Art and Design Commons^™

Refashioning Style From The Outside-In: A Pakistani Diasporic Response, Sidra Sohail Khawaja

Theses and Dissertations

Pakistan’s traditionalists and modernists hold opposing political, religious, social and nationalist views creating a constant tension within the culture. This tension creates a fashion industry with two extremes, one side reflecting traditional influences and the other reflecting western trends. I address the tension by analysing the craft and context of traditional Pakistani men’s clothing and incorporating traditional construction techniques into garments that reflect aspects of both points of view. In a series of five looks, I extract from influences like Persian, North Indian, Afghani, Colonial and Neo-Colonial, to generate hybridized garments that offer a new perspective, blending traditional elements with …

Driven By Personality: Exploring The Relationship Between Custom Cars And Self-Expression, Tharwa Dalansi

Theses and Dissertations

Custom Car Culture (CCC) is a form of creativity that emerges from personal identities and passions. It involves the restoration, modification and personal adornment of commercially manufactured cars. This process creates a journey, where the enthusiast goes through multiple phases of self-reflection. But due to a lack of local resources, Qatar-based CCC enthusiasts often have to send their cars abroad to Dubai or Japan in order to customize them, relinquishing creative control in the process.

In response to these challenges, based on observations and interviews conducted among actual CCC enthusiasts, I develop a platform for engagement between these enthusiasts and …

一To二To三, Yameng Wang

Theses and Dissertations

This work relates to an animated film focusing on iteration, simulacrum, and artificial intelligence. It is based on the traditional Tao concept: “One life two, two beget three, three beget all things.”

Intersect- On The Corner Of Princess Anne And William, Madison M. Goff

Theses and Dissertations

After a worldwide pandemic, perspectives towards personal space and private quarters have shifted. Social distancing procedures during COVID-19 altered the use of space, even after vaccinations have been administered. After limits on large gatherings and keeping 6 feet away from each other, what is the expectation that people hold now when in public?

Research will include interviewing the intended user groups (students and travelers), designers who are familiar with hospitality and hostel design, and hospitality professionals. The perspective on private and public space has shifted after the pandemic, so a survey will target hostel age groups that could help understand …

Waiting To Exhale, Abigail H. Ogle

Theses and Dissertations

We breathe as a measure of time, it keeps us alive, and fabricates the pattern of our lives. We are punctuated by “snarls,” “glitches,” or moments of irregularity – of trying to catch one's breath, having it taken away, or gasping for it. It is the punctuation of sighs, huffs, sniffs, scoffs, screams, and deep intakes that appear as glitches in the breathing system.

In our daily rhythm of breathing, the presence of the glitch, defined as potentiality, can create space for something unexpected or new to arise. Using the wind from fans and approximately 1,260 square feet of silk, …

Totem Impulse, Tendai T. Mupita

Theses and Dissertations

In this reading, I explore the performative and complexities of indigenous mythologies, cosmologies, and epistemologies, through totems, folklore, architecture, and games. This paper extracts references from indigenous philosophies in thinking about form and image. These forms and images are my sculptures, my installations, and my lines.

Discovery: A Visual Arts Elementary School, Cindy J. Perdomo

Theses and Dissertations

On average, school-age children spend more time in the classroom environment than they do at home. Why not provide environments that stimulate children’s curiosity to learn through visual arts? Including visual arts in educational programs can enhance students’ cognitive development, problem-solving abilities, cultural awareness, and critical thinking skills.

As someone who has attended various public schools in Florida, I’ve found that incorporating arts education into the curriculum can enhance students’ overall engagement with learning. Unfortunately, many students lack access to arts education due to a lack of funding and resources. Traditionally, the arts have been viewed as an opportunity for …

From Silence To Forte: Developing An Inclusive Space For Persian Musicians To Flourish, Sholeh Salimi

Theses and Dissertations

Music serves as a reflection of culture and conveys various emotional and intellectual states, such as a nation's perspective, social attitudes, and historical background. However, the Iranian revolution in 1979 led to the ban of music by the new regime, limiting the output and audience for Iranian music. In addition, the emergence of Western music accessibility through technology posed challenges for traditional Persian music, and the government's restrictions on music further compounded the problem. To support and advance the preservation and dissemination of Iranian music, this study aims to explore how an interior designer can create a space that enables …

Nuff Love: From Me To You, Katherine S. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis exhibition, Nuff Love: From Me to You, explores the profound impact of diasporic memory on identity within the family structure, particularly for those who were born after immigration. This unpacking of memories is achieved through photographs, collages, and installations that reveal the distant and absent attributes that reside within the home. As a second-generation American of Afro-Jamaican descent, this thesis navigates how the dual identity becomes too complex and is never allowed to exist in a binary state. The constant state of in-betweenness between both cultures led to further questioning of selfhood beyond the Caribbean identity maintained by …

Welcome To The Sitting Garden At The Busy Hands Museum, Stacie Sabady

Theses and Dissertations

I wanted to attend VCU to learn how to unravel my mind and find the words to describe it. While I did make progress in that area, my surprise discovery is that I need to unravel my body too. It has become unbalanced from years of neglect. When working, I find solace through escape. I find a positive outlet for my perfectionist tendencies. I find a way to visually illustrate my obsessive qualities. Throughout the years of these findings, I have ignored my body pleading with me to take it easy. I have always honored the materials and the tools, …

Vesptures, Nyasha T. Chigama Ms

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This is an invitation into the delicate space of living between two worlds, of having feelings of happiness and sadness at the same time. Delicate emotions and situations which are not easy to share but are paramount in my research of what it takes to want more out of being just a parent, come from a certain country than the one I am living in, and navigate between two cultures. This is a journey around some of the experiences I have faced when I found myself in a different space other than the one I grew up in. The …

Crafting Community: A Ceramics Center, Nadia Mechboukh

Theses and Dissertations

For artisans, being part of a community can facilitate engaging with the public. Networking and collaborating with peers are vital for building meaningful relationships that can lead to mutual inspiration and learning opportunities. By strengthening the connection between society and various forms of craft, we can weave invisible threads that link the stories that craft tells with the time and place in which they were created. Pottery is a craft that has existed for thousands of years. Ceramics and clay have carried the history of communities and their ways of living through centuries and have been used as identifiers of …

The Living Legends Of Sholoukh – شلوخ الأساطير Facial Scarification In Sudan, Ayah S. Elnour

Theses and Dissertations

Sholoukh — ritual face scarring—is a dying art form in Sudan.

Used to distinguish members of one tribe from another,

Sholoukh reflects the tribal pride of an individual. In the past,

sholoukh was seen as important as having a passport for a tribe

member, however, it was not always applied by choice. Using

just a razor blade, the wisest, most senior tribal elder would scar

the face of a child, initiating them into the tribe for life.

As this tribal art form fades away, the dwindling Sholoukh-bearers

have become living legends in Sudan. To honor them, I create

a collage …

Behind The Gate: Syrian Women In Soap Operas - Perception Vs. Reality, Tasnim J. Rahimah

Theses and Dissertations

Syria has witnessed what is known as al-fawra al-drameya, an eruption of drama since 2000. Every year, especially during Ramadan, dozens of Syrian soap operas are aired across the Arab world and beyond, depicting Syrians’ historical struggles as they fought for liberation from the French mandate at the beginning of the 20th century. Although women of those days were a vital part of that liberation movement and had prominent societal roles, these historical fiction soap operas chose to portray only the demure and dismissive female figures and not mention the women who were independent, courageous, and active members of the …

Breaking Bread & Boundaries : Finding Home In Every Bite, Steffi Ann Braganza

Theses and Dissertations

Raised outside of their “passport” countries, Third Culture Individuals (TCIs) often experience a lack of rootedness and belonging, and home is often everywhere and nowhere. Childhood food memories can provide the sense of connection and identity TCIs crave. Four Qatar-raised TCIs, from very different backgrounds share memories of their childhood comfort foods, now hybridized dishes, that reflect their unique third culture experiences. Each dish, in turn, inspired the creation of a bespoke set of cooking /dining ware designed to trigger a specific sensory memory: the sight, smell, touch, or sound associated with the original comfort dish. This specialized cooking/dining ware …

The Game Of Absolute, Rupeng Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis paper writing is a collection of short stories. Or it could be thought of as a small magazine or even an instruction manual for my work. There is a loose correspondence between its content and the symbols used in my installations. It is also realistically and physically presented in my exhibition as part of a "game box". The chaotic and contradictory narrative of this collection of short stories stems from my exhaustive pursuit of the elements that I try to approach in each story. This insatiable pattern of compulsive organization is also evident in the content of my …

Half Of Two Hungers, Aida A. Lizalde Rios

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

half of two hungers is an extension of my sculptural practice; a weaving of the ambiguous borders of memory, trauma, disease, identity, assimilation, survival, spirituality, love, erotics, and desire. It is a psychological and sensorial landscape, where I travel consciously and subconsciously to pull shapes and material experiences out into the world of bodies and objects.

A Constructed Memoir: The History And Heritage Of The Baloch Community In Qatar, Somaia Nahang Dorzadeh

Theses and Dissertations

In the 1960s, when my father was only thirteen years old, he took a perilous journey on a boat alone from Sistan va Baluchestan, Iran, to Qatar, in the hopes of a better life. Like many long-term residents from Balochistan, my father has lived in Qatar for decades, predating the establishment of the modern state of Qatar itself in 1971. His legal position in the country today remains subject to the Kafala system, and his residency is subject to his employment status, which must be renewed each year. In other words, permanency is never guaranteed, nor is future planning.

In …

Frewayni's Garden: Preserving Tigrayan Culture During A Period Of Ethnocide, Gabrielle F. Tesfaye

Theses and Dissertations

The recent and ongoing genocidal war in Tigray, Ethiopia, has witnessed the destruction and looting of countless historical religious sites, ancient manuscripts, and artifacts, leaving Tigray’s remaining cultural heritage extremely vulnerable. Such cultural loss erases a shared understanding across generations, robbing them of their history and identity. My work contributes to the safeguarding of Tigray’s cultural heritage and collective memory, informed by literature on cultural preservation efforts in post-war societies, and a series of interviews with Tigrayans in the diaspora and in Ethiopia.

The outcome of this thesis is embodied in a series of distinct jebenas, traditional Tigrayan clay coffee …

Less Water, More Holy: Tools For Sustainable Ablution, Faheem Khan

Theses and Dissertations

Prayer is an important part of life for many people, whether it takes the form of meditation or talking to God. Muslims pray five times a day, and before each prayer, they first clean themselves by performing ritual ablution (wudu). The eight-step purification process of wudu cleanses the body from head to toe. The Hadiths of Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim tell us the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ needed just one mudd of water (650ml) to complete wudu, but most people consume many times that amount—four-to-seven liters is more common today.

To visualize and better understand the nature …

Dregs / Lessons From The Things Around Us, Juan-Manuel Pinzon

Theses and Dissertations

The writing in Lessons From the Things Around Us is in support of the work in my MFA thesis show, dregs. I detail the progression of my making and thinking over the last two years. I expand on the material and personal relationships that have manifested themselves in the work and influenced my approach to the things that surround me. Finally, I point to a more expansive definition of Craft, rooted in its material sensibilities, and the possibilities already present in the field that this definition creates.

Misled Youth, Mark Tan

Theses and Dissertations

I’m a first-generation Canadian who was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario by Asian immigrants. I have migrated to the United States and lived here for 7 years. Through my work, I express the emotional value of preconceived notions, disconnectedness, and longing in search of finding place and acceptance within a community. Drawing from memory, personal narrative, emotion, and perception, I manipulate data into lines, forms, and materials through a subjective human experience from the lens of a non-citizen. By projecting the migration movement of my family lineage from China and the Philippines to Canada as well as my path …

Eadah: Tools For Celebrating Qatari Wellness Rituals, Abdulrahman Al Muftah

Theses and Dissertations

Friday prayer is an essential congregational practice in Muslim communities. To prepare for Friday prayer, worshippers groom and cleanse themselves ahead of time, according to Islamic ablution rituals, and dress in their best attire.

Eadah is a collection of contemporary tools designed to facilitate the pre-prayer cleansing ritual, inspired by traditional Qatari remedies and wellness practices. The tools reflect three balanced considerations: touch, meditative making, and cultural preservation. They are used to prepare natural ingredients through mindful making that produce remedies with stimulating scents and sensations through touch. An emphasis on cultural preservation differentiates Eadah from other tools offered by …

Until Its Calmness Can Claim You, Gabrielle Mchugh

Theses and Dissertations

This is an invitation to pause //

This is an externalization of my inner landscape, a highlight of what I value in my everyday and what comprises my lexicon of a sacred space. The following is a journey of nets, quiet, the sacred, space, and the in-between; where I share research and questions that are the foundation for my thesis work, Until Its calmness can claim you.

// This is an invitation to find moments of quiet in the noise

A Gun For Every Woman, Gentë Retkoceri

Theses and Dissertations

Six centuries ago in Kosova, my home country, unmarried women known as sworn virgins, were forced to adopt a male persona and carry a gun to protect themselves. But today, guns have become tools of oppression and violence against women. And while the legal system carries penalties for domestic violence, marital rape is excluded. To shine a light on, and expose the topic of hidden violence, my thesis uses artivism to address a sensitive but provocative issue, exhibiting a large-scale sculpture of a gun, designed to provoke raw emotions; to challenge visitors to consider the terror felt by women threatened …

Metamosque – Envisioning The Mosque As A Virtual Public Space, Alaa Albarazy

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, the mosque was not only a space for a communal prayer but also a place for building a community. Today, however, with conflicts and diseases fragmenting society, people are less able to gather physically in large spaces. Out of necessity, people rely on technology to get together and interact virtually. In this context, my research challenges the notion of the mosque as a physical space, proposing, instead, its extension into virtual space. Recent global events pose the question: Can the metaverse offer an opportunity for the mosque to reassert itself as a public space. I propose that a MetaMosque …

Connected: Exploring Automation To Activate Aging In Place Success, Hallie W. Gillespie

Theses and Dissertations

MOTIVATION: There’s no place like home. Technological advances are now allowing us to live and work from anywhere. Spatial divides are disappearing through remote connections, creating a dispersion of the nuclear family, traditionally the prevailing caregivers for seniors. Older adults are projected to outnumber children under eighteen by 2034, a first in U.S. history (Census Bureau, 2019). This is not specific to America; “globally the population is aging. Since 1980, the number of people aged over 60 has more than doubled in size and is projected to do so again by 2050 to 2.1 billion” (United Nations, 2017).

ISSUE: There …

The Silent Rage Of Being Loved, Michelle R. Albertson

Theses and Dissertations

The Silent Rage of Being Loved is a multimedia installation working primarily with photography, video, and sculpture. It explores the nuanced ways in which memory, grief, and veneration manifest physically in my life through objects and my body. My proposed thesis installation is intended as a place of refuge for my audience amongst a shrine-like space and for us, collectively, to reexamine and widen the ways in which we experience mourning and grief.

Reclaiming The Appropriated Space Through Care, William P. Glaser

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis navigates the complex and (at times) frustrating experience of balancing caregiving and art making while attempting to converge both practices into one. The collaboration of caregiving and art making serves as a potential solution for those that struggle with the seemingly unreconcilable stratification of both activities.

Connections Exposed | A Library For The People, Stephanie Wilburn

Theses and Dissertations

MOTIVATION

The U.S. economy, democracy, and the health and happiness of citizens depends on maintaining social capital, the networks of bonds between community members. Social capital creates the trust that facilitates action and cooperation for mutual benefit. Since the 1960s, there has been a decline in-person socialization and social bonds both within and between demographic groups in the US resulting in reduced social capital (Putnam, 2000).

One measure to combat declining social capital is to create third places where incidental and repeated social interactions build and reinforce bonds between community members (Oldenburg, 1997).

With the reduction of accessible and inclusive …