Art and Design Commons^™

Measured Chance, Brian R. Kluge

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

In my practice I use clay to make enigmatic, non-representational sculptures that employ reductive geometry and archetypal forms. By pressing clay into a variety of molds, it is my intention to contrast a primal crudeness with a skilled precision in my handling of the material. I fabricate objects that range in scale from handheld to human- size. In this work, I combine references to the forms of manmade things with surfaces that allude to age and wear resulting from natural patinas that occur on stone, wood, or metal. This body of work shares qualities with the Minimalist and Earth Art …

Scenes From A Crash, Byron J. Anway

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

In the summer of 2010, a drunk driver veered off the road, colliding with my house. Car parts, both recognizable and unidentifiable, littered the lawn: twisted metal, plastic, bits of industrial insulation, and fluids leaked from the engine, leaving large swaths of dead grass. The rubble provided rich subject matter from which to make work. Scenes from a Crash is a series of drawings and paintings made about my surroundings. This show sheds prior conventions and reevaluates assumptions about palette, scale, and medium.

My painting practice involves following intuitive impulses; I allow my internal dialogue to highlight people, places, and …

Told, Retold, And Repo'd, Jason Tanner T. Young

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

With a voice comes a story. Stories morph with each retelling. This relates to sculpture; these objects operate as markers. They tell a loose story, but function more as a description of an environment, an attitude or perception. They mark a certain place in time, a feeling. Objects hold a presence. A reminder of when and where, how and how much, and why is that there?

Because Ty left it there, now help me move it.

The work presented is composed of raw beliefs and curious fixations. These truths open memories and start a stumbling internal dialogue. Stories and lived …

Closely Observed, Meghan C. Sullivan

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

There are many ways in which people communicate but the most powerful ways are often unspoken. Our gestures can convey a tremendous amount of information. The smallest change of posture will alert us to a shift in mood. This is understood on a subconscious level. In every interaction, there are layers of information that color each person’s understanding of what is happening at the moment. Many aspects of our personalities are unknown to others. Subtle and seemingly ordinary interactions can have deep emotional and psychological resonance.

My figurative ceramic sculptures are observations of people existing in prosaic moments. The gestures …

Rising Tides And Color Revolutions, Charles Mitchell

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

My art is based on the argument that visual culture has a profound effect on society, and in turn, on our environment. The radical changes that will be necessary to produce a sustainable society and avoid a future of social inequality and climate catastrophe must be mirrored by equally radical changes in visual culture. These changes involve shifting the sociological sites for art to put culture back into service for the local, participatory communities that are our brightest promise in achieving a sustainable society. In an age beset by unprecedented economic, social, and ecological challenges no problem can be more …

Basic Space, Sean P. Morrissey

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

The American suburban landscape and lifestyle incites my investigation of land use, development and consumerism. Our cultural obsession with the “dream home” and the act of displaying a social identity through popular architectural enhancements is what attracts me to this landscape. In my work I emphasize banal architecture and ornamentation to accentuate issues of sameness and draw attention to the loss of individuality. The information is distilled into a visual language inspired by my personal histories with zoning, geography, and land use, borrowing from the flatness and simplicity of cartographic design, informational graphics and architectural illustration. In my own work …

A Memory Forgotten: Representation Of Women And The Washington D.C. Arsenal Monument, Melissa Sheets

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

The Arsenal Monument in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington D.C. commemorates the twenty-one women who died while working as cartridge makers in the Washington Arsenal on June 17th, 1864. It utilizes both traditional and idealized memorial imagery, represented by an allegorical figure of Grief who stands atop the Monument’s shaft, as well as a realistic representation of the Arsenal explosion carved into the base. Erected only a year after the incident, the Monument can be interpreted as commemorating all twenty-one women by the inclusion of their names on the sides of the base. From this listing of names and the …

Stealing Horses And Hostile Conflict: 1833-1834 Drawings Of Mato-Tope And Sih-Chida, Kimberly Minor

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

The first documented Native American art on paper includes the following drawings at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska: In the Winter, 1833-1834 (two versions) by Sih-Chida (Yellow Feather) and Mato-Tope Battling a Cheyenne Chief with a Hatchet (1834) by Mato-Tope (Four Bears) as well as an untitled drawing not previously attributed to the latter. These images were produced and collected during the winter of 1833-1834 when the German Prince Maximilian of Wied and artist Karl Bodmer resided at Fort Clark in North Dakota. These drawings remained with Prince Maximilian’s estate until they were placed on long term loan …