Art Practice Commons^™

Woe Be Gone, Yuhan Hu

Theses and Dissertations

In Woe be gone, Yuhan Hu explores the porous boundaries between image, memory, perception, and material through a deeply personal and reflective multimedia practice. Drawing on influences from film, literature, and game environments, Yuhan investigates how moments—fleeting or fixed—transform when mediated through photography, digital frames, and sculptural assemblage. Anchored by a series of installations and image-based works, the thesis unpacks the poetics of poor images, the failures and promises of translation, and the emotional residue of digital and physical touch. With a tactile sensitivity to materials like wood, wax, solder, and horsehair, Yuhan contemplates impermanence, miscommunication, and care, embracing …

Displaced Nostalgia, Nava Derakhshani

Theses and Dissertations

Exploring themes of identity, displacement, gender, and belonging, this paper examines the artist's work and her approach to her art. She covers the many influences that she has access to while unable to visit her ancestral homelands. Acknowledging the translation that comes from this removal, her art is in conversation with other diasporic, exiled, marginalised groups. She makes art with various materials such as clay, shadow, light, and paint, to work on the themes that she is pursuing.

The Function Of Art, Magdalen O. M. Pickering

Theses and Dissertations

With the help of machines and the powers of perception, Magdalen Pickering introduces logic to strange and fantastical subjects. The Function of Art explores a hybrid of techniques in painting, screenprinting, and computer generated imagery as Magdalen attempts to use generative printing to obscure art historical consciousness. The installation crosses into virtual reality; reframing textiles, landscapes, and the gallery space through a metaphysical lens.

My Head Is This Animal, Paula De Martino

Theses and Dissertations

De Martino’s paper explores the dynamics of control in human interaction by discussing her relationship with animals. The author's life experiences serve to construct a narrative, but she lies. She becomes an unreliable narrator who aims to blur the threshold between art and real life throughout the performative gesture of appropriating identities. She steals from the ancient myth of Medusa through her stone sculptures (her offspring), in an egoistic attempt to excuse her fear and longing for motherhood.

Works On Paper, Xingyun Wang

Theses and Dissertations

This paper is about my painting practice and artistic influences.

Folds, Bayan Abukiwan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses the fold as an orienting metaphor and material gesture to linger on the minor details of intimacy that are severed by occupation and political violence. Through painting, drawing and ceramics, the work traces the more implicit modes of dehumanization—particularly in relation to Palestine—while engaging the domestic as a site of quiet and complexity. Influenced by artists like Jennifer Packer and Beatriz González, the practice embraces slowness, touch, and opacity to fold the viewer into a haptic encounter with the work.

4 In 10 Tiktok Users Find Their ‘For You’ Page Extremely Or Very Interesting, Aashish Gadani

Theses and Dissertations

Using video supercuts, sculptural forms, and digital prints on textiles in my work, I explore how images/videos can be used to reflect on cultural and personal trends. In this paper, I discuss how the structure of software recommendation systems combines with ideas of the post-internet image and creates unintended cultural consequences.

The Logic Of Car Accidents And Other Digestive Processes, Rosalie G.L. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

In this essay the author explores the artistic process via an analogy with digestion. The author goes on to explain their work via components of their practice, described as organs.

Fountain, Sadaf Azadehfar

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the intersections of water, power, identity, and architecture through the lens of colonial and postcolonial landscapes, focusing particularly on Persian gardens and fountain sculptures. Drawing on historical, cultural, and symbolic frameworks, the study explores how water systems embody both practical and spiritual roles, positioning water as a force of control, resistance, and regeneration. Central to this work are analyses of arches and garden designs, which serve as architectural metaphors for cosmic harmony, community gathering, and contested space. Through a combination of visual analysis, historical research, and personal artistic practice—including ceramic sculptures and multimedia installations—this thesis traces the …

An Archeology Of Looking, Marco G. Dasilva

Theses and Dissertations

Marco DaSilva’s mosaics explore camouflage and syncretism, blending symbols from American culture, Catholic saints, Afro-Brazilian deities and queer spaces. His work examines objects as relics, where identity is hidden and revealed. By integrating simple materials and transforming them into unique compositions, DaSilva creates hybrid objects where all of his worlds intersect, crafting his own mythology.

Piecemeal, Max J. Eisenberg

Theses and Dissertations

Exploring the history of photographic manipulation both inside and outside of the camera from the late 19th century until today. My work plucks out cultural and local signifiers from the state of Florida, and the American South as a whole, and disseminates them using a constructed symbolic vernacular in the form of in-camera collaging on large format film.

To Protect The Sky From Falling, Charles Lambert

Theses and Dissertations

Using ceramic, found objects, metal and wood, my practice is a meditation and questioning of care, efficiency, repair, structure and place. Architectural elements of support rendered in clay are the initial point of entry to give a soft, lived-in quality to a built environment that is often devoid of the mark of the hand and body. Imprints of the hand are left, and the objects are often deformed in ways to subvert the perceived functionality. The focus on ceramics centers around a play with the binary of soft and hard and the external changes that create its transformation. The work …

The Importance Of Being Earnest: A Costume Designer’S Process, James Hunter Rock

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This thesis is a comprehensive breakdown of the costume design process for Nebraska Repertory Theatre’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde during the fall semester of 2024. The author logs the production’s processes in collaborating on the concept and aesthetic of the play to present the Victorian era story for a modern audience. In this thesis, insights into the costume designer’s conceptualization, research, previsualization, and final design process are explored, providing an in-depth look into the creation of characters that remain true to the director’s original vision while being engaging for contemporary theatre. The various challenges …

How Conceptual Artists Create Fictional And Immersive Worlds, Rachel C. Hollins

2025 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

When creating media for entertainment, such as animated shows, movies, video games, etc., conceptual artists utilize a process called worldbuilding. Worldbuilding is defined as the integration of fictional environments, species, props, and civilizations that create an immersive world. However, research about real world elements is often not addressed enough when creating conceptual worlds. Therefore, this creative project aims to define how conceptual artists create believable fictional worlds while showcasing the research behind the process. First, research is conducted about the real world. This includes choosing and studying the environmental, cultural, social, architectural, and biological aspects, which will act as a …

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.

The Duality Of Perception: Unveiling The Hidden Through Visible Forms, Sharmeen Uqaili

Art Theses and Dissertations

This MFA thesis, The Duality of Perception: Unveiling the Hidden through Visible Form, involves layering paints on shaped wood panels and paper, using the traditional technique of tezhib (gold illumination) and geometric art. Through these layers, I aim to challenge the viewers’ perceptions by simultaneously revealing and concealing elements within the work. Symbols drawn from Islamic traditions such as pomegranates, birds, and ribbons are incorporated in the paintings to carry both cultural and personal significance, evoking my connections to spiritual and physical realms.

Rooted in the principles of Islamic art and informed by spiritual themes such as paradise, divine …

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 …

The Camera’S Sanctuary: Photographing The Queer Gardens Of The Vieux Carré, Tyler Rosebush

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the French Quarter courtyard as a site of queer sanctuary, memory, and community through a lens-based artistic practice. Drawing on historical and contemporary photographs, installations, and collaborations with friends and community members, the work examines how gardens and courtyards have long functioned as both physical and metaphysical spaces of refuge for the queer community in New Orleans. The project is grounded in both archival recovery and contemporary practice, combining the still image with sculptural installations that reframe the visual vernacular of gay clubs within these historic spaces. By slowing down the photographic process and attuning to both …

The Ballad Of The Wheel, John Kosch

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The Ballad of the Wheel is a piece for voice, percussion, and electronics that examines the cyclical nature of humanity. It draws texts from existential literature that spans almost all of recorded history, from antiquity to present day. In this work, a single narrator poses the same concerns about the nature of existence in different texts, revealing that questions about the meaning of life transcend boundaries of time and space. The prevalence of the theme of reincarnation also suggests that each movement of the piece presents a different manifestation of a single being. The Ballad of the Wheel implies a …

Working To Achieve Flow, Vincente D.A. Fischer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

This paper is a thesis for the body of work I created over the last 3 years called Working To Achieve Flow. In the following pages, I will discuss what inspired me to create this body of work, which entailed personal reflection on my own mental health and how it affects my art practice. I will also go over who my influences are: Eva Hesse, Willem De Kooning, and Jenny Saville. Each of these artists inspires me to think about my work in different ways, which has helped me develop into the artist I am today. Finally, I will break …

“Virtual Reality And Creativity: Evaluating Immersive Painting Experiences And Art-Based Mindfulness” Presented By Heli Puhakka, Heli Puhakka

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

New affordable head-mounted displays and interactive virtual technologies provide opportunities for researchers and practitioners to create and experience mindfulness. The use of virtual reality for art-based mindfulness practices is novel and promotes full-body, immersive experiences to improve mood, however, researchers and practitioners have a limited understanding of mindfulness and creativity in the virtual environment. This paper identifies the research gap by examining how active art-based mindfulness practices in virtual reality promote mindfulness, compared to passive methods such as viewing a virtual image to experience relaxation. Fourteen participants were interviewed in the qualitative ethnographic study. Methods included semi-structured interviews, direct observation, …

The Holler, Ainsley C. Maryanski

SPARK Symposium Presentations

My work explores the relationship between people and the spaces they inhabit, focusing on Johnson City, TN—a place shaped by both history and personal memory. Through film photography and archival materials, I document landscapes and interiors that hold traces of past and present lives, revealing how time often alters place and perception.

Alongside my own photographs, I include images of my grandparents and great-grandparents, the land they lived on, and fragments of a past that still lingers. These elements don’t just serve as historical references but as evidence of continuity—of lives once rooted in these places and the ways they …

Dessert, Isabella M. Prok Miss

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This art piece uses all of the text from the book "Breakfast at Tiffany's" to touch on themes of abundance, self sustainability, storytelling, and language.

Sincerely,, Megan E. Hudson

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Sincerely, is a personal study of how language is used to document and process past relationships. The work is my own experience with utilizing letter-writing to find closure with those whom the letters may never be sent. Through viewing the writing process and watching heartfelt messages write themselves out for none of the recipients to ever see, one can see how language and catharsis go hand in hand.

Parody And Mis-Unda-Stendings In Comics Art World: Bridging The Gap With New Criteria, Yannis Koukoulas

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

The word parody and its many cognates such as appropriation, adaptation, pastiche, travesty, forgery, homage, tribute, swipe, etc., have often been at the centre of fierce debates within the traditional Artworld and various criteria have been proposed for the critical evaluation of visual and literary works. In particular, parody as a dominant practice in postmodern art is a concept that is subject to misunderstandings as to its content and meaning. In Comics Artworld, however, within which recontextualizing practices are very common, often with humorous content, the attempt to describe artists' works and intentions by the criteria applied to other arts, …

(When The Dust Settles), Dominique F. Ellis

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

I use photography to explore absence, where sediment in melting ice helps create a visual record of the ice’s existence. I begin by harvesting ice from nearby Antelope Creek, transporting it to the studio, and placing it on photo-sensitive paper or film. The natural traces of dust frozen in the water remain visible on the surfaces after the ice melts. Ice thus becomes an entropic medium to index, translate, and record what is left behind when the ice melts, water evaporates, and floods subside in the midst of drought conditions.

I have developed two techniques, cryogrammetry and cryography, to visualize …

Forever Tree, Alyse A. Petersen

Healy Poetry Prize

No abstract provided.

How To Industry Plant Yourself, Ted Childish

Digital Laboratory: Publisher of Internet Journal

Ted Childish is an artist, creative mind, and cultural organizer working at the intersection of digital culture and contemporary creative economies. His practice spans from conceptual ideation to visual production and designed objects, all approached with a distinct material sensibility. How to Industry Plant Yourself is an analysis of the contemporary creative landscape, delivered in the format of a 'how-to' presentation — a familiar trope of the social media era. This work employs graphic design strategies akin to a pitch deck, symbolizing the increasingly transactional and performative environments in which creatives navigate their careers today.

Issue Cover Art: Homecoming Collage, Rhi N. Soto

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

This piece is a found poem/collage made from different magazine cut-outs glued onto red construction paper. What inspired its creation is the book Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. In this book, Gyasi describes colonialism's over 400-year impact on the continent of Africa, the Indigenous people to those lands, and their ancestors. She does this by writing a historical fiction story of a family that started in what is now considered current-day Ghana, taking place from the mid-1700s to the early 2000s. The family starts with the mother of two sisters, Maame, who leaves her first daughter (Effia) while her village …

Blanket Statements, Issue 168, Spring 2025

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 168, Spring 2025