Art Practice Commons^™

Ascents And Descents: Personal Pilgrimage In Hieronymus Bosch's The Haywain, Alison Daines

Theses and Dissertations

At the end of the fifteenth century, Hieronymus Bosch provided the foremost expression of the strict religious piety embodied by the Devotio Moderna and the impending embrace of secular humanism. As a result, Bosch's seemingly complex images provided viewers with positive messages concerning the journey of life through the use of binary symbolism. He utilized the pilgrimage motif as a guide throughout his paintings and in relation to the liminal spaces surrounding his works. This article will examine his important triptych, The Haywain, (c.1495-1516) as an example of spiritual paths taken simultaneously by both religious and contemporary figures, along …

Beauty, Ugliness, And Meaning: A Study Of Difficult Beauty, Christine Anne Palmer

Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of modern art, and subsequently contemporary art, has brought with it a deep-rooted deliberation of the definition of beauty and its role in the realm of art. Unlike many representational artworks, contemporary art less often contains a beauty that is readily available on the surface of an artwork- an easy beauty. Instead, it often possesses a beauty that requires substantial reasoning and understanding- a difficult beauty. Just as the definition of beauty has and will continue to be culturally and historically changing, so must our methodological and pedagogical practices in regards to beauty and Aesthetics. As Art Educators, …

Lantern's Diary, Wei Zhong Tan

Theses and Dissertations

My MFA project titled, “Lantern's Diary” is a synergy of colors, tactile experiences, and reflections on change. The artwork is based on cultural influences. The physical form of the lantern is a metaphor of culture identity—in Eastern culture, paper has been used in architecture, furniture, clothing, funerals, writing materials, and lanterns. Its function as a material is to fulfill the necessity of daily life and ceremonial rituals. Hence, paper plays an important role in the Eastern society. The color spectrum representing “Change” corresponds with the western system of color organization. The gallery space plays a spatial aesthetic role in …

Beyond The Walls: The Easter Processional On The Exterior Frescos Of Moldavian Monastery Churches, Mollie Elizabeth Mcvey

Theses and Dissertations

During the sixteenth century, the princes of Moldavia, a region of modern Romania, built many churches and monasteries. These churches followed the typical Byzantine style by placing detailed frescos on the interior walls, but some of the Moldavian churches took that tradition even further and expanded the frescos to the façade. This thesis argues that these exterior images were used to enhance the Easter processionals that occurred around the churches. While most scholars explain this phenomenon as propaganda or a cry for help against the Ottoman Empire, a new interpretation is offered here. It discusses how the exterior scenes on …

Text And Tapestry: "The Lady And The Unicorn," Christine De Pizan And The Le Vistes, Shelley Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The luminous, famous and enigmatic The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries are timelss objects at the center of heated scholarly discussion. There are six tapestries, created circa 1480-1500 (figures 1 – 6), and were commissioned by the le Viste family of Lyon, whose heraldic arms appear in each tapestry. This paper seeks to connect the tapestries conceptually to contemporary courtly, feminine ideals, the image of woman in late fifteenth-century Paris, and most importantly to Christine de Pizan's writings, particularly City of Ladies and The Treasury of the City of Ladies, both written in 1405. Through her texts, Christine de Pizan …

Secondhand Chinoiserie And The Confucian Revolutionary: Colonial America's Decorative Arts "After The Chinese Taste", Kiersten Claire Davis

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the implications of chinoiserie, or Western creations of Chinese-style decorative arts, upon an eighteenth century colonial American audience. Chinese products such as tea, porcelain, and silk, and goods such as furniture and wallpaper displaying Chinese motifs of distant exotic lands, had become popular commodities in Europe by the eighteenth century. The American colonists, who were primarily culturally British, thus developed a taste for chinoiserie fashions and wares via their European heritage. While most European countries had direct access to the China trade, colonial Americans were banned from any direct contact with the Orient by the British East …

A Call For Liberation: Aleijadinho's 'Prophets' As Capoeiristas, Monica Jayne Bowen

Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the late eighteenth century, many Brazilians became inspired by the political revolutions of the French and American colonies and sought for a similar type of revolution, hoping to gain independence from the Portuguese. One nationalistic group, the "Inconfidência Mineira," probably influenced the art of the sculptor Aleijadinho (1738-1814). Aleijadinho's work has been examined as a political message previously, but never as propaganda through the representation of capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art. Capoeira probably formed as a means for Afro-Brazilian slaves to fight their way out of captivity. While training to fight, slaves would disguise capoeira to look like a …

Dairy Culture: Industry, Nature And Liminality In The Eighteenth-Century English Ornamental Dairy, Ashlee Whitaker

Theses and Dissertations

The vogue for installing dairies, often termed "fancy" or "polite" dairies, within the gardens of wealthy English estates arose during the latter half of the eighteenth century. These polite dairies were functional spaces in which aristocratic women engaged, to varying degrees, in bucolic tasks of skimming milk, churning and molding butter, and preparing creams. As dairy work became a mode of genteel activity, dairies were constructed and renovated in the stylish architectural modes of the day and expanded to serve as spaces of leisure and recreation. Dairies were often lavishly outfitted to create a delicate and clean atmosphere, a fancy …

Four Greco-Roman Era Temples Of Near Eastern Fertility Goddesses: An Analysis Of Architectural Tradition, K. Michelle Wimber

Theses and Dissertations

Lucian, writing in the mid-second century AD, recorded his observations of an "exotic" local cult in the city of Hierapolis in what is today Northern Syria. The local goddess was known as Dea Syria to the Romans and Atargatis to the Greeks. Lucian's so-named De Dea Syria is an important record of life and religion in Roman Syria. De Dea Syria presents to us an Oriental cult of a fertility goddess as seen through the eyes of a Hellenized Syrian devotee and religious ethnographer. How accurate Lucian's portrayal of the cult is questionable, though his account provides for us some …

And There Were Green Tiles On The Ceiling, Jean Catherine Richardson

Theses and Dissertations

In this document I shall explain my art process, and reflecting on my work, will explore the themes and emotions that evolved. I shall accompany the images of my MFA exhibition with personal poetic vignettes. These vignettes are memories and thoughts that surfaced both while making the art and while viewing the final exhibition. While the primary experience is looking at and being with my art, I hope these anecdotes and stories give some insight into my motivations and actions as an artist. In these stories I shall use my own voice; I am Scottish and will tend to use …

Navajo Baskets And The American Indian Voice: Searching For The Contemporary Native American In The Trading Post, The Natural History Museum, And The Fine Art Museum, Laura Paulsen Howe

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the display of Navajo baskets and examines some of the possible meanings Navajo baskets can reveal. Acknowledging that the meaning of a work of art changes when it is placed in different environments, the thesis explores what meanings are revealed and what meanings are concealed in basket displays in three venues: the trading post, the natural history museum, and the fine art museum. The study concludes that the fine art museum has the most potential to foster a dialogue about the contemporary Navajo, whose identity is a product of continuity and change. Chapter one discusses the basket's …

Fix, Kathryn Williams

Theses and Dissertations

For the past 15 years I have been struggling to recover from the consequences of sexual abuse. I have been involved with many self abusive habits, including cutting different areas of my body. I have come to the understanding that these addictive habits evolved as a direct result of sexual abuse. The stories I am about to relate tell the fears and difficulties I have experienced as well as an account of the tremendous power that art has provided me towards a full recovery. I am writing this memoir in hopes that those who read it will better understand the …

The Portrait Of Citizen Jean-Baptiste Belley, Ex-Representative Of The Colonies By Anne-Louis Girodet Trioson: Hybridity, History Painting, And The Grand Tour, Megan Marie Collins

Theses and Dissertations

Anne-Louis Girodet Trioson's Portrait of C.[itizen] Jean-Baptiste Belley, ex-representative of the Colonies, is evidence of the changing ideological situation during the French Revolution. Girodet was one of the most learned and accomplished students of Jacques-Louis David who strove to surpass his teacher in two ways: 1) by painting David's Neoclassical style so well that his handling surpasses that of his master, and 2) by choosing subject matter never before explored by David. Girodet accomplishes both within this work. The Neoclassical handling of the image has been achieved with amazing clarity, and the central figure of an identified black man …

Ideals And Realities, Pamela Bowman

Theses and Dissertations

In order to produce work that prompts the viewer to undergo a process of personal exploration resulting in discourse and the understanding of feelings, it is necessary to balance ideals and realities, combine experience and creativity, and blend concepts and materials. Ideals and realities are discussed in this paper, using an approach that concentrates on foundational principles. The ideals of morality, beauty, goodness, acceptance, and unity form a foundation for the motivation behind my work. They are described in relationship to the philosophy of aesthetics. Ideals are contrasted with realities of life which have patterns and rhythms. These repetitive patterns …

The Artistic And Architectural Patronage Of Countess Urraca Of Santa Marã­A De Caã±As: A Powerful Aristocrat, Abbess, And Advocate, Julia Alice Jardine Mcmullin

Theses and Dissertations

Countess Urraca Lope de Haro was the daughter of the noble Lord Diego Lope de Haro, friend and advisor to King Alfonso VIII of Castilla-León and granddaughter of Lord Lope Díaz de Haro and Lady Aldonza Ruiz de Castro, aristocratic courtiers as well as popular monastic patrons. As a young and wealthy widow, Countess Urraca took monastic vows at the Cistercian nunnery of Santa María de Cañas founded by her grandparents. Within a short time of uniting herself to this monastery, she was chosen as its fourth abbess in 1225, a position she held for thirty-seven years until her death …

Accountability For The Implementation Of Secondary Visual Arts Standards In Utah And Queensland, John K. Derby

Theses and Dissertations

Utah and the majority of states have adopted mandatory standards for visual arts, yet no accountability measures have been established. Consequently, it is impossible to determine if standards are being addressed in the art classroom and aggregate grades are subjective. Queensland, Australia instituted a system of moderated school-based assessment (moderation) in 1971, whereby assessment is accomplished locally, then verified by peer experts. Queensland ensures that standards are addressed in curricula and assessment and that exit grades are reliable and comparable. Research has shown that Utah and Queensland share comparable visual arts standards and similar demographics. Queensland moderation has been extensively …

A Naturalistic Study Of The History Of Mormon Quilts And Their Influence On Today's Quilters, Helen-Louise Hancey

Theses and Dissertations

This interpretive study investigated the "quilt" and its significance to Latter-day Saint Women. Mormon master quilters were chosen because of their knowledge of fabrics, patterns, and symbolism, their skill levels, and their intense interest in quilting. The researcher conducted interviews with the master quilters from July 1995 to April 1996. Field notes were taken and data concerning both observed actions and verbal comments regarding the importance of the quilt were collected, charted, coded, and analyzed.

Several dominant patterns and themes emerged from analyses of the data, including: quilting is an enjoyable and active art form among Mormon women, pattern selection …

William Olander The Practice Of An Activist Curator, Gayle Rodda Kurtz

Theses and Dissertations

William Olander, Senior Curator of The New Museum of Contemporary Art, was born July 14, 1950, and died of AIDS March 18, 1989. From his first curatorial project, a presentation of performance art in April 1980, and until his death, Olander's curatorial practice was based on theoretically formulated ideas that promoted active participation in culture with traditional and non-traditional mediums. He has been described as a "model museum curator" with some "very novel ideas."

This thesis traces Olander's early background and formal education in order to show the development of his approach to contemporary art within the institutional context of …

Four Utah Mormon Artists As Authors, Roxie Dale Trimble

Theses and Dissertations

In researching the literary and visual art forms of four Utah Mormon artists/authors, considerable evidence supports the prognosis that natural parallels do exist between the written and visual works of artists/authors. Recent as well as past historical data also confirms this hypothesis.

To implement research personal interviews and written questionnaires were submitted. The resultant data compiled supports the prognosis that this parallelism does exist.