Date of Award

Spring 5-17-2018

Author's School

Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts

Author Department/Program

Graduate School of Art

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art

Degree Type

Thesis

Abstract

I am interested in searching for images of women that have not been adequately represented in visual art. As a visual artist, I am directed by my sense of sight to investigate and know something. I like to challenge myself to visualize things that do not already have a visual representation. It has been frustrating for me to create images of women, and I have experienced a deep ambivalence in response to the different images of women I have encountered. The socially and culturally constructed images of women that I have internalized and those that have developed from my own experience of being a woman do not coincide. Images derived from the concept of woman as a symbol of beauty and sexuality are images I have culturally assimilated as a result of growing up in a patriarchal society. However, images representing a female identity developed from my experience, from childhood to adolescence to womanhood, do not correspond with the images that have been forced upon me. This conflict undermines my knowledge of “woman” and transfers it into the unknown. This conflict evokes anxiety and fear as I confront that unknown.

Language

English (en)

Program Director

Patricia Olynyk

Program Director's Department

Graduate School of Art

Thesis Advisor

Monika Weiss

Studio/Primary Advisor

Jamie Adams

Studio/Primary Advisor

Heather Bennett

Committee Member

Michael Byron

Committee Member

Michael Byron

Artist's Statement

Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/K7W095CQ

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