Art and Design Commons^™

Difference In The Perception Of Political Art Inside And Outside The Art Gallery, Jose Maria Parga

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of the research for this exhibit was to explore whether a major difference exists in the way political art is perceived by an audience when the art is in an art exhibition and when it is seen in an urban environment. Since the subject matter of En el País de No Pasa Nada, is the current wave of violence and corruption happening in Mexico, the targeted audience for this exhibited is limited to Mexican people and people on the US border with Mexico. If there is a difference in perception, what does the work of art gain, and …

Reflections Of Oppression, Fatemeh Semiari

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis is an investigation into the lives of women living in Iran. I develop a critical framework for understanding it. It is now my understanding that women suffer greatly from the restrictions they are subjected to. I discuss what some of these restrictions are, and how these pressures create turmoil and confusion within some women. The artwork created for my thesis project is a reflection upon the relationship between social proscription and a woman’s desire to express her individuality publicly. The women I portray in my thesis project exhibit a range of emotions such as anger, depression, despair, defeat, …

Study Of Creative Processes That Lead To Successful Visually Narrative Art Products, Denissa U. Kiehl

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The success of an artist’s work depends upon a few key factors. No matter which field of study you pursue as an individual it is important to examine and understand previously collected knowledge and works developed within that field. Once an artist has learned from the successful “Old” methods and examples of artworks he or she may then combine the “Old” with some of his or her “New” methods and ideas. When it comes to visual narrative art there is a large variety of visual art and other creations to learn from. Factors related to decision making will change with …

"Threads Of Belief", Erum S. Javed

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

As the needle pierces the fabric, the thread finds its way. As the needle lays its rhythmic path, the thread follows the needle, creating a specific sound and pattern. The needle and the thread together create something new or mend something old. As an artist I have found my direction, and sensitivity, the same as the thread that finds its way by filling and tying the spaces between other threads in the fabric. As I draw the point through every stitch, I am drawing a thought, a moment, an expression from past and present. I seek a thread, a theme, …

Estampas De Mi Tierra- Vignettes Of My Land, Angel Berrios

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

With the intention of expressing my heritage, I have recalled all of my artistic knowledge in order to create this series of art works. I am very much in agreement with the route of artistic expression that I have followed in order to capture these images. I have given form to my message by following a technique involving the application of a combination of strokes and dots of color. I do not have, nor did I use photographs or any other visual resource to aid me in the creation of these paintings. I am solely inspired by my ideals as …

Quest For Spirituality, Teodoro Estrada

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Quest for Spirituality is a body of work that confronted and validated suppressed spiritual experiences. I credit Our Lady Virgin of Guadalupe for my resurrection from ignoring my creative gift and bringing me home.

Desire for limelight, stability, and fulfilling the gallery-going public’s desire overshadowed numerous invitations and opportunities to explore spirituality. A fruitful lifestyle suppressed the nuance of spirituality never expressed until the silence vanished. My mother’s passing, a spiritual epiphany unraveled memories giving expression to these experiences. The vicious cycle of gallery going public’s desire for my art crumbled the day I returned to my homeland. Time has …

A Quest For Understanding Finding My Way Back, Juan Saenz

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

My work reflects my place in nature and how through its documentation I have been given the opportunity to mend family ties. In my paintings I capture the essence of those things that bring me peace of mind and good health. The aim of my work is not solely for the purpose of self reflection but also an attempt to bring my viewers back to a different time in their lives. The following works are an example of my direction and experimentation.

The Return To Aztlan, Eliseo Moreno

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

With this thesis I will focus on my Chicano artistic influences as well as on my life experiences as a third-generation Chicano growing up in the barrios of Browntown, “Tejas” (Brownsville, Texas) I will also examine in my paintings the Chicano identity; its culture, traditions, beliefs, and lifestyle. In this thesis like my artwork I will depict the myth of “Atzlan” via eras of the Chicano movement. I will start my writings with the mid-nineteen forties, the “Zoot Suit” era, which I believe is the original beginning of the Chicano movement, and advance to the nineteen sixties and seventies where …

Field Of Tears: A Tribute To Los Braceros, Maria Esperanza Balboa

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

With this thesis I intend to honor my Mexican-American heritage by portraying the roots of the Mexican and Mexican-American migrant workers in America. Using the experiences of my father, my relatives, and the history of the Braceros I will also describe the struggles, the pain, the sorrows of the migrant workers. My artwork which consists of black and white photographs, video, and installation will be the tools to give these people which have been forgotten, their long awaited voice. Interpreting ideas and inspiration from Mexican and Mexican-American political art, photography, and installation I have depicted the struggles and pain of …

The Borderline Between The Personal And Political, Celeste De Luna

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This paper is a documentation of the form, content, techniques, and processes of the body of visual artwork I created for my M.F.A. graduate coursework. My work frequently uses themes based on the migrant/border experiences of women, children, and families throughout generations in the context of the larger American experience. My acrylic paintings on canvas, assemblages and installations validate Latino/Chicano experiences and invites reflection and learning. My work is influenced and relates to contemporary Chicano and Post-Chicano Art, Feminist Art, and the writings of Gloria A. Anzaldua.

Visual Cultural Identity In South Texas Art And Design, Mirla Gonzalez De Martinez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Transculturation as the key element in the search for autochthonous visual richness and profundity is the theme for my investigation. In the process, numerous questions arise for the need for authentic cultural expression but also ownership of cultural, social identities. I selected the Rio Grande Valley region having little knowledge of conflicts that surround this border and its territories. I also explored the social and cultural histories that included art making and architectural and graphic design. The transfer of cultural imprints, sometimes accepted but often rejected or unknown, forms the basis of this inquiry. My intent resides in a respect …

Edge Of Existence, Mack Liao

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The painting, Edge of Existence best describes my surreal world at its current state. The idea started with the crisis of global warming. I want to express the peril of the creatures that are on the frontier of the global warming effect. The idea for the structure of the painting came from a Magritte painting called, The Domain of Arnheim. He has transformed an undeniably grand impression of a moonlit mountain landscape by means of a mental technique related to that of Poe and his imaginary friend Ellison, who described a magnificent, complicated, and weird landscape in which the natural …

Art, The Social Enzyme: The Emergence Of An Art Community In The Rio Grande Valley, Heaven Lashley

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study explores the emergence of an art community in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) region of South Texas. In researching this objective, I relied on observations at many gallery public functions where I had the opportunity to observe the interactions between prospective buyers, gallery owners and artists. I also visited with gallery owners and artists many times in small group settings where I raised open ended questions about the region's artists and other historical developments that would allow me to put together a cohesive story about the emergence of the art community

This study began as an unstructured exploration …

Busted Flat Tire Mobility, Oscar F. Martinez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The work presented in Busted Flat Tire Mobility is an attempt to promote awareness about problems afflicting our modern society. Seizing on the opportunity to present my concerns through artwork addressing the issue of poverty in this culture, I hope to present an emotional and inspiring representation of the lives of those people whom inhabit the "Invisible America". This exhibition paper presents my belief that art can be a revolutionary tool in which to motivate people to act.

A Marionette's Dream, Veronica R. Jaeger

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

As an artist, I believe there is an open awareness and sensibility toward everything experienced in life which manifests through the spirit in form and imagery. Jean-Paul Sartre's affirmation, "You are nothing else but what you live", encloses the general concepts of my artwork and the starting point of my continuous questioning about existence and life, making a personal interpretation based on my own experiences and the spiritual concepts of eastern and western philosophies as Buddhism, Taoism, Existentialism, and Christianity. I had been an observer of the outside filtered through my own senses and beliefs, translated into the language of …

Micro_Cosmos, Rachael E. Freyman Brown

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This exhibition thesis and its accompanying exhibition invite the viewer to contemplate large and small connections to nature in our lives. How are backyard gardens a metaphor for the way our culture thinks of or treats nature and the environment? Do we have personal or spiritual connections to the land, plants, and the ecosystem, or do we see them merely as products for our use? The work in micro _COSMOS is an attempt to balance and unite paradoxes: the spiritual within the everyday, the natural and the constructed, and to come to terms with the constant cycle of regeneration in …

Searching For Wisdom Through Art, Maria A. Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Wisdom is virtue humanity has sought since the beginning of its creation. Humanity will continue to search for wisdom throughout their lives. The book of Proverbs is a collection of ample advice and words of wisdom for those who seek it. It is a book that can be followed throughout our lives. My artwork is a collection of offerings inspired by the proverbs of Solomon. They are created to open up the minds of those who seek wisdom, it offers a visual interpretation of moral value that many time become lost in society.

Apocalyptic Surrealism, John Michael Bazan

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

My artistic philosophies and vision of the world are highly influenced by Surrealism, Symbolism, Romanticism, and the fantasy genre. My work is mainly Symbolic and Surrealistic, applied impressionistically and graphically, and made relative to the modern world by using religious and Apocalyptic Symbolism mixed with cosmic psychological dreamscapes of the universe. My vision of the real world is a symbolic “nightmare enigma”—like Dali's psychotic world of chaos and disorder. My imagery is associated with themes of chaos, war, death, and modern history. The academic term of Apocalyptic Surrealism is the broad mixture of religious Symbolism, political Symbolism, and historical Symbolism …

Journey From Home, Benjamin P. Varela

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

My art Is built on a foundation of personal experiences: First, as a child In New York City and Puerto Rico, and second, as a man learning his craft in universities and workshops in Wisconsin, Illinois, Texas, and Mexico. I categorize this deductive process as the emergence of the personal "Me,” because most artists develop a visual language of signs and symbols that has been shaped by the artist’s family, education, and personal experiences. It is also a deductive process that has shaped the personal “Me” through an analysis of my movement away from pernicious generalities, characterized by living under …

Reconstructing Memories: An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Mental And Real Space In Art And Architecture, Claudia S. Behar

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

As an architect and artist I believe that there is a strong relationship between art and architecture. The perceived relationship between both has at times been thought more or less significant; however, history has shown us that a society or an individual can enhance the relationship between the two disciplines. I am working on establishing the strength of that relationship. My work of art is focused on the creation of spaces. It is about experiencing a variety of places through the visual and the emotional senses. The architectural settings that I depict and construct are far from the realm of …

Claus/Claws: A Journey Through Leonardland's Multivalent Meanings, Chris Leonard

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This exhibition paper presents the linkage of apparently unrelated topic and content. This arduous task is accomplished through an exploration of opposites and an overall presentation in the form of family fun or domestic distress disguised within personal world and the overall umbrella of homonyms: Claus (as in Santa) and Claws (as in cat). The work presented is a view of Leonardland, an intensely personal vision of my family and our history melded into a proposed future as seen through a wild conglomeration of seemingly dissimilar visions comprising the eclectic cultural mix that is our life on this geographic and …

A Link With Nature: The Healing Of Soul, Kelly B. Kraehe

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This paper accompanies the Master of Fine Arts exhibition titled A Link With Nature. Art cannot divorce itself from its process, from its artist, and from becoming a product. Like the canopy, trunk and roots of a tree, the parts of art are mysteriously interdependent and would not exist alone. So too in my art, the artist, process, and product are woven together to form a visual tapestry that I have defined throughout the thesis paper. As artist, aesthetic experiences have formed the vision that I portray through painting and sculpture. The process of going places, seeing things and …

Love, Labor And Life: Existence Through A Neo-Surrealist Style, Manuel Saenz Jr.

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The artistic work explained in this paper reflects imaginative ideas, consisting of meticulous work in a variety of media: pen and ink, oil paint, and steel. The creative process used to produce my works is based on both psychological and physical levels. Psychologically, I reflected and depended on dreams from the past to capture images from my sub-conscience. The importance of industrial symbolism and how it was chosen and strategically placed in the work aided me to deal with my preoccupation with death, a tradition that stems from my Hispanic roots, such as observing the Mexican holiday: Day of the …

Diurnal Rhythms: The Daily Life And Art Of A Mexican American Migrant, Lillia Munoz

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

My series of paintings and sculptural pieces of art, embody a singular theme; the noble labors and life of migrant farm workers. The creative process used to produce my works involves two realities: a mental state and a physical state. Within the formulation of an idea, these mental and physical states often occur simultaneously, at other times separately. Consciously, my art depicts the psychological perceptions and effects of the migrant experience. Repetitive lines mimic rhythmic patterns, monotonous rituals, and daily routines of harvesting, marketing, and unrelenting work. Human and architectural shapes and forms are simplified to reflect the simplicity of …

Clay And Creative Vision, Raymond Clifford Pocquette

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

My work reflects my attitude towards life. Experience has taught me that I am the only person that I can change, and then, only if I am willing. My work is not intended to be a mirror of society or in any way represent a model for change of any kind. I throw pottery, sculpt, and paint because these activities please me and help define my humanity. This disquisition is a record of my journey through life as an artist, from the inception of my efforts through the work represented in this thesis show. The paper is divided into major …

Cascading Visions, Noel Palmenez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

I view my work as a look into dreams, thoughts, ideas. My themes are universal, but their source derives from my specific surroundings, the Rio Grande Valley. They come out from the rows in the fields where we grow our foods, in the skies, and from the sun that warms our blood. Themes come from what I see as well as what I imagine, living and not. I consider myself a farmer, but now I harvest ideas and concepts, and have my paintings and drawings to show for my labor. I believe one must contribute to the land before one …

The Art And Myth Of The Coyote And Related Folk Tales From The South Texas And Northern Mexican Border, Esau Rubio Pena

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This paper will examine the relationship between the myth of the coyote and the folk tales that are indigenous to the South Texas/Mexican border. Moreover, I intend to explore several common folk tales pertaining to the coyote and how I have chosen to synthesize them into my artwork. In my paintings, I have become cognizance that the coyote possesses many identities. In one instance, the coyote can appear as a wild animal, a rogue of nature; however, in another instance I have learned that the coyote is a highly adaptive creature capable of being a protector of the natural world. …

Gallos, Caballos, Gente Y Paisajes, Rosendo Sandoval

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

First. I will give the reader a brief but detailed biography. It covers the period of time from my birth all the way to my college graduation. This section gives the reader an idea about my beginnings as an artist, and about the hardships that I have endured during my lifetime.

Second, this paper talks about the work, and my main sources of inspiration. In it I explain to the reader what have been my sources of inspiration from childhood all the way to the present time. One of my first sources of inspiration were the old Mexican movies that …

Tracing The Cultural Memory In The Rio Grande Valley: Mexican-American Dichos, Proverbs Interpreted Through Art, Jennifer Michele Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Conversational phrases, dichos are verbal hallmarks from Mexican-Americans and familiar to the Hispanic culture through different versions. This folk wisdom is exposed through communication, tracing historical accounts of life, love, struggle, and ultimately survival among Mexican-Americans. I have started a series of paintings and collective art pieces focusing on Mexican-American dichos unique and familiar to the Rio Grande Valley. They are a cultural representation of life unique to this area, and combine the recollective spirit from not only myself, but from my family's accounts of these spontaneous conversational phrases.

With influences stemming from the Pop Art period, specifically Roy Lichtenstein …

Chthonic Power Versus Synthetic Power: Iconography And Color Symbolizing The Female Principle Relative To The Male Principle, Kathryn M. Thorn-Simpson

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The images depict an exploration of an expressive, abstract aesthetic that delineates visual content with symbolism: depicted by color, iconography, and form. The artistic intention underlying the imagery is to evoke emotional awareness of the possibility that chthonic forces of nature—the mysterious life force generated by earth and the universe—in contrast to man-made synthetic powers—technology, science, machines, war, and ideas related to control over nature—are manifested as a dichotomy of experience between female and male; the forces of nature as the female principle and synthetic powers as the male principle. The imaginative elements in the imagery use colors and forms …