Asian Art and Architecture Commons^™

Tracing The Past, Drawing The Present, Sixue Yang

Graduate School of Art Theses

The group of work, Rising Water, Floating Islands is inspired by traditional Chinese scroll landscape paintings. Such landscape paintings combine meticulous technique, compositional complexity, and tension between representation and abstraction to reveal an alternative universe that waits discovery amid our mundane existence. In “Rising Water, Floating Islands,” I explore the political and social ramifications of the ongoing cultural conflict between traditional and emergent contemporary values. By combining traditional Chinese elements and techniques with my own markings and gestural adaptation in my painting, I give the audience the opportunity to contemplate the implications of our present digital condition through traditional esthetic …

Savoring The Moon: Japanese Prints Of The Floating World, Madison B. Dalton

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Guided by the Director of the Madison Art Collection and Lisanby Museum, Virginia Soenksen,I served as the Curatorial Assistant for the Lisanby Museum’s forthcoming exhibition Savoring the Moon: Japanese Prints of the Floating World. The exhibition will highlight the Madison ArtCollection’s impressive Japanese woodblock prints in the ukiyo-e style. Ukiyo-e translates to“pictures of the floating world.” This style proliferated in Japan during the Edo period (1603 - 1868) and Meiji period (1868 - 1912), with visual themes that ranged from flora and fauna, Japanese ceremonies, kabuki actors, mythology, courtesans, and cultural pastimes. The estate of Charles Alvin Lisanby gifted over …

Index Of Mind, Ziqing Gao

MA Projects

Li Xiangming: Index of Mind, is an exhibition focuses on the artist’s recent productions and his contemplation of “object” and “its relations.” The collection demonstrates the artist’s freewill of creation and his hope of conveying his care and bring attention to the group of people who has been neglected in the trace of history. Li has not only been dedicated to express the living condition and mental state of a certain region, though to express the life and the will to live shared by all through his use of ordinary materials and subject matters with collective memories. This exhibition could …

The Modern Formulation Of Chinese Art History And The Building Of A Nation In Early Twentieth-Century China, Chennie Huang

Dissertations and Theses

At the dawn of the twentieth century, the Chinese formulation of art history underwent dramatic changes. It moved away from the traditional narratives that did not follow a strict chronology to adopt the Western linear model which emphasizes progress and national identity. Based on the premodern tradition, the modern formulations of Chinese art history began as a political strategy for nation building amid the political upheavals, including military attacks on China that led to the end of Qing imperial rule and the beginning of the Republican era (1912-1949).

In the early 1900s, while exiled in Japan, Liang Qichao 梁啟超 (1873-1929), …

From Micro To Marco: Jade Snuff Bottles In Qianlong Era, Jinpeng Wang

MA Theses

Emperor Qianlong, whose original name is Aisin Gioro Hongli, was the sixth emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Qianlong was one of the most famous emperors in Chinese history. As the word “Qianlong” means in Manchu, he was truly blessed by the god: the Qing Empire was already very strong when Qianlong came into power; meanwhile, Qianlong had a relatively stable outside environment. It allows Qianlong to be able to focus on pushing his own governing policy. Qianlong’s policy of agricultural development and tax reduction was very effective, under sixty years of reign, the empire has expanded its territory, and the …

Deities And Devotion In Mongolian Buddhist Art, Charles Mason, Andie Near, Tom Wagner

Kruizenga Art Museum Exhibition Catalogs

Design by Tom Wagner. Produced by Storming the Castle Pictures (StCP) as a catalog for the Kruizenga Art Museum exhibition “Deities and Devotion in Mongolian Buddhist Art,” August 30 – December 14, 2019.

Kruizenga Art Museum Online Collection - Exhibition Gallery

How To Be The Perfect Asian Wife!, Sophia Hill

Art and Art History Honors Projects

“How to be the Perfect Asian Wife” critiques exploitative power systems that assault female bodies of color in intersectional ways. This work explores strategies of healing and resistance through inserting one’s own narrative of flourishing rather than surviving, while reflecting violent realities. Three large drawings mimic pervasive advertisement language and presentation reflecting the oppressive strategies used to contain women of color. Created with charcoal, watercolor, and ink, these 'advertisements' contrast with an interactive rice bag filled with comics of my everyday experiences. These documentations compel viewers to reflect on their own participation in systems of power.

Business Plan Project, Hejun Xu

MA Projects

The business plan is to build an online trade platform dedicated only to selling ceramic art and design in China, our mission is to provide high quality and modern design of ceramic art to middle - and upper - middle class of the country, and is to also reinvigorate the country’s tradition and culture of aesthetic object appreciating

Through My Window, Haiyin Liang

Theses and Dissertations

I convey my thoughts through art jewelry; making jewelry is my language of communication and commemoration. Inspired by historical Chinese art and contemporary jewelry, my practice pays attention to bring classical Chinese aesthetics of hazy poetic and ideal arrangement into the contemporary jewelry field. The attention to detail refers to the quiet contemplation and emotional experiences encouraged by each of my works. Through my research, I use metalsmithing language to communicate with non-precious materials finding my own way of expression and meditation. Meanwhile, I build environments that display jewelry off the body in order to construct a picturesque landscape. The …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Art 1011 (Art History Survey I), Janine Defeo

Open Educational Resources

This introductory course presents a global view of art history through slide lectures and museum visits, with an emphasis on works of art found in New York City museums. It selectively surveys the visual arts of Europe from prehistory through the Middle Ages and concurrent historical periods in Egypt, the Near East, the Islamic world, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

Syncretic Souvenirs: An Investigation Of Two Modern Indian Manuscripts, Madeline Helland

Scripps Senior Theses

The objective of this project was to establish a provenance for two Indian manuscripts that were recently discovered in the collections at Scripps College. Based on their illuminations, script, and binding structure, I was able to conclude that these two manuscripts are Hindu religious texts created around the 19^th or 20^th century. To determine an approximate origin and the significance of these volumes, my research focused on the syncretism of religion, material history, and power dynamics in India. Their context was specifically framed within the history of manuscript construction and conservation.

Invisible Invisibility, Eugina Song

Theses and Dissertations

White America assumes its culture is the default, and Asian culture as foreign and irrelevant. I address Asian invisibility by using canvas structure as a Western framing device of painting, and make this cultural barrier visible by breaking out of the frame. Deriving from Dansaekhwa, I challenge the Western painting structure with materiality.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Art 1012 (Art History Survey Ii), Karen Shelby

Open Educational Resources

This introductory course presents a global view of art history through slide lectures and museum visits, with an emphasis on works of art found in New York City museums. It selectively surveys the visual arts of Europe from the Renaissance to the twentieth century and concurrent historical periods in Asia (India, China, Japan), Africa, Mesoamerica, South America, Native North America, and the United States.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Art 1011 (Art History Survey I), Agnieszka A. Ficek

Open Educational Resources

This introductory course presents a global view of art history through side lectures and museum visits, with an emphasis on works of art found in New York City museums. We will cover visual arts of Europe, the Near East, Islamic countries, Asia, Africa and the Ancient Americas from prehistory to the Middle Ages.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Art 1012 (Art History Survey Ii), Janine Defeo

Open Educational Resources

This introductory course presents a global view of art history through slide lectures and museum visits, with an emphasis on works of art found in New York City museums. It selectively surveys the visual arts of Europe from the Renaissance to the twentieth century and concurrent historical periods in Asia (India, China, Japan), Africa, Mesoamerica, South America, Native North America, and the United States.

Black Matter, Kahlil Irving

Graduate School of Art Theses

History as we know it, is inherited. Racism, fascism, white supremacy, and Eurocentric dominance have been presented as normal and acceptable within our society for many years. This has allowed police officers to execute Black American’s and not be acquitted for their horrendous crimes. As an activist I want to challenge the status quo. As an artist I am interested in investigating how I can present ideas embody or reflect contemporary issues and concerns. Using different colors can aggressively change how an object is perceived. Historical objects hold many important.

I explore many mediums, but an anchor material that I …

Spreading Seeds: Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds And His Performative Personality Received In The West, Wei Wu

Scripps Senior Theses

In 2010, Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds made its debut in Tate Modern, which promoted Ai to be one of the most famous and respected contemporary Chinese artists. This Conceptual art work has multiple layers of meanings, which all corresponds to the Western expectations for a successful contemporary Chinese artist. In fact, the Western art world has long held bias and stereotypes towards international artists. Ai chose to perform his personality to conform to the expectations and Western ideologies, which brought him international fame. On the other hand, other Chinese artists, including Cai Guo-Qiang and Zhou Chunya, don't totally agree with …

Iain Muirhead, Iain Muirhead

CGU MFA Theses

Artist IAIN MUIRHEAD seeks possibility in a world of massive change. His work cultivates instability and chases an ungrounded experience. Systemic complexity and creative destruction are characteristic. Muirhead uses paint, objects, photography, installation, and video to break apart and reconfigure form and space. Terror often looms. Entropy gives way to emergence.

The Gentleman, The Craftsman And The Activist: Three Figures Of The Sino-Indian Artistic Exchange In Colonial Bengal, Nicolas Nercam

Artl@s Bulletin

This article analyses some aspects of the Chinese-Indian exchanges, which took place in the first half of the 20^th century, in the artistic circle of Calcutta and Shantiniketan, in Bengal. From the beginning of the last century, the Bengali elite was under the influence of Okakura Kakuzo’s Pan-Asian theories, in its approach to Chinese art. From the 20’s, under the auspices of Rabindranath Tagore the first direct contact between Chinese and Indian artistes took place and lasted until the 40’s. From the 30’s, the Bengali avant-garde, in its search of a new aesthetic in relation with social and political …

Research And Study Of Fashion And Costume History Spanning From Ancient Egypt To Modern Day, Kaitlyn E. Dennis Miss

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Through a generous donation to Morehead State University, research has been conducted on thousands of slides containing images of artwork and artifacts of historical significance. These images span from Egyptian hieroglyphs to the inaugural dress of every first lady of the United States. The slides are in the process of being recorded and catalogued for future use by students in hopes of furthering academic comprehension and awareness of the influence of fashion and costume history through the ages. Special thanks to the family of Gretel Geist Rutledge, faculty mentor Denise Watkins, as well as the Department of Music, Theatre, and …

The Influence Of Raja Ravi Varma’S Mythological Subjects In Popular Art, Rachel Cooksey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper will examine the aesthetic qualities that Raja Ravi Varma helped to introduce to mythological paintings and then to popular devotional prints with the Ravi Varma Press, as well as the influence of the aesthetic to other areas of visual culture in India. Prior to the 1993 retrospective exhibition in New Delhi on Raja Ravi Varma, little was known about his impact on the calendar prints of today. By tracing the rise of academic realism in late 19^th and early 20^th century India and Ravi Varma’s role within it, I gained a clearer understanding of the degree …

In-Betweeness On Stage, Qiyuan Liu

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

It all started with the question of “where are you from”. Coming from China and making art in America, I have been confused by people’s question about where am I from and, more importantly, where I identify myself belong. By using installation as the main format, I created works with strong theatrical quality to restage and reenact my social and cultural experiences that finally led to my understanding of the “in-betweeness” of myself: I reside in neither of the two cultures but rather moving back and forth between them. I carry influences from both sides with me and present them …

Imagination And Reality: Landscape And The Folk Culture Of Joseon Dynasty Korea, Matthew Finley

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

The Five Peaks Screen of Korea’s Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) is one of the most iconic works of its time. Nevertheless, the remarkable visual impact and cultural significance of the Five Peaks Screen evades systematic scholarly study, partly because of its generic classification as folk art. In this paper, I will resituate the Five Peaks Screen in the artistic tradition of East Asian landscape painting. When considered in the context of literati painting traditions and relevant popular landscapes, it becomes clear that the design of the Five Peaks Screen coheres to traditional aesthetics to emphasize the ability of artwork to inform …

Reviving Project:A Chinese-American Culture Exchange Project, Yushan Cassie Sun

Undergraduate Research Posters

Through art exhibitions in Beijing, China and Richmond, Virginia, Reviving project 01 aims to help promote/ revive a craft technique in Qinghai, China that is disappearing due to the urbanized surroundings.

American artist were invited to collaborate with people from Qinghai to make new pieces incorporating original crafted pieces.

Painting Taiwan's Modern Identity, Shelley D. Hawks

2013 New England Association for Asian Studies Conference

Taiwan’s painters were dynamic contributors to a revolution in color that dramatically reshaped East Asian art. During the early twentieth century, new techniques of on-site sketching and the introduction of oil paint shook the foundations of Chinese and Japanese ink painting as it had been practiced for centuries. The Japanese colonization of Taiwan, a period when educators such as Ishikawa systematically introduced European painting methods, produced a cohort of painters in Taiwan professionally trained and committed to watercolor and oil painting. Building on international art trends like Impressionism and Fauvism, these painters developed a sense of color distinctly their own. …

Art Of The Scholar-Poets: Traditional Chinese Painting And Calligraphy, University Of Richmond Museums

Exhibition Brochures

Art of the Scholar-Poets: Traditional Chinese Painting and Calligraphy

April 01 to May 09, 1998

Marsh Art Gallery, University of Richmond Museums

Introduction

Chinese culture developed one of the world's most enduring artistic traditions, literati painting, based upon a unique idea about the purposes of art. The art of the scholar-poets is centered in calligraphy and poetry, which the literati learned at an early age as part of their basic education. Painting was done with the same tools as poetry and calligraphy - brush, ink, and paper - and it was an easy step to express poetic sensibilities in visual …

Silenced Sacred Spaces: Selected Photographs Of Syrian Synagogues By Robert Lyons, Samuel Gruber, Samuel D. Gruber

Religion - All Scholarship

Discusses the history and architecture of the synagogues of Syria documented by photographer Robert Lyons in a survey sponsored by the Jewish Heritage Council of the World Monuments Fund.