Art and Design Commons^™

Break Time, Quinlan Maggio

Theses and Dissertations

In this graduate thesis artist Quinlan Maggio describes their two-part art project in which they create site-specific private/public spaces and encounters within a larger public, specifically, that of the Hunter MFA community and its art-viewing audience.

T.R.A.S.H.:Trans-Relational-Affective-Stuff-Horde, Sg P

Theses and Dissertations

T.R.A.S.H. allies the moral confusion underlying (student) debt and the unregulated art market in order to establish a rigorous framework for “RED HOT SHAME”—an open edition contractual performance. In treating an art collector as a collections agency, the Debt Object becomes an Art Object.

“For My Will Is As Strong As Yours And My Kingdom As Great”, Anna L. Cone

Theses and Dissertations

My work responds to trauma, systems of power and abuses of power. The pieces give materiality to unseen labor and devalued knowledge, often disseminated from the “feminine,” domestic spaces of kitchens and baths, through practices of magic, astrology, ritual and baking. My materials–jello, hair and kitchen ingredients–refer to complex histories, brought present through film and performance.

Don't You Want To Be Happy?, Mario Rocha Rodriguez Jr

Honors Capstones

My capstone project is an exhibition of my artwork using visual distortions to convey a message to the viewer. I created nine new pieces out of the original seven proposed over the course of the semester with themes all relating to firsthand experiences that I think people can learn from. For the exhibit, I displayed ten pieces with two works that were made prior to the current semester. In conclusion, I present ideas that I have been holding in for the past 4 years.

Bare: The Modern Female Nude Uncovered, Tasha A. Determan

Honors Thesis

My honors thesis criticizes representations of the female nude and advocates for diverse expression of the female body. The research encompasses two series of artwork and a written component examining and reflecting upon the artwork. The first series is Venus of Fruit, which assesses past depictions and associations of the female nude specifically objectification and sexualization in western art. The sculptures are four cast bronze nude figures within an apple, a banana, and a pineapple. The figures are Venuses trapped within nature, beauty, fertility, and sexualization. The second series is Venus Anew, which examines the naked and the …

Crying In Public, Sarah Mullen

Honors Theses

Crying in Public is the culmination of a deeply personal body of work that has acted as a sort of diary documenting my journey of growing up and self-discovery. Over the last few years, I have found that there is meaning to be found in the parts of ourselves that we seek to hide, as well as in the constructions that we build to conceal them. This work seeks to move outside of the binary of one’s “true inner self” to explore the tensions found in the space between who we are and who we wish we were. This work …

Vitality, Bernadette K. Curl

Student Projects

Vitality is a study of life, joy, and motion. It is in response to the portraits of models in endless magazines made to look as though they mourn their own vitality, standing stock-still and vaguely bored. These images are also made as archival evidence that, as Phil Ochs said: “In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty.”

These portraits were made under studio lighting on medium format, high speed, black and white negative film, and medium format, colour positive film. The materials are chosen for their ability to capture truth over fact.

I asked my subjects beforehand to …

Mama, Hannah Scott

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

“By writing herself, woman will return to the body which has been more than confiscated from her, which has been turned into the uncanny stranger on display” (Cixous, 1975). Through a depth of research into feminist perspectives on motherhood, I have created an art installation titled, "Mama". From my research, I have found many artists who make work about their experiences in raising children, women’s work and labor, and the trauma of giving birth. Louis Bourgeois, Natalie Loveless, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Mary Kelly, and Jenny Saville are a handful of artists whose work on motherhood has greatly inspired me to …

Crochet As An Allegory, Maeve R. Wallace

Student Projects

I have created a series of photographic installations that are inspired by the work of feminist and queer thinkers. I draw parallels between the manipulation of a weaved material through crochet and the way feminists work to continually create change. I find that the physicality, patience, detail, and repetition that comes with crocheting yarn or creating a photo mimics the ways in which activists, and more specifically feminists, have worked to combat the oppression and intersectional oppressions they face. String theory, potentially a theory of everything, proposes that in the quantum realm, stings, or loops, are the foundation of all …

Women And Dada: Reimagining Dada Through The Work Of Beatrice Wood And Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Violet E. Webster

Student Theses and Dissertations

This paper serves to investigate the relationship between the Dada art movement of the early twentieth century and the progression of the women’s liberation movement through the life and works of female Dada artists Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Beatrice Wood. My thesis combines the emergence of modernism and Dada’s utilization of new industrial materials with the reappropriation of material significance seen in Taeuber-Arp’s multi-media work. The first section “Dada Overview” contextualizes both Dada and the post-Victorian evolution of the early twentieth century. In “Beatrice Wood’s Expansion of the Subject” I show how Wood’s work centered around the subconscious narrative of women …

Scenes Of Screens, Scenes Of Sodomy: The Role And Impact Of The Folding Screen In Eighteenth-Century French Erotic Novels, Katherine Delony

English Undergraduate Distinction Projects

This project provides an analysis of the folding screen as a literary agent and signifier which reflects the cultural happenings of the eighteenth century with specific emphasis on new ideas about queerness which arise in France during the eighteenth century. I will focus primarily on the Marquis de Sade’s (1740-1814) Justine, ou Les Malheurs de la vertu (1791) (as well as La Nouvelle Justine, 1797) and John Cleland’s (1709-1789) Le Fille de Joie (translated 1751) with reference to Jean-Louis Fougeret de Monbron’s (1706-1760) Margot la Ravaudeuse (1753), Sade’s Philosophie dans le boudoir Jean-François de Bastide’s (1724-1798) La …

Di•As•Po•Ra: Displaced, Not Erased., Betty Álvarez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is based on my artistic endeavors and research founded in my culture, family, the history of the United States government’s intervention in El Salvador, and the current political climate Latin Americans face today in the United States. I work within multiple mediums to resurrect pieces of my culture that are being forgotten or left behind due to assimilation. I accomplish this through revisiting and reinterpreting traditions. I aim to bring awareness of the Latin experience in a racially divided United States through artistic expression and my own personal experiences. My works are made to feel whimsical and playful, …

Line As Site And Material, Analise Minjarez

Art Theses and Dissertations

This paper recounts my artistic practice over the last three years. I will describe the places, artists, artworks, and processes that have been meaningful to me in this time as I pursued my MFA and worked to understand my relationship to the living world. In the thesis Line as Site and Material, I respond to materiality and site through installation, sculpture, drawing, and video. I work with clay harvested from my hometown of El Paso, TX to connect to the personal histories of the borderlands and geological time. In the Second River Series, I walk in the empty riverbed of …

Transformation., Jingshuo Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My works mainly show my perception of life and my change of thought. The world is full of changes, and the pandemic has disrupted our lives. Many people, including me, are confused about the world. Philosophy and my observation and thinking about the world helped me to have a clearer understanding of the world. My paintings Licia, Butterfly Woman, and Live with Covid reflect my understanding of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's theory of empathy. Within my art, I also use another German Philosopher Theodor W. Adorno's theory of the culture industry to deepen my understanding of some social phenomena. My …

Meat The Future., Xin Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on the subtle relationship between human life, the environment, and other animals that we live among every day. Under the mainstream social background of capitalism and a commodity economy, animals are the victims of constant consumption and exploitation. However, meat is a basic substance for human nourishment, especially in certain cultures. As a result, meat becomes an important part of the commodity economy in capitalist societies, wherein the supply must be filled to accommodate society’s demand. This research formed an exhibition using glass and ceramic artwork using a playfully satirical tone to offer a crucial alternative: how …

It's All Fun And—: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Space In The Pandemic., Erica Von Proctor Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This exhibition and document explore spatial rhetoric during the pandemic, utilizing materiality and relational aesthetics to reflect on the different ways in which the public and private are made distinct from one another. In doing so, Lewis addresses new cultural navigations of shared spaces, both digital and corporeal, public and private. In addition, the artist also examines the faulty social and institutional systems that the pandemic brought to light, such as socioeconomic dynamics and voter suppression, while utilizing Kenneth Burke’s concept of the terministic screen. Games are a central theme throughout the exhibition, as they are often coded as “home” …

The Heart Of The Problem: An Art Gallery Installation To Foster Dialogue On Heart Disease And The Privilege Of Prevention, Olivia Eileen Heinecke

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

We are cautioned constantly about various harmful diseases. However, the deadliest disease tends to be overlooked. Heart disease takes the lives of more than half a million people in the United States every year, yet there is a lack of discussion to address the epidemic at hand (Hill). This is largely due to the “blame the victim” stigma surrounding the generally preventable range of complications. While 80% of cardiovascular disease is avoidable, not every individual has the means of achieving a lifestyle necessary in averting the conditions and their symptoms. For this creative art project, I want to encourage education …

Bibliography For "Beyond Borders And Shores: A Display In Celebration Of Asian And Pacific Islander American (Apia) Art And Heritage", Margaret Puentes

Library Displays and Bibliographies

A bibliography created to accompany a display about Asian and Pacific Islander American (APIA) art and heritage in May 2022 at the Leatherby Libraries at Chapman University.

Zion Shadows, Hannah Buchanan

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

No abstract provided.

Tower, Abby Downs

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

No abstract provided.

Charcoal Ladies, Kaylynn Gropp

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

No abstract provided.

Growth, Abby Downs

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

No abstract provided.

Gas Station Blues, Hannah Buchanan

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

No abstract provided.

Vogue Chanterelle, Kaylynn Gropp

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

No abstract provided.

Generations, Holly Buchanan

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

No abstract provided.

Layers, Abby Downs

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

No abstract provided.

Tv Room, Hannah Buchanan

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

No abstract provided.

To The Surface, Holly Buchanan

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

No abstract provided.

Scene One, Hannah Buchanan

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

No abstract provided.

Forever, Thomas Long

School of Art Undergraduate Honors Theses

FOREVER is a short drama film following a time loop within a mysterious cabin that acts as a catalyst for the film's own loop format, with the work repeating and building upon itself in a gallery setting. This is a culmination of a multimedia research process between cinematic arts and experimental media practices.