Ceramic Arts Commons^™

Qualia, Maxwell Henderson

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

As an artist, my work is a conduit for the exploration of "qualia" – the personal, deeply subjective experiences, emotions, and perceptions that shape our conscious lives. My artistic journey, born from a childhood in Arizona poverty and my biracial identity, has ignited a passion for inclusivity and diversity in art and society, guiding me to challenge traditional material hierarchies and conventional artistic norms.

My art interweaves the vivid aesthetics of Japanese Kutani porcelain and the natural, raw beauty of Icelandic landscapes with the fluidity and balance found in ceramic vessels. Through this fusion, I strive to redefine the role …

Dissertation Chapters Underway: 10,000 Shards, Or Opening And Activating Depth: Handicraft, Value, And The Work Of Art (Shards 00000-00001), Christopher Southward, Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty Scholarship

Dissertation Chapters Underway: 10,000 Shards, Or Opening and Activating Depth: Handicraft, Value, and the Work of Art (Shards 00000-00001), Christopher Southward

Bloody Show, Leonie Weber

Theses and Dissertations

Leonie Weber reflects on how reproductive, domestic, and emotional labor is addressed in her artwork, and her experience as an artist-parent in the art world. Moreover, she specifically discusses mothers who are navigating their own artistic paths. Her practice encompasses sculpture, printmaking, performance, and installation.

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 …

Warmth Of The Sun, Drake M. Gerber

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Warmth of the Sun, is a reflection on personal experiences I’ve had in the landscape while living in the Northwest. This curated experience is an attempt to capture my sincerity towards a place and hold onto that feeling. I intend to share faded memories of personal experiences through enigmatic sculptures to make the viewer look a bit closer at these objects and see the landscape in a new way. This paper explores thoughts on the idea of place, material, process, contemporary influences, and the experiences that inspired this body of work.

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 …

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 …

Póster De La Conferencia Segundo Congreso Internacional De Iconografía Precolombina

Segundo congreso internacional de iconografía precolombina. Barcelona, 2023. Actas.

Victòria Solanilla, organizadora

17 al 20 de octubre de 2023.

En el Museu de Cultures del Món de Barcelona. Calle Montcada, nº12-14, 08003, Barcelona.

Y en el Institut d’Estudis Catalans. Calle del Carme, nº 47, 08001, Barcelona.

Merino Wool In America: Migration, Economic Desire And Patriotism, Una R. Winn

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts and The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Come To A Night In The Chapel And The Mall With Jackie Blue, Jackie Weddell

Senior Projects Spring 2023

My collection of garments and accessories being sold at The Mall was conceived in Southern Italy.

I visited the home of my ancestors in August of 2022 for the first time. Relatively early in my presenting feminine, I proved to be a spectacle for the places I visited and their inhabitants. Days filled with gawking, pointing, and yelling; the attention was not new to me, just in this case I couldn’t understand what my viewers were saying. Only at night, after the locals got drunk and the lights were dimmed did I sort of blend in with the other big-nosed …

Resonance Of The Unseen, Dung Thi Thuy Nguyen

Senior Projects Fall 2023

in the moment

playful

in memory of

learning

altogether

Thuy-Dung (Julius) Nguyen's exhibition, 'Resonance of the Unseen,' confronts the sensory saturation of contemporary life by elevating the unobserved aspects of perception. Through sound, scent, and touch, this immersive installation encourages a rediscovery of the elemental experiences of life. The show illuminates the concept of absence, not only as something lacking but as an integral part of the sensory narrative, inviting a deeper resonance with the world.

The Study Of Reciprocal Impact Between Dehua And European Porcelain: An Analysis Of The Influence On Porcelain Making Skills, Shapes, And Decoration Styles, Xuening Hu

MA Theses

The present study investigates the reciprocal impact between the Dehua porcelain and European porcelain, and possible aesthetics in monochrome by exploring the history and significance of Dehua porcelain in relation to its connection with European porcelain. The article discusses the origins and evolution of Dehua porcelain, including its characteristics, kilns, and exportation to other parts of the world, particularly Europe. It also analyzes the influence of Dehua porcelain on the creation and development of European porcelain, from the Rouen, to Meissen, S.Cloud, and Chelsea company and Sèvres company porcelain. The article also
examines the impact of European merchants on the …

The Project Of Hope: Middle Eastern Feminism In Controversy, Alla Myzelev

Art History

No abstract provided.

Los Bordados Mayas Que Protegen De Enfermedades En El Estado De Yucatán, México, Roberto Campos-Navarro, Leydi Dorantes, Danielle Dupiech Cavaleri

Segundo congreso internacional de iconografía precolombina. Barcelona, 2023. Actas.

Conocemos el rol de los textiles en los rituales y el significado de numerosos símbolos que bordan las artesanas mayas de la Península de Yucatán, no obstante, existen varios motivos de plantas medicinales bordados en los textiles que no fueron analizados. En el mes de septiembre de 2022 dio comienzo una investigación en cooperación con la joven curandera x-meno’ob de Yaxcabá, Leydi Dorantes, que cultiva más de doscientas plantas medicinales mayas en el jardín botánico que creó su abuelo, mismas que usa en rituales y también para curar. Ella nos da a conocer la relación existente entre los elementos de …

Life Landmarks, Brian S. Morgenlander

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The research pertaining to my thesis shares the exploration of my identity that is manifested through the process of making ceramic sculptures. These sculptures are informed from the better part of a decade I spent traveling around the world which coincided with dealing with family issues. In both, my travels and time at home I continuously relied on others and in turn became stressed about things that I had no influence over. I highlight certain aspects of these experiences through my artwork as a way for me to channel the frustrations and ambiguities from these memories that are etched in …

Exploring Growth, Integration, & Play Working In Clay: Finding Pathways To Healing And Hope, Dana A. Bridges

MSU Graduate Theses

I find therapeutic qualities in all the aspects of my studio practice and haptic experience: from the grounding sensory experience of clay, the quiet meditative motions of creating and constructing, acceptance or repair of mistakes, and the integration of failures which may occur. Specifically, I channel my experience to explore the themes of growth, integration, and play. By exploring these themes in the quiet and safety of my clay-studio, I engage in the opportunity to investigate these themes on a formal, practical, and personal level. I create the forms by hand or on the potter’s wheel. After constructing the forms, …

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 …

Proyectar El Diseño Precolombino: Experiencias Didácticas, Luz Helena Ballestas Rincón

Segundo congreso internacional de iconografía precolombina. Barcelona, 2023. Actas.

Se presenta el resultado de un Modelo Pedagógico basado en el Diseño Precolombino, el cual ha sido aplicado en diversos escenarios y ambientes de aprendizaje. Mediante la sistematización de la teoría con la práctica del diseño se muestran ejemplos de los métodos de diseño que han resultado eficaces, ya sea en el ámbito universitario o en grupos interesados en el conocimiento de estos bienes patrimoniales, entre los que se encuentran estudiantes y profesores del área artística así como personas convocadas por algunos museos que poseen colecciones precolombinas.

Al experimentar y proponer activando los mecanismos que liberan la creatividad y, a …

Identificación De La División Del Trabajo Entre Los Géneros A Través Del Análisis Iconográfico, Sarah Kauffmann

Segundo congreso internacional de iconografía precolombina. Barcelona, 2023. Actas.

El presente trabajo se enfoca en la metodología para identificar los roles y actividades realizadas por determinado género en la sociedad maya prehispánica. Códigos especiales en la iconografía son utilizados para representar y diferenciar los dos géneros. Varios medios se explorarán como las estelas, dinteles, cerámicas y figurillas. A través de la iconografía se identificará las actividades, vestimenta y postura para interpretar la división del trabajo.

This present study focuses on the methodology for identifying the roles and activities realized by both genders in the pre-Hispanic Mayan society. Special iconographical codes are used to represent and differentiate men and women. …

El Sobredimensionamiento Y Otros Recursos Plásticos Como Representación De La Capacidad Extática–Visionaria En El Arte Chamánico Americano, Ana María Llamazares

Segundo congreso internacional de iconografía precolombina. Barcelona, 2023. Actas.

Este artículo explora uno de los principales rasgos del arte chamánico visionario: el sobredimensionamiento de las figuras o de algunas de sus partes significativas. A través de diversos registros arqueológicos y contemporáneos, se brindan elementos valiosos para interpretar como representaciones explícitas de la capacidad extática o visionaria, ciertas imágenes de arte prehispánico o etnográfico ligadas a tradiciones de prácticas chamánicas americanas, en las que se ha expresado la percepción de la magnificación energética a través de rayos, aureolas o apéndices diversos que expanden el tamaño de las cabezas, manos, pies u otras partes del cuerpo en forma desproporcionada respecto del …

El Refugio De La Imagen Chamánica En El Mundo Malagana, Sonia Blanco, Catalina Simmonds Caldas

Segundo congreso internacional de iconografía precolombina. Barcelona, 2023. Actas.

La voluntad de elaborar una pieza antropomorfa, es incidir sobre el objeto, haciéndolo actuante. Tratándose del mundo Malagana – sociedad prehispánica colombiana –, que consideró el papel primordial de la mujer, esta imagen femenina y robusta, en cerámica, de pie, portadora de una máscara, como pieza – soporte simbólica contendría en su epidermis y gesto, una narrativa ritual. Desarrollada en un espacio funerario, como ajuar, personificaría los atributos del mono aullador y convocante de los “espíritus (auxiliares) alter-ego”, de los monos ardilla, intervendría de forma ritualista sobre los humedales del pueblo Malagana, aportándoles el equilibrio para la inflorescencia de la …

A Fragile [In] Tension, Jose Homero Gutierrez, Jose Homero Gutierrez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The exhibition, a FRAGILE [In] TENSION, is a compilation of 6 sculptural installation works—the result of two and a half years of work in the ceramics workshop— combining various ceramic procedures, incorporating crochet techniques, and repurposed materials. Each of the materials represents specific memories of the past linked to a place of origin and people deeply attached to me, representing complementary feelings. Ceramic objects were created on the potter's wheel and subsequently joined, modified, intervened, and added to their corresponding installations following a series of self-directed design rules. The sculptures are an emotional, psychological, and physical response to the past …

Nepantla: The Space In-Between, Samantha Shamard

All Theses

The word Nepantla is from the Mesoamerican Nahuatl language and is used by theorist Gloria Anzaldúa to describe a space of mixed, and borderland identity. Nepantla: the space in-between creates a physical manifestation of my experience as a mixed Latina woman raised in American suburban culture. This series is made up of ceramic objects on wall-mounted altars made of wood panels adorned with wallpaper and paint. The surfaces utilize visual references and color schemes from 90s girls’ bedrooms and Mexican pop-culture. Ceramic bones and cacti mounted onto the altar forms are all made through molded ceramic processes, which for me …

Supporting Students’ Social Emotional Well-Being Using Clay: An Action Research Study, Paul Monroe

Graduate Review

The purpose of this action research study is to examine scholarly recommendations on how to use clay to promote the social and emotional well-being of students in the high school ceramics classroom. This study enacts recommendations and strategies to enhance an existing curriculum to align with my school district’s educational goals of promoting social emotional learning (SEL). This study took place at a high school in Westchester County, New York in the fall of 2021. Data for this study is informed by my interviews with two specialists regarding putting SEL strategies into action, my modification of an existing curriculum as …

Winding Down River Road, Gillian Harper

LSU Master's Theses

As a mechanism to explore my temporary home in Louisiana, Winding Down River Road is a collection of artworks that integrates natural materials collected from landscapes in southern Louisiana with steel and petroleum-based products. My interest in researching environmental issues, ecology, and industry has shaped my vehicles for observation and how I generate data. Through a variety of methodologies, I am considering how climate change is forcing many of us to re-contextualize how our home can be affected by the very industries we rely on. Personal engagement with residents living in the dystopian atmosphere of southern Louisiana’s industrial corridor and …

Mixed Messages, Hannah Duggan

Masters Theses

The bodies of work that I have created during graduate school stem from my interest in mass media, culture studies and spectatorship in the digital era. My research engages digital technology and media studies to consider the ethics and ambivalence associated with spectatorship. Using traditional art mediums, I explore social and digital media, revealing tensions through representation and materiality. This translation from digital to analogue media is pivotal in all my work. Handmade objects introduce slippage and meaning as they break from the limiting format of the screen. This thesis will explore the research and content that inspired the creation …

How Clay In Group Art Therapy Helps Female Veterans Maintain Well-Being: Development Of Methods, Sooho Park

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Using clay in art therapy has emerged as an evidence-based therapeutic approach to enable treatment for people with anxiety. While clay in art therapy has been researched and proven to be highly effective with children, there is limited research on the benefit for the population of female veterans. Therefore, this study examines the possibility of how clay in art therapy helps female veterans to reduce anxiety and maintain their well-being at Veterans Affairs Hospital (VAH). Three female veterans were engaged in weekly intervention for six weeks through both in-person and online sessions. Results indicate participants experienced beneficial changes in anxiety …

Ceramics And Life In Tandem, Katharine Lee Robbins

LSU Master's Theses

From the ground up, my work emerges slowly. As each coil is added, I am conscious of how my body is interacting with the rich red clay body. Each time I press clay between my hands, the material reacts and changes. It gives me comfort to feel a tangible response as I push my body into the clay. The cyclical process of art making becomes my daily ritual. Each step is repeated over and over again until it becomes ingrained in my body’s existence.

As I add coils to my work, particularly the large sculptures, I continuously circle around each …

Growthlines, Alexandra Saunders

LSU Master's Theses

The work in Growthlines is a collection of ceramic objects that are characterized by floral pattern and their potential for use. I make ceramic work that is functional and designed to be in the home. I think that the way something looks is an integral part of function and I seek to make objects that function well. The surface of my pottery is rich with images of flowers and I hope that the surface both draws in the user and highlights flowers and how important they are for the preservation of the natural world. My work functions as a surrogate …