Fine Arts Commons^™

Sleight Of Hand: A Mystery Unveiled, Claudia Mederos

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is an exploration in painting via approximately one hundred small works in acrylic, gouache, and graphite on paper. The written discussion clarifies my approach to this body of work: how it was conceived, the use of materials, as well as its purpose.

More specifically, I look toward the contemporary proliferation of visual media along with the concept of "art for art's sake" as influences. Surrealism and the revelation of the subconscious mind through painting are central topics. A tendency toward introspection, and subliminal sexuality along with the subconscious direction of mind, are brought to light by the use …

Subject/Matter, Gilles J. L. Foisy

Dissertations and Theses

The process of obtaining the Master of Fine Arts degree led me to probe the aims and methods of my artmaking. What emerged and became uppermost was the issue of form and content or perhaps form versus content. While highly concerned with the formal aspects of art, content (subject matter) would not fade from my intentions or cease to occupy my mind. Through much "soul searching" and inquiries into numerous materials both familiar and new to me, I concluded that my intended content was about my experience of being. I further distilled my conclusion and focused on my ontological experience …

Feminine Rhyme, Laurie Mantecon

Dissertations and Theses

'Feminine Rhyme' is a sequence of objects and paintings that resonate with women's experience in contemporary culture. The components I have used are: the structure of the grid, aggressive surface handling, and language derived from text. I have reconfigured these elements to direct the viewer in exploring layers of information that can be viewed in fragments as well as understood within the containment of a sound whole.

I have explored the relationship of gender identity in our culture, and the role women play in association to masculine power. Through repetitive use of the grid, combined with isolated words and images, …

Material Origins, Carol E. Minchin

Dissertations and Theses

The intent of this thesis project was to use sculpture as a means of investigation for exploring the structural uses of Masonite, and to understand how those uses affect the nature of my work.

The transformation of this material into form becomes the a process that is adjusted and refined until a formal solution is found.

The tension, texture, scale, and form of the work contribute to a dialogue that results in sculptures that reference the human body and the growth of plants.

Songs And Stories That Only You Know: Multiplicity, Meaning, & The Metaphorical Bridge, Matthew Haggett

Dissertations and Theses

The thesis report will serve as a companion for the body of work that is the bulk of the thesis project. The theme of the thesis project is "the bridge". "The bridge" is a metaphor for meaning occurring through context. It is present on many levels. It will implicit in much of the discussion. I will include themes such as the play of differing scales, the ambiguous line between part and whole, and the reasons for the book format . Specific imagery that occurs repeatedly in the work, like architecture and knots, will be explained in terms of its sources, …

Botanical Variations, Anthony Bernert

Dissertations and Theses

The botanical theme in my art developed from years of photographing the native flora of Oregon with a macro-lens and studying botany and natural history. The appreciation which I developed for the evolution of flora and fauna and for the balances and complexities of the environments that sustain them is reflected in the work that I completed during my two years in the Master of Fine Arts program. The composition of the abstract paintings in acrylic medium which I completed my first year in the program were based on the cycles and seasons of nature. Repetition and variation of pictorial …

Dance Of Dreams, Michael Creger

Dissertations and Theses

It seems that the world does not exist in the way that we perceive it. Among the reasons for this are both the inaccuracy of the information gathered by our senses, and the cultural and linguistic structures through which we interpret this sensory information. This thesis and this group of sculptures, exhibited in the Autzen Gallery April 17 - May 10, 1995, are an attempt to address these issues and to point in a direction which may lead to greater understanding of the world and our place within it. Using primarily welded steel, and building from a foundation based on …

Alterations, Edith Kay Slusarenko

Dissertations and Theses

My work is not about making big declamatory statements. It's about looking around within my home environment and noticing something and thinking about it. At times (it) is noticed by me as I am passing by a storefront window or browsing through a second-hand store. I never have a clue to what I am looking for until I see it and buy it. Many times I will live with the object for years before deciding to use it as part of my art.

Yet when I decide to use the object(s) I find it important to understand how they have …

Painter's Wilderness, Eddie Peters

Dissertations and Theses

Painter's Wilderness is a transition between painting strictly from imagination to painting with the use of drawings and sketches to interpret and authenticate an observation. The transition became an exploration of value patterns, compositional shapes and color correspondence in building a technically successful painting while allowing the piece to have its own life.

Narrative Painting, Gina Strecker Wilson

Dissertations and Theses

The thesis is in the form of a commentary on the development of meaning and content within work done for the Department of Art Graduate Program.

Boudica: An Illustrated Narrative, Robin A. Ator

Dissertations and Theses

I study painting and composition for its own sake, and in this program I am pursuing it from a narrative or pictorial stance, much as did earlier artists, and doing so in contemporary terms. Distinguished examples of illustrators could include such artists as Raphael, Michelangelo, Rembrandt and Rubens, and modern practitioners such as Wyeth and Baskin.

The illustrator needs not only control of his means, but also other qualities in addition to those of a studio painter. He needs an imagination that will allow portrayal of scenes and viewpoints that can't be arranged in a studio. The artist's memory and …

The Unveiling, Elizabeth Heron

Dissertations and Theses

The method I use in creating abstract sculpture presented the question that became the subject of my Master's thesis. Only occasionally will I create from a pre-conceived concept. The sculptures evolve through a process of addition and subtraction of material to something that simply pleases me. This method, really no method at all, seemed contradictory to my original intentions. My artistic goals were purposeful; I wanted to create sculpture that would provoke a reaction first, not a judgment of features. I wanted the viewers emotional and psychological involvement to be the basis for content and meaning in the work.

In …

Visual Notes, Fragments And Allusions: Drawing And Painting Thesis, Barbara Black

Dissertations and Theses

The thesis discusses drawings and paintings completed during the period of study from October, 1975 to April, 1977 and presented at the Department of Art and Architecture Gallery April 21, 1977 to May 13, 1977.

Figurative Painting And It's Reverberation In Pairs, Carol Crampton Adams

Dissertations and Theses

The thesis discusses twelve paintings completed during the period of study from October of 1974 to November of 1976 and presented at the Art and Architecture Gallery, November 8, 1976 - November 26, 1976.

A Development Of Natural Forms In Multiple Glass Shapes, Anthony Parker

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is the description of an attempt to overcome the restrictions of glass sculpture by expanding and developing techniques for the creation of organic glass forms which are consolidations of individual glass shapes.

Three-Dimensional Wall Sculpture, Evelyn Franz

Dissertations and Theses

The thesis discusses five sculptures completed during the period of study from October 1974 to May 1976 and presented at the Department of Art and Architecture Gallery May 26, 1976-June 1 J, 1976.

Series Of Drawings And Paintings, William Dyas Garnett

Dissertations and Theses

At the beginning or the program my work was strongly oriented toward the individual objects used in the paintings and lacked any cohesive means or unification. Collage was used as an attempt for unification but more was still needed. It was not until I let go or observed or preconceived images and allowed the image to develop from the free now or washes and lines that I was able to allow the picture to give ideas back to me. The pictures were now growing from themselves and from the ideas suggested to me, without having to force the image prior …

An Exploration Of The Familiar And Nostalgic, Laura Paul

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis discusses forty paintings completed during the period of study from October of 1974 and presented at the Art and Architecture Gallery, May 26, 1976-June 11, 1976.

Mixed Media Drawings With Emphasis On Ceramic Materials, Timothy Jopseph Harvey

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose and scope of this thesis has been to expand the concept of drawing to include ceramic materials in focusing on and clarifying notions of the human landscape. Initially traditional drawing problems of still life, figure and landscape were undertaken. The landscape problem was regarded as a good beginning point since it was free of the forceful references that could have easily overwhelmed cityscape studies before a visual understanding could be solidly established. The landscape problem was focused on and underwent a series of changes beginning with rough sketch-like studies through "realistic rendering" to limited and, finally, extreme abstraction. …

Seven Pairs, Anne Griffin Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis project consists of seven pairs of acrylic paintings on canvas. The compositions are arrangements of flat, straight-edged, geometric shapes. The entire surface of each is considered positive, and each shape has a structural relationship to the framing edge of the canvas. Color ideas and surface qualities vary from pair to pair. The works were paired for the sake of (A) emphasizing the object quality of the canvases and their flat, wall-like surfaces, (B) diminishing the immediacy of any single image so that the viewer's attention tends to be focused on the whole rather than on parts, and (C) …

A Functional Interpretation Of Pottery From Batan Island, Philippines, Joanne M. Laetsch

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is a report on a pottery analysis which was carried out in the laboratory of the Department of Anthropology at Portland State University. The earthenware materials involved were collected from three surface sites on Batan Island, Philippines, during the summer of 1969.

The interpretation of these potteries was based upon the direct-historical approach to archaeological research. The use of this method was proposed after a cursory examination of the earthenwares revealed certain general similarities between the archaeological potteries and the ethnographically-known wares produced in the area at the present time. One of the sites was a known habitation, …