Fiber, Textile, and Weaving Arts Commons^™

Held On By A Thread, Annie M. Hutchins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The artist, Annie Hutchins, discusses her Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition, Held on by a Thread, which was installed at Tipton Gallery in Johnson City, TN, from March 6, 2025, through March 28, 2025, with a public reception held on March 7, 2025. The exhibition is a collection of textile works containing repurposed material artifacts of the life she shared with her maternal family since childhood. The artwork incorporates found objects from the artist’s home, including domestic textiles, clothing, handmade sewing projects, family photographs, and sewing notions. The artworks are made using the printmaking technique of photo emulsion screen …

Repair Through Recycling, Emma Murdock, Karl Aspelund

Senior Honors Projects

Repair Through Recycling is an instructional website I developed to encourage people to mend their garments rather than throw them away.I see this as a way to help address the growing issue of textile waste, where millions of garments are discarded each year. Many of these are made from synthetic materials that do not break down, contributing significantly to environmental pollution. This project features step-by-step instructional videos I created to teach the basics of mending, skills that are no longer commonly taught. These tutorials cover foundational techniques such as threading a needle and hand-stitching torn seams. The website also includes …

Intifada Tatreez, Jamilla Hashem

Toyon: Multilingual Literary Magazine

my personal instagram

Re-Constellations, Catherine Harper

Arts and Design

I was born a full-bull Taurus, in what I now know as a Snake Year. My father pointed out sharp stars in the cold night above rural Northern Ireland – Orion, Cassiopeia, the Seven Sisters, and the Plough. He named the ejaculate arc of the Milky Way and the other-worldly emerald ripple of far-off Aurora. Growing up in a farming community, the seasons were marked by stellar movements, the lunar calendar, the mythologies and rituals of equinox and solstice, and their impact on fallow and fertile land. The moon’s tidal rhythms illuminated and enshadowed my background, the celestial rain of …

Blanket Statements, Issue 168, Spring 2025

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 168, Spring 2025

Art Therapy: An Alternative Solution For Veterans Suffering From Trauma And Ptsd, Trisha Metcalf

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This project aims to explore artistic solutions to the psychological problems veterans face with re-entering society after serving time with the U.S. military. Art is one-way veterans can explore creative outlets for their trauma and through working with CreatiVets, they will be able to have a safe space to express themselves. CreatiVets is a non-profit specializing in art-based programs to help veterans deal with trauma. They already have programs that feature painting, sculpting and songwriting. A sewing program will be introduced into the organization so veterans will be able to express themselves through fiber arts. The sewing class will be …

Honey, I’M Home!, Kayla Lockwood

Art Student Research

Honey, I’m Home! revisits the idealized domestic life of the 1950s and 60s, drawing inspiration from iconic sitcoms The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy. The exhibition explores how gender roles within the traditional nuclear family have evolved. Through the lens of nostalgia, it delves into the emotional landscape of the childhood home. In this place, the comforting scents of family life intermingle with memories of laughter and warmth. However, this familiar setting is transformed into a deeper reflection on grief, memory, and identity.

Tartans: Weaving A Warped History With Myths, Heritage And A Whole Lot Of Heather., Bethany Sassen

LSU Master's Theses

Scotland has many tartans throughout the whole of the country. Each has a different meaning and is used for different clans and purposes. Tartans are the plaids that are seen throughout the Highlands and the patterns and colors have a wide range depending on where and when the tartan was created. The purpose of this research is to investigate the history of the tartans and how they interact with our current culture. I also built two outfits to show how tartan is still being used. One a more traditional outfit and the other more avant garde. Tartans have a long …

Corsets Of Empowerment, Dorsa Farzi

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This project explores the intersection of fashion and activism, using contemporary design to reflect on significant women’s rights movements from around the world. This exhibition presents four uniquely crafted corsets, each representing a pivotal movement, from the Suffragette era to the ongoing fight for gender equality in Iran. Through modern aesthetics, innovative construction, and symbolic details, this project transforms clothing into a medium for dialogue and advocacy. Fashion becomes more than just design—it becomes a powerful tool for storytelling, sparking awareness, and encouraging new perspectives on gender equality and activism.

This project was exhibited at the Robert Hillestad Gallery, University …

The Curious Case Of Japanese Denim, Aaron Francis Ward

Japanese Society and Culture

From its humble beginnings as wholly utilitarian workwear in the 19^th century, to its modern rise to high-fashion, the ubiquity of denim, particularly in the form of jeans, has had a fascinating journey in its little-over-150-year history (Beazley, 2015). Of note has been the recent rise in popularity of Japanese denim. Since the end of the Second World War, Japan seems to have had an insatiable demand for Americana (Marx, 2023). Yet, if considered in the sociohistorical context of Japanese-American relations, this ought to be highly improbable. The current paper examines the sociological nature of Japanese denim from semiotic …

Fashion And Technology: Interconnected Evolution, Impact, And Future Potential, Diana Paulet, Sarah E. Andersen, Keely Enriquez

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This paper explores the historical connection & influence between fashion and technology and its effects on design, production, and consumption. This line of research recognizes the historical aspect and development of technology in the fashion industry. Recognizing the central idea of how technology development can be interlinked with global issues such as pollution. Our review covers themes such as, the negative impacts of technology in fashion as well as the positive outcomes and the development of it. We aim to understand how the development of technology has transformed the fashion industry throughout history and how these issues can be potentially …

Under The Veil: Women's Head Coverings In Tudor England, Savannah Toth

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This thesis seeks to discover and analyze the agency and meaning of the role of women’s head coverings and veils within the context of Tudor Christianity, society, and the fashion world of English culture. By observing the usage of the veil through various lenses, this thesis examines the nuance of the veil as an object and actor in Tudor society that enables yet prohibits personal choice for women. This research uses various sources such as Tudor paintings and portraits, surviving pieces of garments, and written accounts to paint a picture of the impact and significance the veil had in every …

Colin Magazine Photo: Trigun, Megan K. Woods

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

This entry details a photograph of Meg Woods in costume as Vash the Stampede from Trigun and was included in a collection published by Colin Magazine. It demonstrates expertise and mastery over costuming practices and photo shoot planning, including pre production and post editing. These skills include textile and prop design, lighting, location scouting, collaboration between creatives, performance in front of a camera and understanding of the cultural elements of transmedia (such as the representation of animated characters in real world contexts).

This work also emphasises the advantages of using Australian locations to create images that would be impossible to …

Decency And Responsibility: Preserving Egyptian Tally Cloth Cultural Heritage And Protecting The Intellectual Property Of Egyptian Artisans., Noha Fawzy Ph.D, Marwa Zein Ph.D, Ahmed Elseragy Ph.D, Catherine Harper Ph.D

Arts and Design

Tally is an exquisite Egyptian netting fabric, cotton or linen with nickel silver, copper or brass strip embroidery, a powerful symbol of Egypt's opulent textile and artisanal culture. Traditionally handmade, it originated in Upper Egypt’s Asyut region where ancient Egyptian makers pioneered embellishment of translucent cloth with metallic threads. Its iconography - geometric flora, fauna, humans and camels – in black, white or ecru. With beautiful drape and fluidity, it is a highly valued part of Egypt’s rich cultural heritage.

Preserving Tally and protecting the intellectual property rights of its artisans is urgent to ensure sustainable livelihoods, safeguard this unique …

Senior Show - Merch Design, Nicole Tranel

Senior Art Portfolios

This Senior Capstone Project serves as the culmination of my undergraduate journey, highlighting the skills I have acquired and demonstrating my ability to apply them in real-world professional settings such as merch design. Through this project, I expanded my expertise beyond artistry, embracing design as a complementary skillset that enhances my creative and problem-solving abilities.

Strange World, Brooklin Grantz

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis work explores the intersections of masculine and feminine labors as they relate to the structure of domestic space. I utilize materials and processes akin to craft, construction and architecture, and domicile upkeep, noting what is shared between gendered and polarized fields while exploring uses of the grid in various instances as a structure to adhere to and antagonize: a binary. Highlighting the queerness and fluidity of materials and the similarities between seemingly disparate processes, I relate to the objects I make and alter through my own gender fluidity. I do not see masculinity or femininity as autonomous: the …

The Creative Front, Aleksandr O. Barrett

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Abstract

In this paper, I will discuss my thesis exhibition, The Creative Front, focusing on my materials, content, and context as they relate to each piece or body of work. This exhibition is the culmination of my work, which centers on my experience with the Russo-Ukrainian war. My work can be interpreted metaphorically, poetically, and directly through sculpture, installation, sound, and film. I am portraying very human stories and experiences from a full-scale war raging in Europe. My work is immersive, placing the viewer in an atmosphere of war, and conveying a sense of urgency and compassion for those who …

Representing Childhood: Abstraction And Aesthetics Of Simplicity In Ezra Jack Keats's The Snowy Day, Elle Propp

Scripps Senior Theses

The central question driving this project is not “Is The Snowy Day art?”—a question that risks reifying the very hierarchies this thesis seeks to trouble—but rather: What might it mean to treat this picturebook as an art historical object? What must be addressed in the discipline’s practices, priorities, and self-conceptions to engage such work with rigor and care? How can we analyze the picturebook as an art object?

Soft Epilogue, Chloe C. Firth

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This written document is the accompanying thesis for my Master of Fine Arts Exhibition, Soft Epilogue. The work in the exhibition serves as a visual record of my eating disorder recovery process. Each piece in the exhibition addresses a selected writing prompt from the book 8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder, published in 2011 and written by therapists and former eating disorder patients Carolyn Costin and Gwen Schubert Grabb. The book provides information and journal assignments regarding the development of eating disorders, how to maintain the motivation to recover, and how to navigate the complicated emotions …

Braiding Culture Through Ceramics & Mixed Media Sculpture, Joy M. Okokon

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Stories are embedded in each strand of Nigerian hair, serving as a bridge across generations and embodying the legacy of cultural expression. Hair-making, a skill passed down through generations in my family, began as a personal practice and has evolved into a powerful means of exploring and showcasing the cultural significance of hair braiding through creative works. The sculptures included in this thesis, Braiding Culture Through Ceramics & Mixed Media Sculpture, feature hair sculpture, afro combs, stools, adire batik made from materials such as clay, wood, glaze and cotton fabric. These materials are carefully selected for their cultural relevance and …

I Prophesy Disaster: Adapting Musical Storytelling To Fashion, Adam Snedden

Honors College Theses

Fashion is an artistic medium, where garments communicate ideas to any potential viewers by using visual imagery and relying on our cultural expectations. At the level of haute couture design, these visuals grow more elaborate and dramatic. With this project, I wanted to accomplish the goal of adapting a song, the gothic-inspired progressive rock epic A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers, into a single couture-style look. Getting as many details of the song as possible to be apparent in an overcoat, shirt, and pants was a challenging task that required extensive use of embroidery and attention to detail. Additionally, this look …

Guanacos De Corazón, Ana Marcela Sinnett

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This thesis explores the intersections of indigeneity, mestizaje, and decolonial aesthetics through a mixed-media art practice rooted in Salvadoran history and identity. Drawing on ancestral traditions such as indigo dyeing and backstrap weaving, Guanacos de Corazón investigates how materiality, folklore, and handcraft function as forms of visual resistance, meaning art that disrupts dominant narratives, critiques systems of power, and reclaims erased cultural memory.

Through formal analysis, historical context, and interviews with Salvadoran artists, this thesis challenges ideas of mestizaje that promote cultural and ethnic superiority and contribute to the erasure of ancestral beliefs.

How do we rescue ancestral traditions that …

Saints And Syncretism In Global Christian Art, Alexandra Lewis, Andie Near, Charles Mason, Gracie Allen, Signe Bieganski, Shannon Smith, Emma Waldvogel, Lauren Carpenter, Ashley Keltsch, Sophia Funston, Mariam Tiews, Emma Brenny, Anne Heath

Kruizenga Art Museum Exhibition Catalogs

Kruizenga Art Museum, Hope College Catalog for the exhibition: Saints and Syncretism in Global Christian Art. Exhibition dates: January 14 – May 17, 2025. Alexandra Lewis, photographer, designer. Andie Near, photographer.

Kruizenga Art Museum Online Collection - Exhibition Gallery