Date of Award
Spring 5-14-2026
Author's Department
Graduate School of Art
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
I create sculptural works from discarded copy paper that I combine with found objects, all sourced from my immediate environment. The associations of paper such as writing, tearing, stacking, folding, and scribbling echo through my formal gestures. Found objects mimic these gestures, while adding unexpected textures and colors to the compositions. These machine-made objects are intertwined with the handmade to form displays of exchange. I am interested in the tension between the manufactured and the hand-formed, and how these tensions inform our daily lives. Objects that surpass the human lifespan, products alienated from us via opaque networks of exchange, especially the mundane and ultra-standardized, i.e. plastic bags, copy paper, etc., are my consistent media.
By framing my practice through a craft lens, I resist systemization and consider embodied knowledge, which comes from negotiating with material, to be a form of agency against the proliferation of contemporary anti-connectedness. Through the physical act of papermaking, through navigating my studio and environment, and through open-ended experimentation, I am able to bring play into my process. This playfulness comes out in the shapes, bright colors, and chance material combinations present in my work.
By confronting material relationships between the world, the bodies of others, and the self, I recontextualize commonplace objects and actions into intentional artwork.
Language
English
Program Chair
Tiffany Calvert
Thesis Text Advisor
Lisa Bulawsky
Thesis Text Advisor
Meghan Kirkwood
Faculty Mentor
Lisa Bulawsky
Committee Member
Sage Dawson
Committee Member
Jack Risley
Recommended Citation
Spears, Dallas, "On Paper" (2026). MFA in Visual Art. 51.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_visual_art/51