Title
Dear Sycamore
Date of Award
Spring 5-10-2023
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
I create paintings, sculptures, and rubbings to pay tribute to the earthly beings found within my immediate surroundings. I use indexical processes that stain, trace, and record to preserve a moment in time. The process of rubbing is a tactile and meticulous activity of excavation. It is an imprint of what was once there, a mapping of attentive contact. The works are dependent upon the physicality of the host as I engage directly with the plants, seeds, weather, and trees that surround me. The rubbing’s flatness actively constructs a new reality; a liminal space hovers between the impression and the real world, creating a sense of something both absent and present.
My work results from an accumulation of physical actions and systems for making. I emphasize touch as a physical tool to slow down our initial visual perception and understanding. It is through the making process that I begin to understand my sentiment for my environments and their complexity. Rather than stepping back to take in monumental vistas, close investigation of our world may give us new insights into understanding nature and our role within it.
This text follows the meandering path of doubt, questioning, and ways of working that I have developed in my recent practice. I examine my relationship to walking as a means for discovery within my surroundings, touch as a tool for connection, and play as a process to express joy. I reference work by Rebecca Solnit that grounds my wonderings towards time, sentiment, and place. I also discuss the work of artists Do Ho Suh, Michelle Stuart, and Ree Morton, among others, as they inspire and relate to my practice.
Language
English
Program Chair
Lisa Bulawsky
Thesis Text Advisor
Heather Bennett
Thesis Text Advisor
Monika Weiss
Faculty Mentor
Heather Bennett
Committee Member
Lisa Bulawsky
Committee Member
Abigail Flanagen
Committee Member
Amy Hauft
Committee Member
Arnold Nadler
Recommended Citation
Schenker, Anna, "Dear Sycamore" (2023). MFA in Visual Art. 10.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_visual_art/10