Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Smiths Onion Institute exhibit : a perhaps hand(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1971) Smith, Lesley WinfieldIt occurred to me that I could take advantage of clay's strength in container-massiveness if I made other things like machines and technical apparatus of the future which sit when they are used, the form being a housing for the works. I also liked the "toy" idea for art, raising (or lowering, if you will) art to the point of physical participation. One of my last ray guns emitted a variable high pitched sound and flashed, being controlled by the participant. Ceramics was not a very applicable vehicle for a portable electronic object because of the weight. I tried papier-mache and though it was effective it was not satisfying to me. At this point my work began to split into two definite areas; the three-dimensional "machines" and the two-dimensional primarily the display of ray guns in use. The potentials in creating the Smiths onion Institute as the framework to unify loosely related forms was very exciting. Some of my observations of life have entered into this and helped formulate several axioms for the Smiths onion Institute. 1. Smiths onion ray guns do not kill. But they do make it rough on the enemy (i.e. changing to crybabies, giving them a headache or a toothache, putting them to sleep, etc.) 2. Woman is the superior human animal, gifted with greater stamina, patience and understanding, sensitivity and intelligence - when emotions do not interfere. Woman's Liberation of the early 1970's on Terra (Earth) began to prove this, gradually elevating WOMF., to the prime positions of responsibility and control. Smiths onion Intergalactic Time Agents (S.I.T.A.) were, are and will be all women attired in self-pride, self-respect, self-confidence, their space-time helmets and carrying Smiths onion ray guns. They travel through space and time affecting history, primarily in time of war or conflict. The nude female form, long an inspiration for art, is an epitome of organic form. And I believe, contrary to contemporary taste, that all variations of the female can be beautiful: slender, plump, stocky, short or tall. I intended to show as great a variety of figures as possible as S.I.T.A. Agents. The differences were considerably neutralized during the process of making the finished photographic historical scenes. I went further in several cases to visually experiment with contrasting crisp, cold metal with the soft grace of female forms. The effect, though jarring, is softened by the total processing.Item Twist and mess(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1994) Filloux, Marianne IsabelleIn these paintings I have found it essential to create a two dimensional space which depicts the forest in a life-like scale. Landscape imagery which presents nature as miniaturized often depicts the natural world as diminutive and merely picturesque. I want to convey action within the forest These paintings are the product of my "re"action to the forests’ intimate and yet potentially dangerous interior. This reaction is dependent on my observation of nature as a force which easts in spite of my presence. The undercurrent of fear often felt in nature may have as much to do with feeling we are in a domain that ultimately falls out of our control, as it does with the undeniable physical dangers which occur in this territory.Item Firewall(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1994) Goetz, Anne ElizabethPlaster is the one material which is common to this group of sculptures. Outside of the art world, plaster is seen simply as a building material. In walls plaster insulates, retards fire, or is used as a cosmetic. For artists plaster has functioned historically as a mold material rather than a finished product. For my purposes, the most important aspect of plaster is its role as a mold material. Since plaster preserves a material’s impression, fulfilling my intention to record processes, I use it as both a tool and as a final product. The effect burning has on materials introduces an element of chance to my procedures. As a process it leaves natural lines by eroding away the structure. The final burning process is one in which I have various degrees of control. Sometimes I will totally abandon control, and let the decisions come from the fire, truly allowing the sculpture to finish itself. If my initial motivation does not demand this, I will douse the flames when the desired result has been achieved. Partial burning of the structure removes and records the material imbedded in the plaster. The basic sculptural forms in my work are shapes that I recognize in nature. The cone is an intriguing shape to use because it simultaneously expands into space and draws space into itself. Several works are spherical deriving from a collapsed cone. Bivalve’s flattened ovals developed from the cone as well. I identify the shapes with elements of my body; cone as womb, sphere a stomach, and strings between elements as vertebrae or skin structure. The thin shells of the sculptures represent skin, a layer which both protects the interior from the environment and vice-versa.Item The common experience(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1993) Patten, Ian KuakiniMy work originates from youthful experiences focusing on how they have formed and shaped me and the way I view the world around me. The sculptures evolved out of a period of self examination and a realization that these experiences are not unique to myself only, but are shared by a great number of people. When these experiences are multiplied by the number of people who have felt them, they affect the world as a whole as we pass them along generation to generation. My personal role as an artist is to use the three dimensional presence of sculpture to communicate these experiences to the viewer. Use of the figure is important to me because it provides the viewer with access to the work and changes the question from 'What is it?' to 'What is this about?'. The figure draws the viewer in, and with the addition of other visual clues, such as broken glass or cast objects, forms the composite story. The viewers are then able to form associations with the work through references to their own experience.Item Ceramic sculpture(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1994) Van den Dool, Monica HelenaThe observation of everyday actions and interactions provides me with the motivation for this body of work. The situations, motives, and characteristics of my sculptures are no more indecipherable, strange, or ambiguous than what I see around me everyday. To me, the figures are clear and more than real, crystallizing and magnifying the course of day-to-day life. In general, figurative work appeals to me because of its directness. Its presence and impact are less remote, more immediate. The bulk, scale and chunky physicality lend an important quality to these figures; a sense that they are uneasy in their own bodies. In Deep Sea Catch, this theme is explicit. A blankly smiling and seemingly oblivious woman holds out a prehistoric-looking fish. The fish represents the primitive in the character’s nature, a connection that she cannot even begin to grasp. The figures are all female for a variety of reasons. I am obviously more familiar with the female figure and work from my own poses in the studio. There is also a feminist element in the work, although the emphasis is on the more sweeping concerns of the human condition. The issues I address are common to both genders in varying degrees, but are expressed more naturally for me through the female figure. In the earlier sculptures, which are not draped, the generic style of clothing is an attempt to establish a kind of uniform of normalcy. The women, outfitted in pumps, necklaces, and dresses, appear to be comfortable and well-off. Their placid and carefully groomed exteriors form an ironic contrast to their more desperate or suggestive circumstances. For instance, in Chicken Dinner, two women interact with a pair of dead chickens. The women’s incongruous style of dress and apparent delight heightens the strangeness of what could have been a relatively normal scenario.Item Common Ground(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1991) Welch, Harry ScovilleMy recent work is a statement combining painting, sculpture, and architecture. The installation here in the Haynes Gallery consists of a painted network of panels and framework constructed out of materials collected from around the Bozeman area. The construction took place from September, 1990 to May, 1991 and was completed in my backyard studio in Bozeman. The structure was then dismantled piecemeal and moved to the Haynes Gallery where it was installed as my thesis exhibit. The installation is a reflection of my fascination with time and its affect on all things. The different painted areas of the installation present a theme of varying abstract studies with color, line, curve, and shape. These studies are fused to create a uniform piece representing both the organic and synthetic qualities of life. The walls are designed in part to represent unconventional billboards, graffiti smattered walls, and a notebook for my day-to-day thoughts. The construction serves as an area for me to explore my interests with the time process by acting as a large tack board for paint and found materials. These different materials are what I use to represent different colors on a picture plane, and when combined they become a sculptural form of architecture. This structure stands as a new form created from time worn parts, ready to undergo a new transformation.Item Paintings and monoprints(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1991) Laing-Malcolmson, BonnieBetween the subject and the final painting lies a middle ground, a place of memory, response, process, and risk. My intent is that my paintings grow from this middle ground. My paintings are born of temporal things, a protracted drive through our wide western landscape may lull me into a state where a cloudburst slamming into a mountainside evokes a sharp flash of memory. Transformed, I relive a vivid moment of my life; the glimpsed landscape becomes a visual equivalent for the evoked memory. By reliving a moment of life I am more alive, simultaneously inhabiting present and past. William Carlos Williams wrote in his poem The Descent: "and no whiteness (lost) is so white as the memory of whiteness.” The mind released from the present is an intense world. I aim to capture that intensity in paint.Item Hybrid symbolism(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1996) Hughes, Dewane FranklinI use the images of tools because they are versatile and visually interesting. An object such as a hammer, saw, or wrench is interesting not only because of its own formal elements, but also because these familiar forms clearly allude to other things such as human figures, weapons, vehicles, or animals. For example, in my canoe sculpture, I construct an object that is identifiable as both a wrench and a snake. By combining formal elements in this way, I create a hybrid meaning that presents a new symbolism to the viewer. My vocabulary consists of religious icons that I have retrieved from my past. Raised in a devoutly religious household, I have a firm knowledge of numerous biblical images and stories. These images have such historical significance and symbolism that when altered they do not lose their meaning, but rather create a hybrid meaning. For example, in “Tunnel,” in order to emphasize the peculiar relationship between luck and religion, I juxtapose religious symbols with symbols of luck. I find luck to be an interesting concept especially in relation to religion. I created a new religious icon by combining the religious acronym “INRI,” with the image of the four leafed clover. The position of the symbols on top of a ladder is not only difficult or seemingly dangerous to reach, but also implies the involuntary use of a tool, in this case the shovel, if the ladder is used.Item A book and myth(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1973) Stifft, Barbara EileenMy ideas are evoked by landscapes, combinations of what I . see, feel, know consciously and subconsciously. I learned logic and rationality as one learns a foreign language. My native tongue is. intuitive emotional inner-feeling. These drawings come from both. I see objects, extensions of objects, their skelectal essence, their connections, growth, history and movement. Each is an aspect of reality, combinations of several evoke reality. Art is never reality, perhaps ones responses are.Item Essence(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1993) Maxwell, Sharon FrancisAs a metalsmith I try to acknowledge in my own work the history and technical requirements which are inherent in the process. I work with flower motifs in response to the previous traditions of metalsmithing as well as my own fascination with the botanical world. The scientific study of plants, roots, genetics, soils, and plant structures is also an interest of my siblings. I am intrigued with the visual and sensual qualities of flowers. The fascination I have with flowers is longstanding and is matched by my love of adornment and decoration.