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open access

De-Emphasize Direct Presence

Description: The following paper reveals some aspects of my thoughts about art. The works discussed are featured in my M.F.A. exhibition. All works are mainly based on the ideas of absence, self-reference and utilization in art practice, even though each piece approaches the subject from differing angles. My dissatisfaction with preconceived notions in the contemporary art, rooted in art history, has shifted my focus from concerns of the direct, physical presence of artworks to the indirect or indecisive el… more
Date: August 2004
Creator: Chen, Xinpeng
open access

Enigmatic Realms

Description: The use of copper in my work has opened up an entirely new conceptual and esthetic world. I have expanded my vocabulary of visual imagery based on the nature of how copper reacts with fire. The organic beauty harmonizes so gracefully with the manufactured material. This new material has certainly opened up a refreshing platform on which to further develop my ideas.
Date: December 2003
Creator: Malik, Irum
open access

Eplucher Les Oignons (Peeling the Onions)

Description: My creative intent is to connect with viewers at an emotional level. My chosen metaphor is “Peeling the Onion.” The implication of the metaphor is that understanding is achieved after one looks below the surface and views the underlying “layers.” The challenge is to find images that are personally interesting and also connect with the viewer. At times the creative process proceeds in linear manner and at other times it seems to take on a life of its own. During my search for a balance between t… more
Date: December 2002
Creator: Wester, Judith C.
open access

The Essence of an Image: Image as Memory

Description: Modernist painters such as Picasso, Ernst and Matisse were among others who incorporated what was then considered "primitive" art, mostly from Africa and Oceania, into their works. Prior to this, European artists had appropriated Greco-Roman themes and characters. These appropriated elements were consequently recreated without their cultural context and content, altered to reflect more current themes. In most cases, attention was directed toward the recreator, the author of the new work of art,… more
Date: December 2000
Creator: Rainey, David N.

The Evolution of Form

Description: A craftsman’s work evolves with time, new forms arise and old forms become more refined. This research attempts to study the evolution of pots over a designated period of time. The key findings include that the approach to glazing was relatively unchanged by the evolution in the work. However,the refinements that occurred in the work allowed the glazes to impart wonderful characteristics to the forms on which they are used.
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Date: May 2000
Creator: Dotter, David D.
open access

An Examination of American Sideshow Banners as Folk Art, ca. 1920-1960

Description: This thesis redresses the lack of scholarly attention paid to painted circus banners produced in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century by exploring the extent to which American folk art painting scholarship, methodologies, and objects can be used to articulate the meaning and significance of banner painting. This study expands the disciplinary treatment of banner painting by introducing domesticated art as a means of representing non-academic art produced in the U.S. … more
Date: December 2002
Creator: Weimer, Emery Christian
open access

An Examination of Factors Contributing to Critical Thinking and Student Interest in an On-line College-level Art Criticism Course

Description: This qualitative case study research examined how constructivist problem-based learning facilitated higher level thinking, increased interest in art, and affected attitude toward on-line courses in an undergraduate philosophical aesthetics and interpretation of art criticism course. The research conducted for this study suggests that constructivist problem-based learning does facilitate higher level thinking and increases student interest in art and in on-line classes. Active learning assignmen… more
Date: August 2007
Creator: Beach, Glenell McKinnon
open access

The Execution of Woodcut Prints Utilizing Photographs as Source Material

Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate the personal success of using photographs as source material for woodcuts or other relief prints, and to determine how my selectivity, editing, and execution would enhance the content of these works. I proposed to create a body of woodcuts whose subject matter would be based on photographs dealing with the scenes and legends of Texas.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Hagard, Ernestine
open access

Experiencing the view.

Description: This article discusses the way people experience the landscape. Tracing the progress of landscape photography from the late nineteenth century to the present, the author introduces the way concepts in landscape photography have changed. The author's photographs are discussed regarding how they build on the foundation of this historical precedent. Using photographs of individuals at places they think are special, the author examines their perception of landscape. The positions and actions of the… more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Madsen, Michael J.
open access

An Exploration of Organic and Geometric Form Combined in Stone Sculpture

Description: Dualities of all kinds exist in the world today. Being a visual artist and sculptor I recognize these dualities every day of my life in the natural and man-made forms I see. These forms can be broken down into two categories: the geometric and the organic. The purpose of this problem in lieu of thesis was to explore how organic and geometric form could be combined to create a unified sculpture in stone and how the finished sculpture affected me as a viewer. The figure was the main organic form … more
Date: December 1993
Creator: Rippeon, Wesley P. D.

Exploration of Sculpture

Description: The images that I sculpt deal with reflections of human traits. Wood lends itself to this endeavor, offering minimal resistance to manipulation. Keeping the origin and qualities of the material while manipulating it into another object is a statement within itself. Letting the wood do what it does naturally keeps the viewer in touch with the fact it is still just an object of nature. Wood does not make itself any less real because of the relationship of the sculpture to it as wood.
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Date: December 1999
Creator: Coldewey, Charles
open access

The Exploration of Surface and Texture on the Inside and Outside of My Sculpture

Description: After generating work for many years in an intuitive, “truth to materials” mindset my intent was to explore the interior possibilities of my sculptural forms and relate these if possible, to the exterior. Alongside this exploration of the interior I introduced surface texture and color onto both interior/exterior surfaces. In some cases the work had undergone a change, which lent new meaning and provided new relationships to exist between the interior/exterior of my sculpture. Not all of the wo… more
Date: December 2002
Creator: Holt, John
open access

An Exploration of the Visual Impact of Symmetry, Texture, and Multicultural Imagery on the Chalice

Description: The emotional and psychological reaction to a chalice is determined in part by the visual impact of the vessel. The goal of this problem has been to explore the visual impact of contemporary techniques and traditional materials, combined with multi-cultural imagery on the perception of the vessel as a chalice.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Siewert, Paul A. II
open access

Exploration through Materials and the Transformation of the Commonplace

Description: The challenge of this project was to present subject matter in a way that did not seem common to the viewer. With this goal in mind, I aimed to switch the traditional roles of material and form in order to aesthetically elevate the commonplace. For my proposed project I combined traditional sculptural materials and processes with commonplace subject matter. I took a chance at the beginning of this project by making something that I had been joking about until I realized that this might be an in… more
Date: May 2001
Creator: Sides, Luke

Eye of the beholder: Children respond to beauty in art.

Description: The purpose of this study was to determine if beauty was important to elementary age children when exploring and making aesthetic judgements about works of art and to determine the criteria elementary students used in judging beauty in works of art. This study also explored beauty as a concept that could be used as an organizing idea for designing a thematic unit with the purpose of introducing elementary students to postmodern art and issues. One hundred and sixty first grade and fourth grade … more
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Date: May 2002
Creator: Meli, Alisa A.
open access

Faith and politics: The socio-political discourses engaged by Mexican ex-voto paintings from the nineteenth-century and beyond.

Description: The Universalis Ecclesiae of 1508 authorized Spanish colonization of the Americas in return for the conversion of native populations to Christianity. From its inception therefore, the Mexican nation lived an alliance between Church and State. This alliance promoted the transfer of Castilian Catholicism to American shores. Catholic practices, specifically the ex-voto tradition, visualize this intermingling of religion and politics. The ex-voto is a devotional painting that expresses gratitude t… more
Date: May 2006
Creator: Hamman, Amy
open access

Fashion Circles

Description: Through this body of work and this paper the possibilities of using Fashion Design to express the concepts of the circle has been explored. This was done with three questions in mind: How can I use the shape of the circle as inspiration for fashion design? How can I express related words and phrases in my design? and How can I use the colors black and white to emphasize the concept of my design. To answer these questions I have created two groups of garments: one was inspired by circular object… more
Date: December 2003
Creator: Öhrn, Linda
open access

Female

Description: My objective was to create a body of work using various printing processes. I wanted to communicate my emotional responses to the fertility and childbearing of older women. I wanted to address the realities that become problems for women who wait to have children at an older age and related feelings. Some of these problems were infertility, early menopause, "sticky eggs," and birth defects. There are current medical practices that help these problems such as the freezing of eggs, artificial ins… more
Date: May 1998
Creator: Conlon, Michaela
open access

Feminist Design Methodology: Considering the Case of Maria Kipp

Description: This thesis uses the work and career of the textile designer Maria Kipp to stage a prolegomena concerning how to write about a female designer active during the middle of the twentieth century. How can design historians incorporate new methodologies in the writing of design history? This thesis explores the current literature of feminist design history for solutions to the potential problems of the traditional biography and applies these to the work and career of Kipp. It generates questions co… more
Date: December 2003
Creator: Lawrence, Anne

The Flora and Fauna in Eighteenth-Century Colonial Mexican Casta Paintings

Description: The primary objective of this thesis is to identify patterns of appearance among the flora and fauna of selected eighteenth-century New Spanish casta paintings. The objectives of the thesis are to determine what types of flora and fauna are present within selected casta paintings, whether the flora and fauna's provenance is Spanish or Mexican and whether there are any potential associations of particular flora and fauna with the races being depicted in the same composition. I focus my flora an… more
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Date: May 2006
Creator: Torres, Anita Jacinta
open access

Formal Concerns in Conceptual Sculpture

Description: The problem I choose dealt with a new material to use in conceptual art. Since the nature of my work deals with ribbed sculptural forms that explore conceptual abstractions of recorded observations, I investigated a new material called composites. A composite is defined as two or more materials that are combined to share the best qualities of both. Laminated foam core, nylon fabric weave, vinyl, and resin composites may introduce an aesthetic and structural advantage to traditional material suc… more
Date: May 2001
Creator: Stromberg, Matthew Gray
open access

From Inside the Home: A Portrait of Mexican Immigrant Women

Description: For the past two years my artwork has focused on the cultural issues of a Mexican immigrant community in Fort Worth, Texas. The primary focus has been women and the way in which their homes reflect their blending of two cultures. The occupants of the homes are people that I know personally, including my immediate and extended family as well as friends of my family. Undocumented women usually have the most difficulty in adjusting. Although some do work outside of the home, many of these women sp… more
Date: May 2001
Creator: Murillo, Guadalupe
open access

The Fusion of Predominantly Linear Marks and Solidly Rendered Forms as an Expressive Agent in Painting

Description: I plan to investigate the fusion of predominantly linear marks with solidly rendered forms to create a sense of space, depth, and texture within a series of paintings. The investigation will seek to answer a four part problem related to the creation of a series of paintings. The four part problem will explore whether or not the combined use of line, textural surface information, and buried images will have the potential to operate as an expressive agent in painting. This investigation will also… more
Date: December 1996
Creator: La Rosa, Angela
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