Art and Design Commons^™

Invisible Labor And The Preservation Of Dignity, Laken Bridges

All Theses

My art seeks to question the social value of labor. Throughout history, labor hierarchies influenced by social class and economic stigmas have informed how laborers are viewed in the United States. Physical jobs such as menial and domestic work are a common form of invisible labor that experience debasement and stereotyping. In my art, I use labor-based and ordinary objects as a metaphor for the worker, linking the value or disposability of the object to the societal value of labor. This critique of labor is enhanced by the manipulation of text, by the formal tools of scale and perspective, and …

Points Of Contention: Oddities, Delicacies, & Monstrosities, Arthur T. Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Points of Contention, an MFA exhibit, features fifteen works of relief-printed images from carved linoleum and layers of type printed with antique letterpress wood type. The work constitutes a visual exploration of dissatisfaction and disenchantment presented through the context of odd stories in the news and major current events, such as election politics and the closing of Hostess bakeries, as well as, NSA data collection and gun violence.

This supporting thesis explores the conceptual and physical processes of creating the pieces, including researching other artists who have wrestled with similar topics and produced their own unique reaction and resolution …

Perceptions And Realities: Contemporary Impressions Of Formative And Temporal Experiences, Holly Lee Brewer

Theses

This thesis describes contemporary, non-traditional printmaking processes aimed at creating a metaphor for our perceptions of time and how the passage of time affects us both internally and externally in our attempt at constructing our self-identity. The language of this metaphor adopts the internal patterns of tree burls and altered pieces of manufactured wood in communicating the transience of time and mutability of memory. Texture is highlighted in many of the pieces for the exhibition, not only with that of irregular wood grain, but also in the series with skin-like handmade flax paper. In order to demonstrate how memory is …

Without Words, Adrienne Lichliter

All Theses

My work seeks to question culture's occupation with the direct and conclusive, stirring the viewer away from immediate understanding in order to better grasp the pervasive vitality of the obscure. The thesis outlines the presence of the unclear in our lives and our lack of consideration of its importance due to an occupation with productivity. This argument is made with a body of non-objective artwork that presents visual and spatial ambiguities. By occupying paradoxes and indeterminate focal points, the art resists recognition and conclusion both formally and intellectually. The paper also discusses the importance of printmaking and restraint, requiring one …