Abstracts Category : Other

Active invisibility

by -8758-4798

In my two years as a graduate student in Studio Art at the University of Texas at Austin, I have reflected on mediation as an imperative transcending nearly all of my creative and intellectual pursuits. I produce physical or ideological masks with priority over the objects and images behind them, using layers of paint, textiles, and mechanical processes in printing to retract information. These masks challenge the viewers consumption, leaving something slightly improbable, resisting objectivity. The work presented in this thesis examines the motivations I have for returning to these formal strategies in the studio, for being such an unreliable narrator. Why cant objects outwardly express themselves? What is gained in return when crucial information is left out? Why do I produce questions, and often fail to provide answers?Advisors/Committee Members: Williams, Jeff, M.F.A. (advisor), Smith, Michael (committee member).