Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
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Item Neither here nor there(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2020) Marian Albin, Cristina Simona; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sara MastTraditional rites of passage are losing value today or are forced to take new forms, sometimes at a rapid pace. Inevitable events instantly and actively change our personal, societal and global life. Neither Here Nor There examines mental and physical liminal spaces. My aim is to define the concept, etymology and history of liminality, while exploring its relevance in our modern world. Included as part of this paper, images from my current body of work chronicle different transitional environments, both aesthetically and emotionally. The original concept of liminality, as described by earlier theorists, no longer holds the same meaning. Transitory experiences become perpetual, some occurring at the same time, some repeating. A liminal space can sometimes metamorphose into a home. In this thesis I am addressing several questions of liminality: What are the attributes of liminality and how does it reshape our identity? How do we navigate unsettling unknowns when the ground under our feet seems to constantly shift? During the writing of this paper, the novel virus COVID-19 hit the world, resulting in fear, stress, anxiety, chaos, and changes. However, the crisis also brought with it flexibility, creativity, collaboration, and resilience. New forms of ritual are being born every second.Item Right here / over there(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2018) Rudolph, Kelsie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Josh DeWeeseI am curious to find the places where all of humanity fundamentally overlaps, whether that is through feelings or objects or both. Through an elongated process of sensory observation, we can retain this knowledge for the long-term. Here there is more time and room to search for commonalities across cultural and social systems. Finding commonalities between myself and the people, places and objects I interact with is grounding. These experiences provide me with the emotionally loaded act of feeling. The objects within the exhibition are an abstract visualization of an inner presence experienced in my own search for commonalities between various cultural systems, human interaction, and material complexities.Item Ceramic sculpture(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1986) Dayton, Chandler RaeThe pieces in this exhibition are abstractions of figures in landscapes. Although some of the forms suggest physical places, the abstraction of the forms is intended to draw-the viewer into a private, interior place, or landscape. The references to the figure are contained in the gesture of the whole piece, as well as in the repeated use of the oval volume (the head, center of perception) and the tubular volumes (the limbs which act on perception). The gesture of the whole piece is orchestrated to allude to specific interior experiences which are also universal; that of conflict, joy, and eros. Conflict is a condition of human experience because of ignorance, or our inability to know. Joy is the fundamental state of being; the wellspring of all life forms. Eros is the condition of life's longing for itself; love. In addition, some of the pieces exhibit a humor which is self-mocking.Item Tangible dreams and inner visions(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1989) Pepion, ErnestMy paintings are born from the integration of my Native American culture, handicap experiences, and dreams for which I have created symbolisms that draw the viewer into my paintings. While the subjects of my paintings are very personal, the viewer is able to transcend personal histories to share the powerful language of emotions.Item Easy Answers(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2004) Spain, Alison Lovejoy; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Harold SchlotzhauerI choose imagery based on the way my body reacts to visual stimulus. I cannot articulate the discomfort I feel at times, so I ask how that discomfort would manifest visually. I often notice patterns, forms and signs in the outside world that seem to capture some unutterable feeling. It might be the way a branch bends to the weight of snow, against a sky electrified by neon. In this fleeting moment exists both the aspiration to be divine and the burden of being human. These are the bittersweet and tender spaces that move me. I want viewers to feel unsettled and explore the painting’s meaning for themselves on an intuitive level.Item Organization(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1996) Cooperman, Lisa RachelThis show is about my recurring emotional experiences like joy, dread and frustrations, which elicit responses in the body. Using anatomy as the organizing structure, I link the body’s physical responses to mechanical activities like hammering, cutting and scooping. The sculptural elements represent the physical response to emotional experiences; the paintings help locate that response. Shapes of organs, bones and internal systems intersect with the physical world of iron, silver and beeswax to create a composite anatomy. Because emotion doesn’t have a specific location in the body the way digestion or respiration does, I assign it location using x-rays and anatomical illustrations as reference materials. I select anatomic shapes based on their formal suitability to represent emotional experience. In particular I am drawn to container and joint forms: the container form expresses the body’s metaphoric ability to hold, collect, and store emotions; the joint form represents its ability to connect with and repeat emotion. The joint and container forms, linked with shapes that evoke utensils, tools, and musical instruments, become the formal vocabulary for representing emotional experience.Item Catharsis(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1982) Dunayer, Allan Stuart; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael PeedMy work is about finding my way through a process of letting go of myths, security blankets, and unrealistic expectations in order to bring about changes and personal growth in myself. By expressing anxiety, frustration and confusion in my art, I allow myself to release tensions of daily routine that manifest themselves in my mind. The images I use are from my interior world. I become so obsessed with them that I become them- in this way they are visual substitutes for myself. Although my work contains identifiable images, narration is not my primary intent. My objective is more a visual expression of energy and emotions. Because of my background as a potter, I feel the need to treat the painting as a tactile surface. An expressionistic quality comes from dense building up of a variety of material to achieve a rich surface. The work is as much involved with the process of assemblage as it is with painting. My work evolves out of conflicts and dialogues between the intuitive and the intellectual. The intuitive stage is the impulsive and spontaneous response to certain images, forms and marks. The intellect struggles to go beyond the traditions and restrictions of my cumulative experience. Putting together these influences allow me. to draw upon my own imagination. The end of a piece comes when these two forces reach a balance and an order. This dialogue interlocks in a structure that communicates a sense of wholeness.