Fine Arts Commons^™

A Space Without Time, Grace C. Kerr

Theses - ALL

When I was a child, I grew up in a world without time – I was able to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. But, as I grew older, my life became dominated by the clock. Later in my life, I was introduced to Buddhism, and through the development of the practice of meditation, I was able to regain a sense of timelessness. A short time later, when visiting natural caves, I discovered timelessness in these spaces. The random structure, the tunnels, and the surface textures inspired me to invoke the idea of caves as a metaphor for my …

Not Quite, But Not Quite Not, Markus Denil

Theses - ALL

Through this MFA thesis I embark on an exploratory voyage, not to find solid ground, but rather an exploration at sea, where the tides and currents of masculinity, transmasculinity, place finding, and self-identification ebb and flow. This expedition is less a search for answers and more an odyssey of asking questions that inevitably beget even more questions. Through a series of multimedia works, including sculptures, installations, and drawings, I begin to tease out the dissonant relationship between the trans narrative and conventional understandings of time and space. Time moves differently here.

Revelations Of Mary Shelley: Death, Immortality, And The Creator-Creature Relationship In Frankenstein, Yuqing Liu

Theses - ALL

This thesis aims to explore the cultural, and societal backgrounds, and interpersonal relationships that influenced Mary Shelley in crafting Frankenstein, and to understand how these elements are mirrored in the novel. It endeavors to examine the linkage between the intentions that authors embed within their works and the realm of reality. Analyzing Shelley's inspirations and motives through the prism of her social context and personal connections, this thesis delves into the Romantic and Gothic literary traits manifested in Frankenstein. Through this inquiry, a creative work inspired by Frankenstein was developed, intending to serve as a vessel for reflection on philosophical …

Mental Health Problems Of The Firstborn Children In China, Jianye Zou

Theses - ALL

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the negative psychological impact that first-born children experience when facing the impending arrival of younger siblings in their families and the factors of these problems in China. In addition, this thesis helps the children prepare for the process of fitting in the new family structure via relevant artworks. Based on the unique situation, such as the only-child policy and culture of Chinese society, this thesis analyzes the factors affecting first-born children during the transition from being an only child to having siblings during the arrival of a second child within the family. …

Discarded And Forgotten, Declan J. Yert

Theses - ALL

This thesis serves as written documentation of the processes, outcomes, and the conceptual nature of my sculptural practice. I consider and question our set definitions towards the natural world and human-built environments. Using emerging lexicons that serve as a starting point for defining instances of synthetic materials merging with organic ecosystems, I draw from locations, scientific research, individual observations, and human-built environments that have produced or influenced the objects and materials I use in my everyday life and art practice. Vocabulary and language surrounding the excess of objects and materials in natural environments are interrogated and subverted to reflect acts …

Becoming And Unbecoming "Girl:" Understanding A Gendered Life Through Lessons Learned As A "Horse Girl", Katie Stone

Theses - ALL

This thesis dissects the experience of gender in public and private spaces utilizing lessons gathered as a “horse girl.” The concept and experience of being “woman” is navigated through various value systems drawn from Indigenous philosophies, government treaties, the queer experience, the history of the cowboy, familial story-telling, and personal life accounts. The Americanized, Western worldview of gender is analyzed and critiqued. This research discusses the implications the era of “Manifest Destiny” had on the colonization of land, bodies, and ultimately the contemporary idea of identity. I employ the cowboy as a vessel for translating these histories and identities. Our …

We Came From The Sea, L. Alexis St. John

CGU MFA Theses

This paper contains a summary of the thesis exhibition, including an artist statement, exhibition flyer, images of the artwork with descriptions, and images of the gallery. The descriptions of the images are excerpted from the exhibition program, and include artwork titles in a constructed language called Ponder.

Queerform/Ing, Matthew Solon-Lee Weimer

Art Theses and Dissertations

My artwork is situated within and around vessels and the Queer Homoerotic World and explores sexuality as a Demisexual within them. This is accomplished through the two processes of my creation, Minivague and Queerform/ing: balancing sexual tension and explicit expression, while subverting traditional norms and stereotypes with queerness to distance oneself from stereotypical Gay Art. Altering/emphasizing makes the artwork more romantic, lighter, whimsical, softer, and tender than the figure/s and the situations actually are. The process is also emphasizing what one sees or wants to be seen. The Pink Boy becomes a celebration of intimacy of any form. I discuss …

Fragmented Bodies, Lauren Careese Alexander

Art Theses and Dissertations

Through Memory Webs and fragmented ceramic vessels, I express what it feels like to grow up living in a biracial body. I utilize mixed media to emulate a mixed-race experience. My Memory Webs are fashioned by painting on scraps of canvas and attaching them with crocheted wire and ribbon to speak to how my memory has impacted my identity. My fragmented ceramic vessels are cut up and stitched back together to represent disjointedness and un-belonging. All of my work is contextualized through the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and what the Monster may represent for people of color. I also …

Hidden In Humor: Redefining Abjection Through Implication, Maddy Kish

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

Abjection can whisper. It lies beneath the joke; you will find it there if you spend the time. Look at me. Come closer. Are you willing to discover? If you listen, I will confess, I will air out my dirty laundry, I will show you the inside of my body and its evidence.

My thesis is a consideration of my waste, an analysis of the bodily trail I leave behind. I explore indecency as a persistent feature of my art practice and a tactic I use to stimulate interest. My overarching unladylike sensibility is broken down into three categories – …

With Love, ; An Interdisciplinary And Intersectional Look At Why Creativity Is Essential, Theo Starr Gardner

Whittier Scholars Program

My Whittier Scholars Program self-designed major, Teaching Creativity, is a mixture of Art, Literature, and Education classes. My research and praxis classes have been focused on the ‘how?’s and 'why?’s of creativity, so it felt only right that my project should be a constructivist, generative project. The project I have been working on throughout my time at Whittier, and that has just fully come to fruition on April 11th, 2024, was a solo art gallery/open mic event entitled ‘With Love,’. With Love, was conceptually inspired by the research I’ve conducted on creativity and creative arts education over the past few …

Cliffhanger, Micah Mickles

MFA in Visual Art

I am Micah Mickles, a mixed-media visual artist in St. Louis, Missouri. My artwork is deeply rooted in my personal experiences and serves as a memorial and monument to counteract the enduring effects of grief and loss. What sets my work apart is the transformative impact of my everyday encounters, inspired by my 14 years of experience working at Trader Joe's. These encounters have led me to reflect on my profound connections with diverse communities. By delving into the hidden narratives of mundane materials encountered in the workplace, I prompt a reexamination of convenience and supply chain origins. Inspired by …

How Visual Narrative Can Elevate Immigrant Food, Yiting Chai

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

Throughout the history of immigration, visual cultural products have provided channels for them to express their voices in North America, helping audiences understand immigrant culture and situations to promote social equality. Photography and cookbooks, as traditional expressions of food art, provide insight into the vitality of food and the way people treat food.

Graphic memoir and social engagement, as emerging categories, have emerged in the post-pandemic period. These diverse creative forms discuss individuals and food deep connections, such as interactions between people and community or a sense of belonging. For immigrant groups, Food is the quintessence of human existence, which …

Omnipresence And An Outlier, Cheyenne Monk

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

In this thesis, I explore the possibility of existence outside the confines of labeled identity through the lens of art, drawing inspiration from personal experiences of racial alienation and the desire to transcend societal labels. Through figurations and world-building, I challenge the notion that one's identity must be defined by categories such as race and gender. By removing categorical physicalities and portraying violence as a means to confront bias-motivated aggression, I aim to provoke dialogue on prejudice without further alienation. Through a blend of surrealism, abstraction, and neo-expressionism, I create tense yet playful presentations of bodies to communicate themes of …

Good Enough, Haley Levin

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

The seven-foot-tall sculptural painting Good Enough explores the cultural significance of trophies in contemporary American society. As an ancient object representing achievement and reward, the irony of trophies’ current junk-status pokes at absurd contradictions embedded in American culture. I offer context on the evolution of “the readymade” from Dada to Pop Art to 90s assemblage, and position Good Enough’s handmade, tender approach as a celebratory twist to that lineage of cultural critique.

Visualizing Philosophy And Depicting The Inner World, Becky Moon

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

I examine my process and significance of visualizing arguments and examples in the philosophy of perception, especially the works of Susanna Siegel through the language of painting. By creating highly detailed figures and narratives, I give tangible form to the invisible inner world. I explore themes of perception, mind, belief, inner/outer world, and text/art. I reference artwork by Adrian Piper, Hito Steryl, Danica Lundy, and David Altjmed.

The Cicadas Are Always Beneath Our Feet, Mary Kate Charles

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

In an era of exposure to thousands of images every day with practically unlimited access to the world’s archive of art, this essay explores the legacy of the productions of medieval convents and the women who would encounter only a few art objects each year as documented by historians Chiara Frugoni, Jeffrey Hamburger, and Sharon Strocchia. In this era of visual overconsumption, this essay proposes the body of work, Where the Cicadas Burrow as an archive utilizing alternative printing processes to pull forward the tradition of liturgical arts many religious women would have participated in historically. Operating within a contemporary …

Swine & Symphonies, Dilara Miller

Graduate Artistry Projects and Performances

Dilara Miller’s work critique’s and reflects on the social/cultural effects of being a Turkish-American Muslim woman in today’s society. Through referencing antiquities and how they are presented today, she identifies patterns of hierarchies that exist in human history through an eco-feminist lens. Miller’s work reflects on the role of the artist and the historical testimony we leave behind; like her Girl Birds, she seeks to record her experiences within our Anthropocene as colored by mythic and Islamic teachings. Miller pulls from historic epochs to generate a foundation from which to examine our contemporary treatment of women as related to our …

Welcome To The Apocalypse, Demetrius E. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

DW’s abstract, vibrant, and bipolar paintings stem from a place of personal biography and collectively shared experience. In this paper, he examines the apocalypse, human nature, tragedy, and the demise of adolescence in our era in the face of increasing technological advances.

Past And Future Winds, Alicia Ehni

Theses and Dissertations

Ehni’s thesis reflects on the role of wind to connect and transform. Looking at science and invisible forces like Earth’s magnetic field, her "Oculus" sculptures evoke old tools for orientation & migration. Birds, insects, plants, roads and sand, appear in a video and an experimental 16mm pinhole film of her bike journey along the Hudson River, NY. “Coordinates”, a magnetic drawing installation, addresses impermanence, attraction to land and fragility. Tracing memories of the Paracas desert in Peru, this thesis follows her interest in alchemy, ecology and the cosmos.