Fine Arts Commons^™

Happy Trails, Elizabeth A. Derby

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

My work uses hair as both a subject depicted in drawings, paintings, and prints; as well as a medium for sculpture, installation, and video created with synthetic hair pieces and wigs. I am interested in deconstructing gendered codes of appearance, and visions of the ideal woman and man as objects. I remove all identifiable traits from my characters, apart from their hair which appears to be consuming or erasing them. In doing so, I force the people viewing my work to rely on cultural stereotypes associated with hair to identify my characters. My work is heavily influenced by Drag culture …

Identity Withheld 4, Dylan Bannister

The Anthology

Artwork

No Feet, Kwan Fuller

The Anthology

Artwork

On The Floor: Of The Earth, Nicole Davenport

The Anthology

Artwork

Revitalizing Classical Music Interest And Concert Attendance: Why Today's Youth Are Deterred From Classical Music And Why Symphony Orchestras And Businesses Need To Get Involved, Caroline M. Clouse

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper seeks to explore the divide between classical music institutions and the youth of today. Interest in classical music is on a steady decline among Millennials and this paper provides a discourse on some of the prevailing reasonings behind the deterrents to classical music concert attendance. German studies concerning the current state of classical music and it's standing among youth that previously have never been translated are described within, so that this important information may be disseminated. Lastly, there is a discussion on the importance of innovative marketing techniques and concert offerings as well as how and why today's …

The Lightbringer: A Novel, Brett L. Butler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Lightbringer is about a collision of two worlds: the world of a contemporary South Florida town and the magical world of Zariel, bringing with it the universal threat of the Terra. Childhood friends, Breck and Tom, are thrown into the middle of an ancient conflict between the Terra—a collection of alien races that have been transformed by darkness—and the forces of good. After an encounter with a magical pool of golden water, the boys must learn to use their new abilities to protect against the growing Terranox army. In the midst of their struggle, however, a mysterious companion—the Lightbringer, …

The Lifted Shadow, Xinyi Xie

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

The Chinese shadow puppet tradition is one of negotiation: where the local (folktales and traditions) meets the national (“culture”?), and the national (??) meets the international (???). It is a cultural practice in which the "masses" create "entertainment," which is then intellectualized and "refined" by social (and cultural) “elites.”

In a nation that has rejected "feudalism" in the past, the shadow puppet tradition is one of many at risk of being commercialized and exported as national commodity. It offers potential cultural “heritage,” soft power to go hand-in-hand with China's economic and industrial might. When a nation has produced everything and …

Cuba A La Yuma: In, Around, And Millennial Thoughts, Zoe Kline

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

The camera phone prompted a new stylistic approach that has created an outlet for inexpensive and democratized photography, seemingly giving anyone the revolutionary ability to be called an artist. It is because of this that photojournalism, as an art practice, is losing its intrinsic ambitions — to employ visual storytelling to, more effectively than written word, foster positive social and political activism. Photographs of war and marginalized people in society have become both exploitative and dehumanizing in their treatment of both photographic style and relationship to subject and have only numbed their viewers to today’s atrocities. I look to find …

To Sleep, Perchance To Dream, Carla G. Steppan

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

Focusing on the devaluation of monumentality identified by architects in the mid-twentieth century, this paper examines how the reduction of form throughout the history of architecture and how such reduction affects space framed by such architecture. By applying the malleability of symbolic meaning to a closed set of symbols, the nature of the set is re-made and subsequently manipulated to theoretically set the stage for a romantic narrative. A formal interest in reproduction and repetition serves a conceptual interest in allusion of forms in the creation of the illusion of narrative and romance.

Wax Bodies: Candles, Queerness, & Taking Up Space, Moya Shpuntoff

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

My partner and collaborator Callaway Fox and I use queer surrealist installation, craft practices, and performance in order to address queer and disabled temporality, articulating our experiences as disabled queer femme artists through abstracted and literal exploration of femme bodies in space. In performance and installation works Hospital Performance: Part I and Hospital Performance: Part II, we responded to our experience of marginalization, medical malpractice, and emotional isolation, ultimately exploring queer and disabled temporality through queer surrealism. Hand-poured scented candles became metaphors for queer and disabled bodies, and along with other craft practices used in this work, are a …

Rest, My Dear, Seher Chowhan

be Still

This is a painting of one of my best friends, Heba. It is from a night when a couple of us were hanging out at my house in high school. Heba was resting on my bed while we were talking and she was caught totally unaware when the picture was taken. She is Muslim (we both are) and Egyptian. Her religion is very important to her, as you can see by the fact she is wearing her hijab. She was so beautiful that I had to paint her. Though she is completely covered, the pictures shows her in a state …

Bliss, Nergess Taheri

be Still

On a mission trip last year to Ecuador while I was waiting for the next surgery to begin I was able to capture this moment. The surgeon I was working with had leaned in to reassure the patient that he would be OK. You can truly see the love she has for her patient and the trust the boy has in her as his surgeon. This piece shows the true female form as a physician in her natural environment.

Old Furnace Artist Residency: Art Is A Conjunction, Jon William Henry

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Old furnace artist residency is an ongoing body of work that encompasses a long-term art project that relies upon social aesthetics. This project weaves together social sculpture, relational aesthetics, intervention, gesture, performance, community art, and participation art to create a praxis of social justice and art. The underlying principles of the project are rooted in feminist and queer theories of activism that focus on enacting social, political, and economic liberation. Thus, old furnace artist residency focuses on using art as a tool to weave people together.

Home Starts From Within, Joliza G. Terry

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Moving to Harrisonburg proved to be a culture shock for me because in the past, I had lived in areas where the levels of diversity were different and allowed me to feel more at ease. I faced the issue of feeling uncomfortable in a new-found environment and felt compelled to start a dialogue about my experience through my artwork. It was imperative for me to find a way to create a community for myself, and by doing so in my artwork, I have thrived from my experience of feeling out of place. I began making work about self-image, family and …

Untitled, Dianna Silvagni

be Still

Art is a very personal statement. When viewing art I look for pieces to which I can relate and enjoy, whether they are realistic or abstract. When I create a piece of art it is my personal observations, experiences and spiritual connection to the piece that helps me create it. After many years of working in charcoal, chalk pastels and acrylics, mostly creating art centered around the female form, I decided to try sculpting in clay. I found the experience to be really challenging, but enjoyable.

This piece is an attempt to bring many pieces of my life with my …

Volume 1, Issue 1, Be Still

be Still

No abstract provided.

Musings From The Dean, Elaine M. Wallace

be Still

No abstract provided.

Design Introduction, Patt Gateley

be Still

Artist Statement on the be Still logo created for the journal.

Editor's Introduction, Janet Lynn Roseman

be Still

No abstract provided.

Cultivation, Erudition, Edification, Ariel Lee

be Still

Cultivation, Erudition, Edification is an exercise of self-portraiture. Few careers are as all encompassing, and all consuming as that as a physician. Becoming a physician is a metamorphosis, it changes who you are and becomes an intrinsic part of who you become. As a medical student, I am measured first by my intellect, and then by my communication skills, social competence and responsibility. In a way, I am somewhat disembodied by my profession. Everyday life comes with a mask on your face, bulky scrubs obscuring your gender and the epochal white coat spilling over with notes, books and instruments. Gender …