Art and Design Commons^™

Encapsulating Scars, Ashley Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My work explores scars through encapsulation, a desire to enclose and express the emotional scars of memories or physical scars of the body. Life’s experiences impact the living, leaving behind scars that we feel the need to understand. Through the mediums of metal and mixed-media photography, I utilize found and created imagery, as well as a triality of text in order to preserve and remember these scars.

Artistic Representation And Self Esteem, Brianna Davis

Honors College Theses

Dependent upon the constructs of the perception of self and the viewpoint of others, humans base the value of their self esteem on outer perspectives rather than internal ones. For this thesis in particular, the outer perspective to be examined is representation in the field of the arts. This thesis project explores the process of self esteem, artistic representation in the arts, how one affects the other, a history of the correlation between the two, and ways to inform and educate the masses with the tools necessary to advance representation in the arts thus raising the self esteem of its …

Perplexions: Perceptions, Plexi And Prose, Amy B. Nelson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An understanding of our world is unique to each individual and their experiences. While experiences are often shared, we all process them according to our own schema. Through exploration into the multiple facets of plexiglass, my work examines trauma, loss and its lasting effect on a person's memory of the past, present and perception of the future. These experiences can cause an abrupt shift in personal schema and reshape one’s perception of the world. Through the combination of visual and linguistic stimuli, my trauma-informed work can be a catalyst for my viewers to discuss what they are experiencing and why. …

Plausible Expositions With Possible Expeditions, Nikolaus D. James

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Influenced by video games and cinema, in this body of work, Plausible Expositions with Possible Expeditions, I use objects to create scenarios that suggest a narrative. The scenes are then photographed and displayed through cathode-ray tube televisions and viewers use their own knowledge and ideas about the objects to create that narrative. Each of these objects has is own data set, and the most common have a universal data set—information surrounding the object that is widely recognized, much like how a crowbar is commonly associated with crime. Similar to playing a video game, an algorithm is used when viewing my …

The Impact Of Patronage On Contemporary Visual Arts, Emily Coats

Honors College Theses

Patronage is vital to the art world and the success and notoriety of its artists. From straightforward patronage during the Renaissance of the Medici Family, the independent artists of modernism, to contemporary crowdfunding, it is important to note the changes in the art world throughout history to truly understand how artists and patrons have grown and continue to evolve in our contemporary society. Considering how patronage has changed and adapted throughout history and understanding the influence it has, not only allows a deeper understanding of the art world but also the world’s culture.

Neo_Fluxus & Dragons, Zachary A. Kelley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What is a viewer? Who can be a viewer? What is the purpose of a viewer? Is viewing an artwork a process? How does a viewer interact with an artwork? What is an artist? Are the formal elements or conceptual natures more important in art making? Why is that art? These questions and more direct me in how and why I make my art.

I will be discussing the relationship between the viewer and the artwork in an artwork experience. I will define an artwork experience using an analysis of Michael Fried’s notion of theatricality, relating the viewer to the …

Considering Perspectives, Cynthia Epps

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This body of work, Considering Perspectives, explores the ideas of perspective, not only in terms of spatial perspective in art, but also regarding how our vantage point and presumptions affect how we feel about certain subjects. The subjects of my work are spaces or objects often overlooked or considered mundane. When we approach a work of art, we typically do so with a multitude of presuppositions that influence our response. Often, we are not even aware of this. By splicing together multiple perspectives I use my work to create awareness that there may be more than one way not …

Irrational Aggregates, Courtney N. Ryan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis paper examines the work included in my Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition entitled Irrational Aggregates. The goal of this work is to facilitate a dialogue between our natural environment and the excessive consumer-based environments in which we live. Combining a variety of ceramic techniques including hand building, wheel throwing, and casting these sculptures appear to be grown from, and even taken over by nature itself.

Often drawing inspiration from my personal narrative, that of consistent upheaval, relocation, and adjustment to new places, my work can appear both grounded and in a state of motion. I believe …

In Search Of Communication, Usman O. Oladeinde

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the work included in Usman Oladeinde’s MFA thesis exhibition. The goal of this thesis paper is to explore major themes such as communication, identity, change, centeredness, landscapes, and language. These paintings present Arabic letter forms transformed into illegible shapes which are painted on landscape backgrounds, often depicting an aesthetic of textual elements receding into space. All these works are inspired by the Qibla, which is represented in the abstract and painted using acrylic media. Occasionally image transfers are mounted on the painted surface.

Visual representations like mine are communicative without forcing the viewer to one specific idea. …

The Classical Versus The Grotesque Body In Edith Wharton's Fiction, Joshua T. Temples

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In her landmark works The House of Mirth (1905), The Custom of the Country (1913), and The Age of Innocence (1920), Edith Wharton responds to earlier depictions of the classical, pure Victorian and Edwardian woman. Wharton's "inconvenient" women overturn popular stereotypes. Subsequently, they are barred from their social groups, but they are independent, unlike the complicit and obedient women of the classical body, most of whom ascribe to the trope of the "Angel in the House." The grotesque seeks to undercut the unrealistic expectations enforced by the classical through its embodiment of progression and humanity, and Wharton is drawn to …

Fragmented, Max Rebel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis, Fragmented, outlines Rebel’s explorations with materials and techniques that led to the creation of his current work that was presented in his MFA Exhibition. Fragmented focuses on elements of abandoned and ignored structures found in both urban and rural communities. Rebel is interested in the visual characteristics directly related to manufactured landscapes that have been reshaped by neglect, specifically, surfaces that appear old and weathered. The assemblages he makes in reference to these deserted sites do not comment on specific architectural locations. Instead, they are meant to emphasize common traits found at multiple sites. By working with …

Earthbound: Celebrating The Natural World Enjoying Good Food And Company, Virginia Russell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Earthbound is a body of utilitarian work created as a tribute to regional plants and animals, to beloved family members, to revered masters of ceramic art, and to the enjoyment of good food and conversation.

Earthbound explores the role of flora and fauna found throughout Southeast Georgia. These handmade functional objects celebrate aspects of nature I encounter on a daily basis. Each place setting is crafted to enhance the pleasure of eating and drinking while fostering a connection to the natural world.

I have long held an interest in the human connection to nature, which was fostered by both my …

Seeds Of Passage, Olu Amoda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract: Seeds of Passage is an exhibition of sculptural ensembles I have created with found-objects, musing the Nobel Prize winning play, Death and the Horsemen, by Wole Soyinka. The play is based on the incident that took place in 1946 in the western region of Nigeria, when the cosmological traditions of a colonizing power clashed with those of the indigenous culture. I use found (repurposed) objects to create many of my works. Three primary concepts guide my work: 1) latent energy - the memory or accumulative consciousness of the object, 2) the Sieving Process - the selection of individual …

Creatress: A Woman's Hand, Susan Isherwood Gibbs

Legacy ETDs

Using stylized and abstracted sculptural interpretations of She—Great Mother, Mother Nature, Earth Goddess, Creatress, Gaia, female sexuality, and the feminine aspects of nature; a wide range of differing chemicals and temperatures for the development of various clay bodies; and a vivid color palette to reflect ideas, feelings, and moods, I present a story of woman as metaphor for Earth and nature, an immense organic, ecological, and conscious whole. Incorporating found objects (natural and manmade) and fibers (organic and synthetic) with my clay imagery, I offer an awareness of the roles ofwomen from around the world in the spiritual and psychological …

Natural Forces, Natural Forms, Robert Benjamin Randolph

Legacy ETDs

No abstract provided.

Portals: Past And Present, Cynthia L. Rodday

Legacy ETDs

No abstract provided.