Art and Design Commons^™

In A Distant Land, Ohad Sarfaty

Masters Theses

For the past few years I have avidly collected oral histories, family memories and imagery as a way to better understand and contextualize myself, my roots, and my own personal path. My recent paintings reference my first-hand experience as an immigrant, as well as my family's long and complicated history with displacement. The paintings were put together much like a game of telephone, their narratives transmitted through generations, stretched and skewed by family members and friends, rendering them fragmented yet crystallized. In the process of painting, seeing parallels between the past and the present has been frustrating and disturbing. The …

Left Hand Stories, Saif Mhaisen

Masters Theses

I draw people and paint things. Sometimes I paint people and draw things, but mostly I draw people and paint things. I work from life. The process – painting or drawing – is not mediated. That is the primary fact concerning the current work.

I see a mediator as anything forced in between a subject and myself. Following that, the work doesn’t involve Internet searches or photography or printing or projection or tracing or elaborate set ups or still lives or prep drawing or under painting.

The current work is defined by the current context: a graduate school art studio …

Pienso En Ti, Gina Gwen Palacios

Masters Theses

Representation signifies social existence, and the lack of Mexican American representation in media, art and the mainstream American narrative is a clear dismissal of a people and their history. I grew up in South Texas and my world was filled with fields of cotton, an open horizon line, and a mismatch of Mexican and American identities and languages. I have listened to my parents’ stories of picking cotton, being punished for speaking Spanish, having their first names changed and later being forced to drop out of school. As I grew up I realized the rows of cotton we passed daily …

On Memory And The Radical Black Imagination, Todd Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

On Memory and the Radical Black Imagination is an exploration of the personal, sociological, and historical elements contained within the art of T. Eliott Mansa (Todd Eliott Thomas) Mansa examines the memorialization of black death and the radical black imagination. included are illustrations of specific art works and descriptions.

Double Splinters, Theresa M. Daddezio

Theses and Dissertations

Awareness of matters outside oneself can be heightened by a repetitive task, one that requires a meditative focus on the rudimentary of movement. The construction of a line is a projection from a fixed point that creates a multiplicity of lines, synapses, and connective fabric in the mind that project outward to any possible or arbitrary point. When assembling our reality, our eyes operate as the mediators of such points, drawing in visual clues to the world around us. Sight is composed from the movement of light particles alongside of individual and collective memories that construct what is.

A Caprine Carnival: Goats At The Vālaikkāl Vāyil, Madhini Nirmal

Theses and Dissertations

Madhini Nirmal uses Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of the carnival to imagine a goat-led subversion of political and social dogma in the context of the South Indian city of Chennai. She uses the mediums of monotype, painting and collage to create these artworks where the undoing of hierarchies is a result of the natural and bodily.

Construction Narratives, Pablo M. Diaz

Theses and Dissertations

The whiteness of this work proposes a state of preparation for the painting to begin. However, it is the lighting of the room that completes it, adding a wider range of tones. The white wall of the gallery is also incorporated into the work by the opening slit. Additionally, the slit becomes a contrapposto pose, showing the space between bent knees as found in paintings of Saint Sebastian.

Invisible Territories, Lydia Seaman

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

Layering geography, space and time, my work urges viewers to embrace the equivocal and create a desire for the impossible. To explore this notion, Invisible Territories is an analysis of my practice, examining how I mediate specific references into abstract and universal interpretations. My work employs subjects that document the world by analyzing the layers and simulacra that form our visual information; focusing on the intervals between “things” as the subject matter themselves. Looking to the words of Italo Calvino as a conceptual guide, this paper discusses the practice of mapping through drawing, etching and painting.

Chinese-American Landscape, Jessica Wen

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

Cultural hybridity is an unwillingness to succumb to the notion of choosing sides when it comes to mixed heritage and culture. The approach taken to identity has a place in the artistic sphere as well. Through an investigation of my art practice in painting alongside a contemporary and historical context, the hybrid space between Chinese and Western landscape painting is explored and determined. The goals of nature depicted through distorted perspective, abstraction and simplification of objects, and emphasis on texture are techniques employed by both artistic spheres. By utilizing these goals and mixing materials of both Chinese and Western painting, …

A Shift In Silence, Bailey Idom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A Shift in Silence is a body of work that emerged because of a key shift in my life. Using the formal components of line, shape, and value, I create a space representing an intimate moment in time. Physically, the medium can be any material, but I process all of this as an expression of line. Each piece shares the commonality of lines and lineage, while the layering embodies the record of my relationships from the past that directly affect the present. The abstraction and unpredictability within my own relationships require openness and vulnerability. This honest dialogue sustains and informs …

Polaroid Access, Becky Jane Rosen

Theses and Dissertations

In her thesis statement, Becky Jane Rosen discusses the relationships between photography, family, and the psyche through her recent paintings and artistic influences.

For Wintonbury: An Expansion Of Narrative And Painting, Cassaundra Kayla Sanderson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In March 2017, I began planning the narratives of what would become my Thesis Exhibition. One year later marked my installation of the exhibit: For Wintonbury, located at the Fine Art Center Gallery at the University of Arkansas.

A merging of the visual arts and literary fiction, For Wintonbury offers a more immersive experience in storytelling. The painted scenes, drawings, three-dimensional compositions, and short stories each serve their own purposes in presenting partial glimpses into the longer narratives of Wintonbury. Through multiple media and entry points, the viewer is given the choice in which sequence and manner to take in …

Undesirable Forms, Maria Risner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Master of Fine Arts exhibition, Undesirable Forms, presents a collection of paintings and sculptures that focus on the repulsion and discomfort a woman can experience within her mind and body. These works were exhibited at the Tipton gallery, in downtown Johnson City. The pieces included in this exhibition consist of encaustic paintings on panel, and sculptures created from plaster life-casts.

The ideas discussed in this paper are influenced by Julia Kristeva and Sigmund Freud’s work relating to the abject/grotesque female body. This paper also discusses inspiration from other artists, such as Natalie Frank and Helen Chadwick, who work …

Zooairyland- Xinjie Yin Mfa Thesis Show, Xinjie Yin

CGU MFA Theses

During the process of discovering myself in my art world, I have determined to use cuteness as a way to express my worldview, values, and experiences. Cuteness is my own philosophy and language in the interpersonal communication. I intend to make cuteness meaningful to me as well as to the rest of the world. I believe cuteness contains a power to bring people back to their original simplicity regardless of their age, it is the idea of innocence. Cuteness is like a shield for me to protect myself from the tough, scary and crazy reality; and it is a positive …

Ode To The Sea: Art From Guantanamo, Erin L. Thompson, Charles Shields, Paige Laino

Publications and Research

Exhibition catalogue for “Ode to the Sea: Art from Guantánamo” (October 16, 2017-January 26, 2018, President's Gallery, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York). Detainees at the United States military prison camp known as Guantánamo Bay have made art from the time they arrived. The exhibit displays some of these evocative works, made by eight men: four who have since been cleared and released from Guantánamo, and four who remain there. They paint the sea again and again although they cannot reach it. The catalog includes contributions by Trevor Paglen, Solmaz Sharif, Natasha Trethewey, Jericho Brown, and current and …

Winter Birches At York Redoubt, Irene Oore

The Goose

This painting of Winter Birches at York Redoubt in Halifax, Nova Scotia reflects the grandeur and beauty of the historic site on which it sits and evacuates the fortification from it. York Redoubt, now a National Historic Park, was constructed in 1793 (just as war broke out between Britain and France) on a bluff at the narrowest point on the outer harbour. It overlooks the entrance to Halifax Harbour at Ferguson's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Flora And Fauna In East Asian Art, Samantha B. Frisoli, Daniella M. Snyder, Gabriella A. Bucci, Melissa R. Casale, Keira B. Koch, Paige L. Deschapelles

Schmucker Art Catalogs

Flora and Fauna in East Asian Art is the fourth annual exhibition curated by students enrolled in the Art History Methods course. This exhibition highlights the academic achievements of six student curators: Samantha Frisoli ’18, Daniella Snyder ’18, Gabriella Bucci ’19, Melissa Casale ’19, Keira Koch ’19, and Paige Deschapelles ’20. The selection of artworks in this exhibition considers how East Asian artists portrayed similar subjects of flora and fauna in different media including painting, prints, embroidery, jade, and porcelain. This exhibition intends to reveal the hidden meanings behind various representations of flora and fauna in East Asian art by …

Finding Aid To The Collection Of Lilla Cabot Perry Materials., Lilla Cabot Perry, Colby College Special Collections

Finding Aids

The Collection of Lilla Cabot Perry Materials contains clippings, correspondence, two diaries, published and unpublished manuscripts, a memorial exhibit document, two portrait paintings (William Dean Howells, Edwin Arlington Robinson) and photograph items.

Lilla Cabot Perry (1848-1933) was born in Boston, a member of the prominent Cabot family. She married Thomas Sargeant Perry, a literature professor at Harvard, and through him became friends with writers such as Henry James and William Dean Howells. Perry wrote several volumes of poetry: "Heart of the Weed" (1886), "From the Garden of Hellas" (1891), "Impressions" (1898), and "Jar of Dreams" (1923). Primarily known as an …

Sadie Jung Senior Art Exhibition Portfolio 2018, Sadie Jung

Senior Art Portfolios

Senior Art Show Exhibition Portfolio by Sadie Jung. This exhibition includes five oil paintings and one documentary.

Sillage, Brooke Alexander

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The blurry, the dark, shadoplaces hidden and dwelling amongst the certainty steal my attention. Such places can communicate a vast sense of both time and setting, can convey that which is both occurring and that which is past. I do not think those spaces can be explicitly defined. They are reflections and explorations of the figures’ minds, providing a place for both their physical bodies and their thoughts to live. The paintings that compose Sillage communicate a space that requires engagement and that is not readily understood. The painted area changes as it invites and rejects visual entry. These ambiguous …

Augmentation Of Music, Kyle Lenzen

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

My main inspiration for my work is music. I convey the idea of music in a physical and conceptual way. The way I represent music in my work is through Collage, Silhouettes, and Abstract Shapes. The main elements that I use can be found in album art, musicians and musical notation. Music has been a huge influence on my life. I want to share that influence and bring people together through my work. Music creates connections with anybody and can bridge different cultures together.

One way to document music is using the staff. The basic staff uses five lines and …

Security Blankets: The Art Of Maladaptation, Megan Stobaugh

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In times of stress or trauma, each person has their own means of coping. There are countless ways to deal with stressors in a positive way, such as journaling, problem solving, or meditation. However, many distressed individuals turn to negative, or maladaptive, coping mechanisms. These are behaviors which seem to help ease distress in the moment, but prove to have negative consequences. While they vary greatly, some common maladaptive coping mechanisms include substance and tobacco use, self-harm, disordered eating, violence, and isolation.

This project aims to shed light on the subject of maladaptive coping mechanisms, as it is an increasingly …

After The Big Wind Stops I See Gentle Waves, Eunji (Jubee) Lee

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis covers my reflections on the inspirations and the motivations behind selected works including my candidacy exhibition; Resonance and my thesis exhibition; after the big wind stops I see gentle waves. It contains my life throughout my MFA studies and the development of my art practice. Through its story-within-a-story method of narration and my describing streams of my thoughts, I am attempting to explain the processes of my development and the discoveries I have made, the little things in my daily life, and the big turning points that inspired me. My work and this document have been strongly determined …

Quotations Like The Sharpest Claws, Johanna Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

Quotations like the Sharpest Claws describes a multimedia installation composed of paintings and sound that explores the theory of cognitive dissonance, a controversial psychological model that attempts to explain how we deal with inconsistency in incompatible beliefs. Imagination is given primacy as a source for truth-seeking and world-building. The uncanny and surreal are used as entry points into this topic.

The title is derived from a description of Eileen Myles’ poetry I once read in an anonymous review. Their writing was described as beyond poetry in a way that it could only be described as such when surrounded by “quotations …

Rupture, Dionis Ortiz

Theses and Dissertations

I am an interdisciplinary artist working in painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, video and installation. I employ these mediums to create a coming of age story as a Dominican New Yorker, exploring masculinity, vulnerability, the supernatural, family, and religion, as well as how culture plays a role in my community and in my life.

The Twilight Zone: The Confluence Of Childhood Scenes And Future Anxiety, Jongwon Bae

Theses and Dissertations

Jongwon Bae’s paintings reflect his childhood memories as an archive that is to be repressed until it manifests itself in uncertain ways as it becomes confluent with the anxiety about the future.

Combining An Intuitive Art Workshop And Neuroscience Rituals To Make Us Happy, Audrey Gran Weinberg

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

One might wonder how intuitive art can connect to neuroscience and how this could be accomplished. In this descriptive article, research connecting art therapy and neuroscience has been collected and a workshop on Intuitive Painting has been described in detail. The connection was made by the author based on an article by Barker (2017), ‘4 Rituals to be more Happy,’ who writes a popular science blog. The rituals: gratefulness, expressing negative emotions, decision making and human touch were combined with Dr. Pinkie Feinstein’s method of Intuitive Painting in a small group setting. Although subjective, it would seem that at least …

Invisible Invisibility, Eugina Song

Theses and Dissertations

White America assumes its culture is the default, and Asian culture as foreign and irrelevant. I address Asian invisibility by using canvas structure as a Western framing device of painting, and make this cultural barrier visible by breaking out of the frame. Deriving from Dansaekhwa, I challenge the Western painting structure with materiality.

High-Di-High-Di-High-Di-High, Low-Di-Low-Di-Low-Di-Low, Daniel Figueredo

Theses and Dissertations

I am a believer in our image culture and its capacity to be liberating, exploratory, and critical. I also believe in its ability to overwhelm. My own work is a reaction to this over saturation. It is equally influenced by childhood exposure to remedial computer graphics and cartoons, as well as formative experiences traveling, an in-depth Art Historical education, and a love for art developed over time.

Inside The Aviary, Nikki Mehle

Theses and Dissertations

Modularity and movement of energy are two key concepts in the construction of Nikki Mehle's paintings. Painting is an act of both processing and creating reality – the duality of reflection and invention.