Art and Design Commons^™

Above And Below, Kristen Brown

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

My recent graduate artwork uses abstraction of form to describe the intersection between humans and the environment while relating the landscape of our skin to the ever-changing qualities of the natural landscape surrounding us. The photographic material is stressed into three dimensional shapes, producing creasing and tears as it is being contorted by human impact. At the same time that I am creating something new, I am manipulating artifactual evidence of something that already exists in everyday life. This is akin to how our bodies are distorted by outer influence, as well as our own autonomy. Above and below the …

Tradiciones, Selena Medellin

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In the organic ceramic forms I create, I provide a look into memories of growing up with my late grandfather, a first generation Mexican-American. Our house was adorned with Mexican paintings, an altar for those that had passed, and traditional textiles such as sarapes, rugs, and blankets. I learned stories of our ancestors, the myths and legends of our native land, and that you must celebrate both life and death. I use the combination of ceramics and mixed media to convey both the vibrancy and solemnity of Mexican tradition. In my work, I reference Aztec Gods and Goddesses, Mexican textiles, …

Assimilating Antiquated Attachments, Brittney Wegener

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Intention is a stage set for all the world to perceive. I intend to shake the status quo, I intend to break loose from that which I think I know, I intend to learn, and yet unlearn, I intend to make and be the most liminal that I can be bridging the spaces in between. I hope in the following lines that you too may come to believe in the we. Down the rabbit hole she goes, into the deep confines of her mind. Upon approaching the curious, contorting caterpillar she’s asked, “Whoooo are yooou, I said AGH WHOO ARE …

Reclaim, Harris Benjamin Deno

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

I make ceramic and mixed media objects that embody interaction with material. Translated from the simple utterance of the hand the material articulates the labor. As in any relationship there are miscommunications and disagreements; Desperation, struggle, and honest interaction are apparent on the surface of the labored forms. Objects are created in an immediate fashion, the intimacy of the moment folded into the material. Each interaction an embodiment of the human experience. I think of these works as entries in a journal; The gravity of a moment is captured, relieving the mind by bearing that weight.

Whenever approaching a work, …

Profile In Scale, Jason Boldt

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

I started gaining and interest in sculpture after seeing and learning about Frank Lloyd Wright and his use of natural materials integrated into planar and linear forms. I appreciate how he creates buildings such as Fallingwater, a home built for a family, where the structure is part of nature rather than intruding in on it.

The underlying feature between all of my work is the relationship between different forms that are integrated together. My sculptures include different media, such as wood, stone, metal, and found objects. My latest projects, however, include creating maquettes, which are miniaturized versions of larger objects. …

Misfits, Hanna Newman

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

My figurative ceramic sculptures are comprised of deconstructed, fragmented and simplified renderings of the human form. Within these sculptures I integrate materials such as human hair, fabric, wood and plaster cast body parts to mimic limbs and body mass, creating diversity in the tactile surface quality. The pastel tones, bright colors and additions of hair further obscures the realistic appearance of these beings. Clay's malleability fuels my intuitive creative process and allows me to replicate the human form in ranges from anatomical accuracy to biomorphic abstraction.

I am inspired by the relationship between interiority and exteriority, between the mind and …

Fruitcake, Joshua Schutz

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

I explore figurative ceramics in relationship to gesture and sexual identity. The surfaces reference art history, decorative arts, and popular culture. The quasi-functional components of the work are inspired by my personal relationship with domestic objects and space. But also from the results of capitalism, which has created a materialistic, consumer-based society with heteronormative ideals. I respond to this heteronormativity by utilizing humor as a strategy to discuss subversive topics while simultaneously drawing in the viewer. I intend for the viewer to reflect on the purpose and narrative behind such flamboyant objects.

Elements, Stephen Anthony Geffre

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This thesis consisted of a gallery exhibition titled “Elements” featuring sculpture created by Stephen Geffre for his Master of Arts in Sculpture from University of Minnesota-Mankato, located in Mankato Minnesota. The exhibition ran from October 16, 2017 to October 31, 2017. The artwork explored sacredness---sacredness rooted in the natural, sacredness rooted within the minds of human kind, sacredness in the form of the classical elements Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

All the work was created in part with material that was going to be thrown away or sold at a fraction of its cost because of its imperfection.

Artscience, Dustin Swiers

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

My thesis show opened on Friday, March 11, 2016 at the 410 project's art gallery, located in downtown Mankato.

The artwork consisted of sculptures displayed on pedestals, hanging on the walls, sitting on specifically constructed arrangements, and hanging from the ceiling. The materials I used to create these sculptures have a dramatically contrasting appearance, but have one universal similarity. At some point most of the materials used were liquid or fluid. I used metals, ceramics, hand blown glass, plastics, and wax. I like to work with these materials in that fluid state because of the added flexibility and forgiveness they …

Concerning The Interaction Of Forms, Luke Splinter

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

"Concerning the Interaction of Forms" is exactly what is in my mind when creating and thinking about work. I am concerned with all of the interactions that can be made when thinking about and looking at forms. How do the forms interact with one another? How do they interact with the space they are placed in? How do they interact with the viewer? These are the questions that concern me the most when creating work

When making work I do so with the help of basic geometric shapes, mathematic ratios, and the feeling I get from the form as it …

Closed For Business, Tyler Schrandt

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Closed for Business is an installation which creates an immersive environment that awards the curious. The inspiration for the exhibition came from local industry and human tendency. In likeliness of a defunct factory, the installation transforms the gallery into a dimly lit mysterious space. Using mostly objects found on local farms and in everyday households, a narrative takes shape. The question "what happened here?" looms as you investigate the space looking for clues. With a keen eye for observation, you navigate the room and stumble upon the office of a misguided -- and missing -- entrepreneur. As you internalizing the …

Lithic, Megan Nelle Moriarty

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The creative works of Lithic employ nature as a visual meeting place to investigate the connection of art objects to the human spirit, explore a balance between scientific naturalism and spiritual abstraction, and work to expand on the use and craftsmanship of consumer and post-consumer materials.

The goal of any art work is to connect with the viewer on a spiritual level and, as an artist, the search for that relationship always brings me back to nature. The natural world is a place for moments of shared ‘awe’ and wonder. It is in nature that questions of human origin and …