Fine Arts Commons^™

Birth Of Venus, Paula Waziry

be Still

What inspired me to work on the female form was the belief that our minds can create our reality. Most of my life I had suffered from morbid obesity - reaching at one point 288 lbs. Most likely my body weight reached higher numbers, but I refused to step on the scale after observing the dreaded 288! I was suffering from low self esteem, depression, severe low back pain, tendinitis, plantar fasciitis and several other "itis" when I realized that the most powerful tool that I had available was my brain. If I was going to turn my life around, …

Black-\`Blak\, Venise Keys

Theses and Dissertations

My studio practice explores themes of identity derived from the basic question of Langston Hughes, What does it mean to be a Black artist? My artwork draws from memory, Black Feminist literature, along with the aesthetics of the African diaspora and the Black Arts Movement. In this essay, I reexamine childhood experiences in my mother's hair salon; beauty rituals of U.S. Black women; and the consuming male gaze in Western art to explain how these influences manifest in the artwork of Black-\`BLAK\.

Reflections, Nsu University School

Hieroglyphics: the NSU University School Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Ripple, Surge, Release, Meryl E. Engler

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

There is something primal and instinctual about living through the physicality of one’s body. The body reacts to the world through feel, ruled not by logic and rational thought, but rather energy, movement and impulse. While this might seem mindless, focusing on the physical for me leads to a state of mindfulness, where every action serves a purpose and I seek to reach clarity through repeated exertion. In art, I seek to slip into this mindful state so each layer of carving, printing, and paper comes from the decisive awareness of my movements and energy.

Growing up playing among the …

Ceramic Apprenticeship With Professor Eddie Dominguez, Victoria E. Norton

UCARE: Research Products

The purpose of this research is to explore specific techniques and processes as employed by Eddie Dominguez through an apprenticeship in ceramic art in which I will be intimately involved in both the critical thinking and process of Professor Dominguez’ work. Topics of focus include building upon my skills of testing glazes and clays in order to discover which glaze and clay combinations cater best to the work. I also plan to investigate idea generation and art concept, an element of Eddie Dominguez’s work that is very important.

Many other vital studio practices were implemented during the apprenticeship. Skills such …

Factors That Lead Students To Study Music Education : A Descriptive Study., Alexander T. Hamilton Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to survey music education students in their first year of undergraduate studies to learn what influences and/or musical experiences affected their choice in selecting music education as their major. Participants (N = 28) were enrolled in an Introduction to Music Education course at a mid-sized metropolitan university. Subjects were asked to complete a survey and rate perceived degree of influences on the selection of the music education major. Participants were also asked to provide written responses on personal influences that led them to select music education as a major. Survey results indicated that …

The Materiality Of Wood In Michelangelo’S Biblioteca Laurenziana: The Laurentian Staircase, Kaitlin Arbusto

Art & Art History

During the sixteenth century, Michelangelo designed a library at the Florentine monastery of San Lorenzo that was, even during its time, quite unlike any other from the Renaissance era. Though the master clearly sought to produce something dramatically different from what had already been done, library design had a long history that he would have known. Although today’s libraries are most closely related to their medieval European precursors, many of the canonical elements of ancient Roman libraries have survived into the modern era. Like their medieval counterparts, ancient libraries often had separate quarters for Greek and Latin volumes and were …

Oh, The Hypocrisy! Or, A Dramaturgical Analysis Of Moliere's Tartuffe, Amelia Maxfield

Theses and Dissertations

In approaching Tartuffe from a dramaturgical standpoint, one must consider the relevancy of the production and how the production team is able to translate the message of an antiquated play to a modem audience. In our case, the solution was to set the play in 1926 Paris instead of the original 1669 Paris. From there, I conducted research on the two periods, discovered the pivotal factors that connected them, and further connected those issues to today’s world. After consulting scholarly articles concerning French history and literature, I compiled a Dramaturgy Casebook that contains information and analyses crucial to understanding the …

Crossing The Divide: Art As Mediation And Pilgrimage, Sophia Keskey

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

Founded on my personal experiences of growing up in an interfaith household and my high school semester abroad in Israel, my artistic practice seeks to build bridges between people, connecting diverse communities across divides (cultural, religious, economic, racial, ethnic etc.). Through two process, mediation and pilgrimage to self, specifically in using myself as an active participant, I argue that the process of making can become the neutral ground in which to build relationships and begin to imagine coexistence.

Mediation is expressed by Homi Bhabha’s definition of negotiation: “The ability to articulate differences in space and time…to intervene in the forest …

Compositional Intent: A Presentation Of Original Music, Daniel R. Key

Music Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper summarizes the inspiration, compositional techniques, and performance history of three works by composer Daniel Ryan Key: cling (2015), for euphonium, tuba, and piano; GAIA (2014), for two flutes; and Hours (2016), for chamber orchestra. Hours is a work in two movements, "0400" and "1700."

Bridging The Gap: Making Modern Dance Accessible To The General Public Through Elements Of Art And Entertainment, Samantha S. Russell

Honors Theses

My senior choreographic project, DoRaMiFaSoDoSiDo, was inspired by and dedicated to the relationships I share with my six siblings. It was set to the song "Attaboy" off of the collaborative album The Goat Rodeo Sessions by Chris Thile, Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, and Edgar Meyer. Influenced by the bright and fun atmosphere of barn dances, this seven-person concert dance was performed in the Repertory Dance Company Fall Dance Concert at the Mannoni Performing Arts Center in Hattiesburg, MS in the fall of 2015. This paper investigates different choreographic methods that I discovered through the process of creating my senior project …

A World In Flux : Envisioning Climate Change From An Ecocentric Perspective., Katlyn Brumfield

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

A Shared Connection: Vulnerability As A Link Between Humans In The Natural World, Kristian Chad Hargis

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

If I look with new eyes while walking

I may see nature differently.

When mind and heart behold no names,

create no boundaries,

the conversation becomes intersubjective.

A two-way path is formed and we walk together

along the river’s vulnerable edge.

Flowing through our ups and downs

connecting our similarities and embracing our differences.

Like stripped bark from a downed tree

we are exposed to a new understanding.

Tearing Up The Tallgrass, Brett Salsbury

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This creative thesis project is a culmination of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree at UNLV. The thesis—currently titled Tearing up the Tallgrass—was composed entirely during my graduate semesters at UNLV. As a book of poetry, it explores the dynamics of humans in nature, white privilege, objectivity, fact- and myth-making, and artistic practice. Written under the supervision of Claudia Keelan (committee chair) and Donald Revell (committee member), my committee further includes P. Jane Hafen (English) and Pierre Lienard (Anthropology). Their disparate subject and genre interests are meant to diversify the feedback received during this project’s composition. Some …

Snapple Frontier // Shawdow Lurker // Mesa, Julien Miller

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Morty, Abigail Lanning

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

We Dug Up Most Of Our Ground No. 2 // We Dug Up Most Of Our Ground No. 3, Allison Piedmonte

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

A Reception History And Conductor’S Guide To William Grant Still’S ...And They Lynched Him On A Tree, Harlan Zackery Jr.

Dissertations

William Grant Still’s lynching drama …And They Lynched Him on a Tree is a rarely performed work for white choir, black choir, contralto soloist, narrator and orchestra. The title and subject matter of the work have been significant hurdles for many conductors who have considered the piece for performance. Additionally, the piece exists in several editions, and among each edition there are inconsistencies in terms of scoring and text, further making the piece difficult to program. Further, the piece, published as a choral ballad, is often labeled as a cantata, oratorio, ballad or play. It is true that the piece …

Kimmo Hakola's Diamond Street And Loco: A Performance Guide, Erin Elizabeth Vander Wyst

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Kimmo Hakola (b.1958) has emerged in the past two decades as one of Finland’s leading contemporary composers. His numerous clarinet and bass clarinet works include a clarinet concerto, five chamber works with various instrumentations, a work for solo clarinet, a work for solo bass clarinet, and a work for solo clarinet and pedal bass drum (the clarinetist performs both the clarinet and bass drum parts). While this relatively large output featuring the clarinet family may be a result of Hakola’s personal interests, it may also be the result of a friendship with virtuoso clarinetist Kari Kriikku (b. 1960). This document …

Meta-Forms, Rickey P. Bump

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The artist discusses his Master of Fine Arts exhibition, Meta-forms, held at the Tipton Gallery in downtown Johnson City. Exhibition dates are from March 14 through March 25, 2016. The artworks on display are a series of drawings made from carving wood panels and sheet metal and are accompanied with a large scaled site-specific installation. The exhibition culminates from research of historic and contemporary figures for non-objective art. The author gives insight to the artistic process while creating his exhibition, as well as their personal connection with the artwork.

Untitled No. 17 // Muar: Jalan Meriam No. 2 // Intersection No. 5, Lei Peng Gan

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Sink // Sacred Communication: Broken, Robert Guitsy Wolf

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Kindred, Katelyn Osborne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Kindred, an MFA exhibition held at the Tipton Gallery located in downtown Johnson City from Feburary 22^nd to March 4^th. Kindred presents two bodies of work, which are a collection of drawings, etchings, monoprints, and lithographs, that center around a personal mythology and symbolism of self-identity and discovery. These works explore the physical and spiritual connection behind being a fraternal twin through the metaphorical use of animal imagery.

The ideas discussed in this paper center around the process of creating a personal mythology and symbolism through my observations of animals and how I relate that experience to …

Creating 3d Smear Frames For Animation, Matthew R. Drury

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the transition between 2D and 3D animation animators tried to be able to replicate all of the styles and techniques in 3D that they utilized in 2D. Motion blur eventually came to replace a popular 2D technique known as a smear frame. A smear frame is much more than a path of motion or a blur though, it has a style that cannot be replicated with such methods. I present a creative project with the intent on creating 3D smear frames in a self-made character rig. In order to achieve this I will be designing, modeling, texturing, rigging, animating, …

Between, Kendal Nisson Bryan

Theses and Dissertations

I feel uncertain about my place in the world and it is necessary for me to discover how I am perceived by myself and by the world by exploring interior spaces. Interior spaces are both spaces of comfort, security, and permanence as well as vulnerability, uncertainty, and transcendence. My childhood home is an important drive in my work. It has caused me to think more about space and how the places we inhabit become more than just places we live in. They are places that hide our secrets, make their mark on us, and continue to live on with us …

An Annotated Bibliography And Performance Commentary Of The Works For Concert Band And Wind Orchestra By Composers Awarded The Pulitzer Prize In Music 1993-2015, And A List Of Their Works For Chamber Wind Ensemble, Stephen Andrew Hunter

Dissertations

The purpose of this document is to assemble into one resource the concert band, wind orchestra, and chamber wind ensemble compositions of the 23 composers who were awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music between 1993 and 2015. The Pulitzer Prize in Music is given annually to an American composer in recognition of distinguished achievement in composition of a work that received its premiere during the previous year. Timothy Mahr completed this study on composers who received the Prize from 1943 to 1992. This is a continuation and replication of that study, following Mahr’s procedures.

A brief biographical sketch will be …

Fragmentation Of Thought, Thomas Seay

Graduate Theses

This thesis statement expounds on my thesis exhibition, a series of four sculptures that explore the contemporary expanding field of sculpture through the fusion of non-traditional or unmonumental materials with portrait painting and collage techniques. The works are built on questions of form, and references historical art movements: Renaissance and Baroque, Cubism, and Post- Modernism. The first is present in the classical portraiture I include in the pieces; the second, in the fragmented style; the third, in the multiple narrative voices of viewers, in the use of non-traditional or unmonumental materials, and in the unexpected groupings of objects, both made …

Stories Of Otherness, Lee Ann Harrison

Graduate Theses

The thesis exhibition Stories of Otherness is an interactive installation created using dance, music, photography, video, ceramic figurative sculptures, and armatures of found objects to create a voyeuristic and physically participatory experience of situational art. Many artists from various art and literary genres influence my research and art, including Petah Coyne, Mona Hatoum, Pina Bausch, Mia Michaels, and Jeanette Winterson. The multi-faceted combination of art mediums and artists inspires me to create a mixed media, multi-dimensional installation for an immersive participant’s experience as a source for awareness, empathy, reflection, and ultimately as a “call to action” evoking change.

This thesis …

Vita Via Dolorosa, Vivianne Lee Carey

Graduate Theses

This thesis statement accompanies my MFA project entitled Vita via Dolorosa, which features a glass and steel horse-drawn carriage sculpture that metaphorically depicts a woman’s journey through life, from childhood to death. Supporting the carriage, which is the primary sculpture in this exhibit, is a performance piece that addresses the transformation of this woman by means of sculpture, music and drama. This largely autobiographical multidisciplinary exhibit uses the metaphor to explore the passage of time symbolically through the dark, aged-color palette, the iconic imagery, and the combination of animate and inanimate sculptural resources such as horses, steel and glass. …

'Stillwater' : An Exhibition That Explores Touch And The Everyday Through Ceramic Objects And Photography, Lily Fein

Art - All Scholarship

The exhibition, stillwater, is a Capstone Project that showcases ceramic-based installations in addition to photographs by Ian Sherlock. Both Ian and myself use material and process in its raw form. The work that Sherlock exhibits in stillwater is a series of pinhole camera exposures of the sun passing. He sees this simple yet profound passing of time as an opportunity to gain tacit knowledge of the sun. In my work, I gain parallel knowledge in the medium of clay, as I am physically invested in every mark that I make. There is no smoothing over or correcting; every moment is …