Date of Award
Spring 5-19-2022
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
Within this text, I explore the hidden power of images in American visual culture through painting-based installations. I investigate images of the past and present juxtaposed in a surrealist landscape. Through the use of images in the news, entertainment, advertising, and images within the home, I depict how the problems of the past bleed into our perceptions of the present. I find that this cycle of problem inheritance connects us as humans regardless of time, generation, and place. In my work, I explore the complexity of image culture and its shifting presence within the digital age. Using surrealist collage, I place unexpected images from different time periods next to each other in a simultaneous representation of time. Through themes of theater, I illude to the performativity of life. Large wall paintings and wooden prop pieces create an inhabitable space or stage where viewers can step into the work. The viewers’ physical image and identity collides with the images that give our lives, experiences, and perceptions context. I aim to emphasize the power of images by centering viewership as its catalyst.
Language
English
Program Chair
Lisa Bulawsky
Thesis Text Advisor
Cheryl Wassenaar
Thesis Text Advisor
Monika Weiss
Faculty Mentor
Cheryl Wassenaar
Committee Member
Heidi Kolk
Committee Member
Heather Bennett
Recommended Citation
Xandersmith, Livia, "The Hidden Power of Images: An Allegory of Chaos and Performance in the Digital Age" (2022). MFA in Visual Art. 4.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_visual_art/4
Included in
Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture Commons, Painting Commons, Psychology Commons, Sculpture Commons, Sociology Commons, Theatre and Performance Studies Commons, United States History Commons
Artist's Statement
Within my large-scale, painting-based installations, I investigate images of the past and present juxtaposed in a surrealist landscape. Through news, entertainment, advertising, and images within the home, I am made aware of how the problems of the past bleed into our perceptions of the present. I find that this cycle of problem inheritance connects us as humans regardless of time, generation, and place. In my work, I explore the complexity of image culture and its shifting presence within the digital age. Using surrealist collage, I place unexpected images from different time periods next to each other in a simultaneous representation of time. Through themes of theater, I illude to the performativity of life. Large wall paintings and wooden prop pieces create an inhabitable space or stage where viewers can step into the work. The viewers’ physical image and identity collides with the images that give our lives, experiences, and perceptions context. I aim to emphasize the power of images by centering viewership as its catalyst.