Abstracts Philosophy, Religion, and Theology

Shapes of sounds and silence

by Nilza Grau Haertel

My work is a constant search for a significant form that would embody a multiplicity of 'meanings' and not exhaust itself in one fixed 'interpretation’. I feel a deep, reverential fascination for Nature's perfect harmony and order and for the everlasting beauty and spirituality of music. As for the title of my thesis, it is important to clarify that I do not intend to convey the idea that a sound or a silence can be 'translated' into a visual form. The elements of sound, such as tonal color, loudness or softness, and those of visual form do not possess a fixed connotation as do words in a language, and therefore they can never be “literally' translated. The relation that (perceive, though, lies in an infinity of abstract patterns and logical formal structures that exist within both, and my work is about the perception of this ever changing relationship and the emotion that it creates within myself. Advisors/Committee Members: Orman, Jack L. (advisor), Twarogowski, Leroy A. (committee member), Dormer, James T. (committee member), Levine, Frederick, S. (committee member), McKee, Patrick L. (committee member).