Fiber, Textile, and Weaving Arts Commons^™

In The Wake Of Sound: On Field Recording, Materiality, And Reparative Listening, Ivy Fu

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

This thesis develops a practice of field recording, spatial audio composition, and soft-circuit installation grounded in what I call reparative listening: a slow, materially attentive form of attention oriented toward what dominant recording apparatuses suppress, discard, or fail to register. Across five major projects—Fable Upon Ununified Grounds (2023), Cocoon (2024), Tether (2025), Hide & Seek (2026), and Frequency Commons (2026)—I treat sound not as an extractable output but as a relational event shaped by site, body, material, and signal loss. The work draws together Jane Bennett's vibrant materialism, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's theory of definitional crisis and the open secret, Zhuangzi's …

Maa': An Analysis From The May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection, Claire T. Chilla

Department of Anthropology

Research of a maa’ textile within the May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection (MWESC) from Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Report discusses different knowledge systems including technical and physical as well as cosmological and spiritual from the Toraja people. Also analyses affects of colonialism, trade, spirituality, tourism, and funerary practices.

Maa’: An Analysis From The May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection, Claire T. Chilla

Department of Anthropology

An analysis of Maa’ textiles from Sulawesi Indonesia. Discusses both the artistic symbolism, possible physical creation, and the spiritual connection of the textile for the Torajans. Informs through the lens of globalization, colonization, and funerary practices from the country of origin.

Nasty, Mya L. Correa

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

I am exploring artwork about women’s power and sexuality, centering on hair. I’m interested in how hair carries history and how it has been used to control and frighten women. I’ve been reading feminist artists’ books and researching their findings alongside my own work. Drawing on my personal history, my mother’s story, and the experience of raising my daughters, I consider how my children’s lives differ from mine and my mother’s, and what those differences reveal.

Hair has long been wielded as a weapon to enforce expectations on women’s bodies by a society afraid of losing control. As creators of …

Weathered, Haylee A. Dyess

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Weathered focuses on themes of change, accumulation, time, and acceptance. Each artwork holds layers of information and experiences that form a unique narrative for all its viewers. The construction of each piece is a symbol of the physical ability it takes to create each painting. After my mobility was hindered due to my medical conditions, a new appreciation for physical health and the world I live in was gained. Striving to pack this sense of appreciation into my work, my method became a way for me to cope with my illness and to enjoy being creative, freely.

My art is …

Woven Color: Historical Uses Of Color Theory Woven Into Fiber Art Practice, Mary K. Greenwood

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This semester-long project, created in Material Exploration, examines the use of historical color theory within contemporary fiber art to evoke emotion and narrative. Drawing from established color systems, artistic movements, and artist inspirations, the work explores how color relationships, such as harmony, contrast, and saturation, can communicate mood and meaning. Through experimentation with textile materials and processes, each piece integrates intentional color schemes to enhance storytelling through both visual and tactile elements. Ultimately, the project highlights how applying historical color theory within fiber art can deepen emotional resonance and connect traditional practices with contemporary expression.

Las Representaciones Florales En Los Bordados De La Indumentaria Cuzqueña, Nathalie Santisteban-Delgado

Actas seleccionadas del SIMPOSIO ARTE 4.2: Migraciones en la imagen prehispánica: transitando territorios del pasado al presente. 58º Congreso Internacional de Americanistas, Novi Sad, Serbia, 2025.

Los vestidos indígenas cuzqueños contemporáneos se caracterizan por tener decoraciones iconográficas variadas. Es la representación floral decorativa que destaca por el color, el diseño y la forma. El motivo floral aparece adornando tanto los vestidos de las imágenes santas de la pintura cuzqueña (siglos XVII y XVIII) como la ropa de los incas nobles retratados durante la colonia. Este estudio tiene como objetivo mostrar que existe una continuidad estética andina, a partir de la identificación de las especies florales utilizadas en las expresiones artísticas virreinales y de la comparación con las especies florales empleadas en la decoración del vestido tradicional …

Below The Rows, Beyond The Roots: An Art Exhibition Depicting Agriculture Across The Globe, Maggie Enoch

Honors Theses and Capstones

In Below the Rows, Beyond the Roots, artist Maggie Enoch creates multimedia works inspired by her exposure to diverse agricultural systems and perspectives while studying geography and sustainable agriculture/food systems around the world. By integrating complex histories with the contemporary realities of farming, Maggie paints vivid pictures of the power of food in this five-piece exhibition.

Hope By A Thousand Cuts: Fashion Ethics From Cutting Fabric To Cutting A Fashion Film, Sarah G. Porterfield

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

I conducted an experiment during which I learned to sew, created a clothing collection, and wore nothing but my collection for a month. Additionally, I documented my collection and the process in a fashion film. The goal of my experiment was to investigate fashion ethics. To gain a greater understanding of the underlying theories that fashion materializes and to grasp their ethical implications better, I studied the texts of fashion theorists such as Marx, Barthes, Derrida, Deleuze and Guattari, Butler, Benjamin, and Merleau-Ponty throughout my experiment. Therefore, I gained insight into many aspects of fashion ethics, from the beginning stages …

Untitled: Study., Annabela Cockrell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Untitled: Study is an exploration into “The Work”, which is a constant evolution of the idea of the same piece. Every new work is an evolution of the one before. Previous works are often reworked and self-cannibalized into the next generation. The Work will never be presented the same way twice. There is a temporality in making and installing the work this way, what with the form, the space, the ness of it never being the same. All the while conflicting by being viewed as being the same in the same breath.

Recollections Of A Tejana Life, Carolina Yáñez

Art Theses and Dissertations

This thesis encompasses the life of a young woman navigating life in Texas through various political and social barriers. My interdisciplinary practice analyzes the historical context of Mexicans in Texas from its Revolutionary period into current injustices. Through fiber, printmaking, and photography I create a visual diary to illustrate what the political has made personal. These works display the beauty of Tejano culture, but also the power struggles that threaten communities I care for, as well as my own existence that persists against far-right wing agendas.

Current politics and government leadership in Texas have inspired me to make artwork calling …

Cavedivers: A Multi-Media Visual And Musical Release, Emily J. Langford

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

For my graduating UNO Honors Program capstone project, I have chosen to undertake a creative project that involves recording and releasing an album with my band, Cavedivers, while also designing the visual media and advertising graphics to accompany the release. The songs we have recorded were all written and developed before the start of this project. Therefore, this project is less of a songwriting endeavor, since most of that process is already complete, and more of an experimentation and workshop in communicating music through recording and identifying effective trends within graphic design.

As an art major and musician, this has …

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.

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 …

Pillowfort Logic, Victoria Barquin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I use textiles, everyday objects, and my own studio archive to create assemblages that are both abstract and familiar. I follow my body, operating without preconceived notions as to what the materials are or how they should act, creating a liberatory practice of working intuitively, embracing play, and challenging my own conceptions of what’s possible. In my thesis exhibition, Pillowfort Logic, this methodology of reimagining what already exists is fundamental. The construction of these pieces mimic the act of building a fort in the living room where chairs are walls and blankets are roofs. The parts may return to work …

From Field To Fashion: A Journey In Sustainable Design And Regional Understanding, Lily Turner

Individually Designed Interdepartmental Major Honors Project

As the fashion industry became globalized over the past century, it has become a major environment polluter and exposed laborers to hazardous conditions. This honors project considers sustainability in the textile industry at large and at the regional scale of the Upper Midwest. Its scholarly component offers an overview of the current textile production, details how the industry may become sustainable, and suggests practices of environmentally-conscious and ethical design. The creative component is a soil-to-soil seasonless capsule collection titled From Field View that incorporates biomimicry and interrogates the concept of place by referencing the Midwest’s flora, wool, and linen fibers.

Education For Sustainable Development Competencies In A Community-Engaged Art Workshop, Amy J. Schmierbach

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Arts participation can expand empathy and cognitive growth capacity while creating a social bond and communal meaning (McCarthy et al., 2004). As an art instructor for over twenty years, I have witnessed the bonds that can be created through collaborative art experiences. These bonds are nurtured from a space of equity and inclusion. Teaching a community-engaged art course can bring these qualities into the community, allowing university students to use their art skills in real-world applications to impact society through experiential learning art practices. Making art with others will enable us to help others build empathy and social bonds that …

Place-Conscious Vs. Place-Bound, Julie Avetisyan

Theses and Dissertations

Julie Avetisyan’s installation of sculptures, paintings and printmaking works are driven by an exploration of constructed identity that is not place-bound, but place-conscious. In this paper, she explores how her art practice generates world building under the context of the Armenian Diaspora – considering histories of indigeneity, migration, and assimilation.

Hacking The Library Exhibition Panels, Sally Brown, Jackie Andrews, Matthew Conboy, Ruth Yang, Trudy Trudy Borenstein- Sugiura, Shan Cawley, Chantel Foretich, Xue'er Gao, Ryan Lewis, Robin Miller, Imari Nacht, Chris Revelle, Erin Tapley

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The hacker ethos in the positive sense is about the ability to deconstruct and reconstruct information systems. Hacking starts with reconceptualizing libraries. Libraries are now beyond the book. As libraries evolve into a new sort of space --still a space for research, learning and study-- but also for community engagement and collaboration, library exhibits present a unique opportunity for both collaborating exhibitors and library users. Artists engage with libraries creatively through artist residencies, installations, using discarded library materials in their work, collaborative workshops, digital collections remixing, performances and more. Hacking the Library will present artwork that highlights the intersecting values …

Eco-Interoception: What Plants, Fungi And Protista Have Taught My Body, Sara Riley Dotterer

Art Theses and Dissertations

To me, ecology is the relational, full-body awareness that I am made up of and deeply connected to everything around me; and for better or worse, this is reciprocal. I form ecotones, an ecological transitional zone between two ecosystems, with the world around me. I use this ecotonal lens to blur binaries and dissolve boundaries between me and the world “outside my body.” During my Masters of Fine Arts at Southern Methodist University, I have continuously explored and represented the lives of various more-than-human species outside of my body, including plants, fungi and protista through an ecotonal lens. Although these …

Heretic Territories: Spells For Fracture, Mia Greenwald

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This monograph accompanies the MFA thesis exhibition, Heretic Territories: spells for fracture. The show uses video, weaving, clay, and bacterial/fungal bodies in three main bodies of work: Inter; Lost, remain, fracture; and For, Of Them. The pieces, and the relationship between them, explore themes of magic, the body, and land in contradiction and opposition to colonial and capitalist structures. I approach the artificial hierarchies that subjugate people, non-human creatures, and land while trying not to replicate the mistakes of posthumanist scholarship that bypasses the fact that not all people are afforded full access to the category …

Tactile Arts Club, Hayden Hauge, Rowan Havranek

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

Students will build tactile skills while learning how to crochet, knit, and sew, and they will have a finished project in their hands at the conclusion of the club.

Colby Museum Of Art: Faith Ringgold “Story Quilt” Acquired, Bob Keyes

Colby Magazine

The Colby Museum of Art adds a coveted Faith Ringgold story quilt to its collection.

Entities: A Field Of Imaginary Games, Thrasyvoulos Ioannis Kalaitzidis

LSU Master's Theses

With this body of work, I am looking for visual symbols that help communicate unuttered meanings through storytelling and stimulate an affectual response to the viewer. This exploration is presented in two different forms: a surreal sculptural installation and a board game. The installation consists of large-scale sculptures made from light and soft materials (polyurethane foam, plastic waste, paper) that are available to move inside the gallery, while the board game is presented as a set of 3D prints with instructions on how the participants can play it. The materials used in the installation suggest a way to transform waste …

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 …

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 …

A Renaissance: The Absurd Retelling Of Mostly True Events, Erica R. Hitzman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Throughout the following you will be taken on a fantastical retelling of the exhibition A Renaissance, and some of what lead up to it. Through the eyes of various shifting perspectives you will explore the relationships between the artist, her art, and the viewer in the hopes of unveiling how the work plays into feminist theory, its place in the Zeitgeist, and the motivations behind it. Each perspective is formatted differently, to visually mirror the shift in perspective. Presented in the first person and aligned to the right, the account of the artist discusses the process, emotion, and inspiration behind …