Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Developing A Local Clay Body: Augusta County, Virginia, Olivia Heeb

Honors Projects

Several samples of raw clay from Augusta County, Virginia were analyzed, and one was chosen to develop into a clay body that could successfully be thrown on the wheel, fired, and made into functional ware. The characteristics of plasticity, strength, absorption, and glaze effects were important when deciding what materials to add to the raw clay samples. Issues included low plasticity when throwing, cracking while drying, warping when firing, and pinholing in the glaze fire. A recipe was developed that worked well for the chosen clay, found in a roadside in Craigsville, Virginia.

Between And Beyond, Noah F. Heil

Art and Art History Honors Projects

Between and Beyond is a series of handbuilt and wheel-thrown ceramic objects which explore intimate queer relationships through the human figure. I assemble slabs of clay to create openings and negative spaces within the sculptures, implying the ways in which the human form also acts as a vessel. The sculptures as well as the figures themselves remain open and vulnerable, literally and metaphorically. The body is depicted through fragmented sections, alluding to the ways in which society and culture break up gender and sexuality into limiting binaries. These intimate, private moments are meant to conjure an imagined future free of …

Rediscovering Brazil: The Marajoara Style In Modernist Art And Design, Alyson Brandes

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

During the Portuguese rule of Dom Pedro II until 1889, through the years of the First Brazilian Republic (1889-1930) and into the First Vargas Regime (1930-1945), Brazil struggled to solidify a strong national identity that would finally unify the country and legitimize its rich cultural heritage. The discovery and excavation of Marajó Island in the 1870s provided evidence of a great, ancient civilization, and inspired Brazilian Art Deco and early Modernist artists. Polychrome ceramic urns, vessels, and tangas (female pubic covers) were among the most abundant archaeological finds, many with zoomorphic and geometric motifs that show the cultural importance of …

This Is Just To Say, Iren Tete

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

My memories are marked by the desire to evade logic. At a young age I became a proficient player of the “What If” game.

What if I could hold light in my hands?

What if shadows had form that could be touched?

What if I could see through structures?

These mental exercises affected my relationship with reason and validity. Aware of the threat of the ordinary, I embraced the inherent magic in the notion of possibility. I understand possibility as the limitless potential of object, thought, or scenario. This potential extends beyond the apparent and prompts more questions than it …

Entangled, Katherine Cox

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

I create objects to incite wonder through their exuberance, inviting one to explore the beauty found in the strange and offering the viewer a way to interact with the discomfort of the unknown. Mysculptures are an assembly of engaging surfaces and forms revealing varying texturesandvibrant colors referencing natural and fabricated worlds. Each sculpture is entangled within its own environment or narrative and each is adorned for its own role, finding a balance between discord and harmony, captivation and repulsion.

Each is an individual exploration of the distinct qualities inherent within each object. They are precious in scale and stimulate …

An Exploration Of The Prairie Through Ceramic Art, Erin Wilaby

Honors Capstone Projects

The prairie is an underappreciated ecosystem. This is evident comparing the amount of US protected land: according to the 2018 Land Areas Report, there are 50 times more acres of National Forest as National Grassland. To change this unappreciation, I endeavor in this project to aid people in seeing the prairie as a complex, beautiful, and interesting ecosystem. My method is to present scientific knowledge about the prairie through the medium of ceramic art. Specifically, the project explores relationships between biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors in the ecosystem. The ceramic works entail a large amount of functional pottery with …

Caddo Contemporary: Present And Relevant, A Collaboration To Highlight The Caddo Nation, John Handley

Faculty Publications

In collaboration with the Caddo Mounds Historic Site in Alto, TX (CMSHS), Stephen F. Austin State University presented the exhibition “Caddo Contemporary: Present and Relevant,” January 24 – March 24, 2019 at the Ed and Gwen Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House. The exhibition highlighted the work of seven living Caddo Nation artisans: Wayne Earles, Chad Earles, Chase Earles, Raven Halfmoon, Yonavea Hawkins, Jeri Redcorn, and Thompson Williams. The exhibition was important for two specific reasons: It was the first exhibition that highlighted the work of living Caddo artists working in traditional and/or adapted art forms. And, it …