Art and Design Commons^™

An Unbearable Illumination Of Truth, Shanna Glawson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An Unbearable Illumination of Truth is a series of sculptures created to explore the connection between trauma and healing. The sculptural exhibition addresses economic, occupational, childhood, sexual, and gender-based trauma. These sculptures incorporate familiar motifs and visual metaphors to express narratives of varying types of traumas. A broad range of sculptural materials (such as wood, fabric, and found objects) and methods are used to create these symbolic, objective forms. The juxtaposition of shelters with other forms and materials visually enacts the themes of vulnerability and intrigue that characterizes traumatic incidents. Shelters are referenced throughout this entire body of work as …

Ex-Tensions: Material Entanglement And Intensities, Zohreh Galdizadeh Garmeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploration of the intrinsic capacity of matter and material formations and utilization of art as a mode of inquiry. Ex-tensions: Material Entanglement and Intensities investigates the animism and vibrancy of objects and the hidden interplay between materials and intensities that flow through and around within the spaces that confine us. In this body of work, all forms of material configurations are understood as animated and agential and as different representations of the same substance that are only formally diverse.

Surface Levels, Keisha Brathwaite

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Surface Levels are depictions of unobserved and imperceptible realities of many phytoplankton exteriors. The exhibition explores various structures, textures, and repetitious forms from microscopic surfaces of objects that cannot be seen with unaided eyes. Electron microscopy is used to perceive and analyze these otherwise unseeable surfaces in depth. Magnifications provide a reference in creating three- and two-dimensional works that are minimalistic and abstract at a visible level. This abstract 3D/2D image collection is translated into material expressions using acrylic sheets, acrylic ink, and wood as the main media for construction of individual works. Collectively, they serve to make the invisible …

Undesirable Forms, Maria Risner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Master of Fine Arts exhibition, Undesirable Forms, presents a collection of paintings and sculptures that focus on the repulsion and discomfort a woman can experience within her mind and body. These works were exhibited at the Tipton gallery, in downtown Johnson City. The pieces included in this exhibition consist of encaustic paintings on panel, and sculptures created from plaster life-casts.

The ideas discussed in this paper are influenced by Julia Kristeva and Sigmund Freud’s work relating to the abject/grotesque female body. This paper also discusses inspiration from other artists, such as Natalie Frank and Helen Chadwick, who work …

Irrational Aggregates, Courtney N. Ryan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis paper examines the work included in my Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition entitled Irrational Aggregates. The goal of this work is to facilitate a dialogue between our natural environment and the excessive consumer-based environments in which we live. Combining a variety of ceramic techniques including hand building, wheel throwing, and casting these sculptures appear to be grown from, and even taken over by nature itself.

Often drawing inspiration from my personal narrative, that of consistent upheaval, relocation, and adjustment to new places, my work can appear both grounded and in a state of motion. I believe …

A Fly Has Died A Splendid Death In A Pool Of Strawberry Ice Cream., Miranda L. Becht

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Humans have evolved an overwhelming awareness of self, other, life, and death. We have learned to selectively process information and to replace dissociated memories with less disturbing ones. We have evolved this ability to deceive ourselves, thus producing a personal reality that is innately false. As a society we tend to idealize our vision of the past, particularly our vision of home. Our idealized notion of home presents itself as a supposedly traditional form of domestic life, but bears little relation to the way people actually lived. This concept of a cozy home full of family love is an invented …

There's No Place Like Home, Stacey Lynn Rathert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I grew up on a farm in Northeast Kansas, under a big sky that had open views of the fields, pastures, and farmsteads. During that upbringing I learned about hard labor as well as work ethic, and what it took to survive in an often harsh and unforgiving environment. It is these experiences from my formative years, in that environment, where most of the driving force behind my artwork is derived. The work materializes as objects and narratives in sculptural manifestations. The themes range from domestic activities taught to me by the women in my life, to the hands-on, “dirty” …

Leading Edge, Seth Michael Thibodaux

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I was introduced to the airplane at a young age through my father. Since that time I have been obsessed with airplanes. Wanting to be like my father in my youth, I became interested in the construction of these machines. I would spend hours working in the shop with my dad on airplanes and learning the specific structures that made up all sorts of different aircrafts. As I grew older I became fascinated with the history of aviation and where the idea of flight came from. It was this passion and knowledge that led me to my current body of …

Visual Phallacies, John Howard Cummings

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Roland Barthes wrote that only after removing all of the author's intentions and traces can a work of art truly be perceived by viewers fairly (Barthes). A viewer's perception of the world is influenced by his or her individual subjective history, which is the product of his or her own experiences. But as the author of ceramic work, my influence is ever-present. Clay records every push, pull, spank, squeeze, and poke. It fully records its physical history and as well as my actions upon it. This thesis exhibition asks the question: Can a viewer de-contextualize familiar-but-contentious subject matter and be …

Concrete Painting, Stephanie Cafcules

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the evolution of my artwork with synthetic materials through influences of the Minimalist and Process Artists of the 1960's and 1970's, inspiration from natural forms, and my exploration of concrete painting. Each work reveals discoveries of different processes and materials, accelerating the creation of new works. It is my hope this thesis will inform viewers about the process and concepts that my work embodies.

Projected Surfaces, Jason Flynn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this paper I will address the philosophies of Susan Sontag, Roland Barthes and Thomas Ruff by considering the object, materials and processes of photography as my primary motivator to create art. I will examine the contrast between photographic imagery, as an illusion of the past, and sculpture, as a physical manifestation of the present, when creating works that ask, "What else can photography be?"

A House Not Of Our Choosing, Melisa D. Cadell Ms

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores our existence through the confinement of the human body. The exhibition of “A House Not of Our Choosing,” was presented at the Tipton Gallery, 126 Spring Street Johnson City, Tennessee, from March 1, 2013, to March 8, 2013. It will visually describe Cadell’s thoughts regarding the figure as a fragile vessel. The installation is designed to require the viewer to closely examine the work from multiple perspectives.

The exhibition consists of sculpted paper, etched, painted, manipulated glass slides, and projection. Research discusses the work produced over a three-year period. Exploration and reflection in the areas of religion, …

[ ] (Making Sense Of What Is Known And What Is Unknown, Jake Weigel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ontological curiosity of how "things" work and how our perceptions are shaped are two of the most innate and difficult questions to answer as there is a vast amount of information that is unknowable. The great void of this unknown is the driving force behind all mystical, alchemical and religious endeavors throughout human history, which seek to alleviate the discomfort of such nature. The art that I create is from a complex development of research and experience into this area of philosophy. It seeks to visualize the immaterial in order to have a better grasp on the difficult questions. …

A Crack In Everything, Jeffrey Hoffman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contained herein is a close examination of self-awareness and self-portraiture as it applies to the works of artist Jeffrey Hoffman. Water, frozen into various forms and combined with natural elements of wood, slowly melt over an indeterminable amount of time, each droplet documented as the process transforms the elements. Through this process, we see change. We see time. We see truth. This documentation of change and time through natural elements is where the artwork comes full circle. Working with new media to explore man's interconnectivity to life, energy, and the cosmos, he produces time based installations, photographs, videos, and sculptures …

Divining The Divine: Pop Mythology And Its Worth, James Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis compares classic mythology of cultures like ancient Greece to the mythology that has risen from the popular culture of contemporary western civilizations like America. While there are some differences, the two use the same archetypes that humanity has used for generations. In my work I use sculpture and photography to show their similarities and differences in form and story.

Fuzzy Robots: Utopian Ideals, The Immortalization Of Youth, And The Innocence Of Childhood., Elizabeth Caps

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ideals, aesthetics, forms, and concepts have resurfaced in various cultures throughout time. I am interested in the idea of the recurring themes that exist in the collective unconscious. I create monolithic figures that exhibit these archetypal qualities. Heavily influenced by film, animation, video games, and contemporary art, I create figures and paintings that are manifestations of my subconscious. These manifestations personify utopian ideals, the immortalization of youth, and the innocence of childhood.

Decisive Moments In Fiction, Janae Corrado

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I approach artmaking with a sense of intrigue, portraying the human condition as seen through my own eyes. The results that surface are female forms combined with subliminal subjective symbolism--a fusion of my personal experiences and influences created through a partially subconscious process. I use this artistic process to help me understand myself and I dare my viewers to seek their own answers within the implied narratives I choose to paint.

Pitiful Creatures, Shaun Wightman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

By focusing on character, humor, and loose narrative, I create a world full of quirky, pitiful creatures that blur the lines between illustration and "Fine Art". Inspired by golden age cartoons, Pop-Surrealism, and late 50's commercial art, I make work that speaks of the awkwardness of human emotion while keeping a "tongue in cheek" attitude about everyday life. This work is expressed through illustration, animation, sculpture, and a lot of sarcasm.

Design And Construction Of The Audrey Ii Puppet Series For The Play Little Shop Of Horrors., Chad David Fraley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project's objective was to design and build 4 stages of the Audrey II puppet for the East Tennessee State University production of Little Shop of Horrors (Ashman, 1982). The puppets were to be created with consideration for the production space, budget, and operator ease, along with audience impact. This paper will present the design and construction in a step by step-bystep fashion using illustrations and photographic examples.

Each puppet in the series was originally conceived using references to living plants and animals combined with an artistic vision of the designer. The puppets were built with light, modern materials using …

A Visual Sound, Bert Bogdany

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The repetitive nature of my work allows me to divide the tactile experience of the creative process into a contemplative state. Repetition causes the body to move automatically, less aware of its surroundings; the recurrent contact of the hand with the form causes them to merge systematically. This is the point where the sculpture for me becomes conceptually complete. It is this harmonious balance between material and the physical process that I wish to reveal to the viewer.

Discovery Through Numeric Strata: A Balance Of Form And Aesthetics., Marc Ian Sonenberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is in support of my Master of Fine Arts exhibition in the Carroll Reece Museum at East Tennessee State University. It describes a body of work that strives for a balance of form and aesthetics. Chapter 1 charts how I refined my personal stylistic qualities. Chapter 2 gives a brief overview of the history of ceramics techique. Chapter 3 discusses the surface treatment and construction of the pieces in the show. Chapter 4 presents each piece in chronological order.