Fine Arts Commons^™

Hello Again يا اهلا A Study Of Grief, Diana Abouchacra

LSU Master's Theses

Grief is an unwanted visitor who we all come to know throughout our lifetime. Although every person reacts differently to bereavement of a loved one, almost always the lost other becomes etched into our being for the remainder of our lives (McClocklin & Lengelle, 2017). In today’s society, we are encouraged to say “Good-bye”, but what if instead, we allow ourselves to keep those who have passed on close to our hearts and say hello again? Hello Again يا اهلا is a body of work that explores my experience with grief. The artworks made for this exhibition investigate my process …

Finding My Feet: A Documentation Of The Ambiguity Of Cultural Displacement, Aanchal Raisahib

Theses - ALL

The aim of this thesis is to describe my studio practice and expound on the ideas that inspire my projects. First, the thesis demonstrates the ambiguity that arises from a displacement of cultural context from being an international student in America. Then, it goes on to describe how themes of nostalgia and cultural identity are explored through individual projects. It investigates the decision-making process in terms of material and technique used for making the artwork. Finally, the thesis concludes with how the work has potential for existing in more than one narrative and lays a foundation for further investigation.

Reflections From The In-Between: Visualizing The Mental Thresholds Of Dissociation, Katherine Virag

Theses - ALL

I am fascinated by the state of being in-between; by the mental spaces that are somehow neither here nor there, but also somehow both here and there. At a young age, I began to experience depersonalization and derealization, and this dissociated state left me feeling trapped somewhere on the threshold of reality and non-reality. My artistic practice is concerned with the psychological antitheses of dissociation – comfort vs discomfort, safety vs danger, and reality vs non-reality, and the continuum of space between these polarities. Often through large-scale installations, I create a physical space for the viewer to enter. These spaces, …

The Journey From Somewhere To Anywhere: The Interchange Of Two Worldviews, Qinyu Chen

Theses - ALL

This thesis discusses the worldview of conservative Somewhere People and open-minded Anywhere People put forward by David Goodhart in his book The Road to Somewhere: The New Tribes Shaping British Politics. It reveals that under the trend of globalization, Anywhere common-sense challenges the Somewhere worldview and partly replace it. Anywhere People's mobility is the key to maximizing their benefits.

By analyzing the living environment, educational background, and psychological activities of these two kinds of people in the first part, the thesis revealed the relatively higher social mobility helps Anywhere People better seek fortune and opportunities. The most significant difference between …

"Let Me Show You Around": The Domestic As A Site For Personal And Political Transformation, Brett Morgan

Theses - ALL

This thesis seeks to contextualize and describe my art making practice through my personal experience and professional research. I begin by referencing a childhood memory to craft a metaphor for my current work. Through storytelling, I weave together the ideas of home, comfort, and alienation to describe the influence that domestic objects have on the construction of identities. Using disidentification as a queer method, the works described herein act as visual (and visible) evidence to imagine queered futures and complicate the traditional divisions between public discourse and personal narrative. In conclusion, the importance of this queering as a sustained and …

The Art Of Reconstruction, Kristina Starowitz

Theses - ALL

The objective of this thesis paper is to highlight my artistic process, current projects, and research strategies emerging from my studio practice. First, this thesis describes and elaborates my practice of "reconstruction," the reasons I find it effective, and the personal history behind it. I also discuss the goals of my work and how I intend to carry it forward into the future. Throughout my work I seek to tell a story that resonates with my personal history, communicating to audiences both the vulnerabilities and transitions of life experience. My work invites the viewer into a collective space where the …

Stern In German Means Star, Stern In Yiddish Also Means Star, Maya Stern

Theses - ALL

As an artist, I explore my family's complicated history of lost Jewish identity and the contrary involvement. I engage in this history by reflecting on the current political climate using an archive developed by my ancestors. I use components of these varying objects, photographs, and writings to deconstruct - utilizing materials and techniques that can be unwound, discolored, or aged to depict, if not honor, the mutable nature of memory. It is the tension within my ancestry that drives me to make work to ensure that genocidal tragedies like the Holocaust do not happen again. I aim to portray the …

Thank You For Tody, Britton Thorp

Theses - ALL

The objective of this thesis paper is to describe my current projects and research within my studio practice. First, this thesis illustrates my personal journey from addiction to recovery and therefore sets the tone of gratitude for the rest of the paper. Next, the paper discusses my methodology and processes within the ceramics medium. Then, the thesis goes on to draw conceptual parallels between fine art and the culinary arts, leading the reader back to core concepts within recovery and art making. Finally, the paper concludes by discussing core values discovered throughout my tenure as a maker and reaffirms why …

Shangles: A Stream Of Consciousness, Joshua David Baker

Theses - ALL

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the Shangle. Shangle is a term devised by my grandfather during the course of a practical joke. Years after his death, I look to define and explore the ramifications and possibilities of a shangle. I describe how the pursuit of a shangle has allowed for an evolution of my art-making methodologies and concerns. My artwork draws from my interests in humor, culture, materiality, personal anecdotes, and a pervasive need to find the edge of my artwork. My artwork toes the line between fictional narrative and the violent reality of everyday life. I …

The Journey From Somewhere To Anywhere: The Interchange Of Two Worldviews, Qinyu Chen

Theses - ALL

This thesis discusses the worldview of conservative Somewhere People and open-minded Anywhere People put forward by David Goodhart in his book The Road to Somewhere: The New Tribes Shaping British Politics. It reveals that under the trend of globalization, Anywhere common-sense challenges the Somewhere worldview and partly replace it. Anywhere People's mobility is the key to maximizing their benefits.

By analyzing the living environment, educational background, and psychological activities of these two kinds of people in the first part, the thesis revealed the relatively higher social mobility helps Anywhere People better seek fortune and opportunities. The most significant difference between …

Finding My Feet: A Documentation Of The Ambiguity Of Cultural Displacement, Aanchal Raisahib

Theses - ALL

The aim of this thesis is to describe my studio practice and expound on the ideas that inspire my projects. First, the thesis demonstrates the ambiguity that arises from a displacement of cultural context from being an international student in America. Then, it goes on to describe how themes of nostalgia and cultural identity are explored through individual projects. It investigates the decision-making process in terms of material and technique used for making the artwork. Finally, the thesis concludes with how the work has potential for existing in more than one narrative and lays a foundation for further investigation.

The Art Of Reconstruction, Kristina Starowitz

Theses - ALL

The objective of this thesis paper is to highlight my artistic process, current projects, and research strategies emerging from my studio practice. First, this thesis describes and elaborates my practice of “reconstruction,” the reasons I find it effective, and the personal history behind it. I also discuss the goals of my work and how I intend to carry it forward into the future. Throughout my work I seek to tell a story that resonates with my personal history, communicating to audiences both the vulnerabilities and transitions of life experience. My work invites the viewer into a collective space where the …

Situationships: Creating Situations And Relationships For And With Material, Catherine Spencer

Theses - ALL

The ability to heal, adapt, and evolve is essential to thriving within new circumstances. These characteristics, which are so easily observed in nature, have been the visual guide to not only the methodology behind my practice but also in how I have learned to make sense of unimaginable emotional pain. By examining each visual and material ingredient that goes into my process, I reveal my imagined world and the systems of power that influence the “situationships” between each object. This paper aims to reflect the essence of my process and art, where chaos is embraced and the precarity of life …

Reflections From The In-Between: Visualizing The Mental Thresholds Of Dissociation, Katherine Virag

Theses - ALL

I am fascinated by the state of being in-between; by the mental spaces that are somehow neither here nor there, but also somehow both here and there. At a young age, I began to experience depersonalization and derealization, and this dissociated state left me feeling trapped somewhere on the threshold of reality and non-reality. My artistic practice is concerned with the psychological antitheses of dissociation – comfort vs discomfort, safety vs danger, and reality vs non-reality, and the continuum of space between these polarities. Often through large-scale installations, I create a physical space for the viewer to enter. These spaces, …

Making Room: Addressing The Counter-Therapeutic Nature Of Psychiatric Hospitalization Through Containment- Based Group Expressive Therapy, Max Sandor Copans

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The process of hospitalization and the environment of a typical psychiatric hospital is often counter-therapeutic. To challenge this problem, clinicians may introduce the concept of psychological containment. To elaborate, being hospitalized anywhere can be disorienting, frightening and even traumatic. This problem is only further exacerbated in psychiatric hospitals where patients may be disorganized, manic, or struggling with psychosis. Furthermore, psychological containment is essentially the ability for psychiatric patients to prevent their intense emotions from effecting others negatively, and to act with resiliency when other patients are unable to contain their own disruptive behaviors. This paper utilizes both an initial literature …

Stern In German Means Star, Stern In Yiddish Also Means Star, Maya Stern

Theses - ALL

As an artist, I explore my family's complicated history of lost Jewish identity and the contrary involvement. I engage in this history by reflecting on the current political climate using an archive developed by my ancestors. I use components of these varying objects, photographs, and writings to deconstruct - utilizing materials and techniques that can be unwound, discolored, or aged to depict, if not honor, the mutable nature of memory. It is the tension within my ancestry that drives me to make work to ensure that genocidal tragedies like the Holocaust do not happen again. I aim to portray the …

“Let Me Show You Around”: The Domestic As A Site For Personal And Political Transformation, Brett Morgan

Theses - ALL

This thesis seeks to contextualize and describe my art making practice through my personal experience and professional research. I begin by referencing a childhood memory to craft a metaphor for my current work. Through storytelling, I weave together the ideas of home, comfort, and alienation to describe the influence that domestic objects have on the construction of identities. Using disidentification as a queer method, the works described herein act as visual (and visible) evidence to imagine queered futures and complicate the traditional divisions between public discourse and personal narrative. In conclusion, the importance of this queering as a sustained and …

Thank You For Tody, Britton Thorp

Theses - ALL

The objective of this thesis paper is to describe my current projects and research within my studio practice. First, this thesis illustrates my personal journey from addiction to recovery and therefore sets the tone of gratitude for the rest of the paper. Next, the paper discusses my methodology and processes within the ceramics medium. Then, the thesis goes on to draw conceptual parallels between fine art and the culinary arts, leading the reader back to core concepts within recovery and art making. Finally, the paper concludes by discussing core values discovered throughout my tenure as a maker and reaffirms why …

Pero...Maybe, Adrian Gonzalez

Graduate School of Art Theses

Through collage, assemblage, and object making, I fit unlikely fragments that I call manchitas—stains—together. In my paintings and mixed media assemblages I incorporate references to Spanglish as un acto of making. To me, it’s like the visual work that I make: thinking in one language and speaking another, words start with English but end in Spanish. They sound like English but are Spanish or vice versa. The words look misspelled but are used in everyday conversation. Spanglish is idiosyncratic and is what I build my practice on. I collect materials around me, some I find and some I make. …

A Tale Of Two Biennales: How Contemporary Art In Italy Reflects Current European Politics, Hannah Rosabel Capucilli-Shatan

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

No abstract provided.

Mein Aur Aap, Usama Khalid

Art Theses and Dissertations

This document is a summary of my artistic practice during my time at Southern Methodist University. It includes a brief history of my portfolio, an examination of the work created while in the program, and commentary on the purpose of relational aesthetics in my operations. I will further break down of the “Theene-Kone” series of works, that make up the bulk of my actual thesis presentation as well as the influences and concepts that shaped my overall work. The final element will be an explanation of Lahori Barbecue, and will include a text containing several recipes for anyone interested …

Fractured Selves, Gearoid Dolan

Theses and Dissertations

Fractured Selves is a self-portrait that examines the histories and points of conflation and diversion of my four public personas. In the style of a Zoom meeting, they chat with a host against animated backgrounds. Interactivity creates non-linear consuming of the content and user directed navigation through four timelines

Signal To Noise: Harmonic Temperaments And Patterns Of Interference, Dylan A. Marcheschi

Theses and Dissertations

An audio/visual exploration of historical tuning systems. Most contemporary Western audiences will seldom if ever encounter harmony outside of post-Renaissance tuning conventions. This presentation highlights some of those pre-orthodox harmonic relationships which existed throughout most of history. The corresponding paper documents correlates in recent advances of acoustic ecology.

Picnic Day, Caroline Bass

The Echo

No abstract provided.

Furman Bell Tower, Nathan Norfleet

The Echo

No abstract provided.

The Overlapping Years, Lara Rudman

The Echo

No abstract provided.

The Guest Room, Jordan Stevens

The Echo

No abstract provided.

Frozen In Time, Elizabeth Mangone

The Echo

No abstract provided.

Final Destination, Anna Bowman

The Echo

No abstract provided.

Ars Poetica: For When The Smoke Clears, Amanda Cordle

The Echo

No abstract provided.