try to connect by revisiting our memories. There is always a vivid remembrance of certain objects or surroundings, but when we try to connect them, the truth in our mind deviates from the reality. The disintegration of the memories and the morphing of our imagination create a different reality in our minds that we begin to believe, considering that the truth becomes almost completely abstracted and obscured as time passes.


Truths, Realities And The Easily Transmitted Image, Elizabeth Walton Jan 2007

Truths, Realities And The Easily Transmitted Image, Elizabeth Walton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

By the documenting and examining things that are often overlooked in everyday life, I try to find the beauty of these objects, of people, their lives and their homes. I am interested in the current technology and the influence of the easily transmitted image. What is the truth and reality of the images shared by the current youth culture because of the use of camera phones, digital image takers, and the constant image transmissions through online social networking venues such as My Space and FaceBook? The current digital image is no longer a precious object as it was in the …