College of Liberal Arts Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/1969.6/1174
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Browsing College of Liberal Arts Theses and Dissertations by Author "Aubrey, Margaret"
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Item Hausfrau collections: Routine, ritual, & magic(2020-12) Speck, Jamie M.; Aubrey, Margaret; Petican, Laura; O'Malley, Ryan; Bajuyo, LeticiaAs a person who fills many roles—housewife, parent, artist—my work is suffuse with everyday monotonous routines. I celebrate notions of domesticity by turning the ordinary into the fantastical, routine into ritual. Instead of relying on traditional art materials for this body of work, I construct autobiographical assemblages—my Hausfrau Collections—objects and household waste garnered through quotidian routine. I collect and reimagine unremarkable artifacts through the restorative healing power of ritual, along with childhood notions of fantasy and magic. Textile-like artworks metamorphose from consumer waste into fairy tale and mythical-type garments and backdrops. Hausfrau Collections confronts outdated stereotypes to foment self-discovery and personal contentment through imagination and storytelling. Using Nelson Goodman’s Ways of Worldmaking (1978), I discern my artwork and the way I interact with reality through individual perspective. My additional desire is that these artistic reparations and invented textiles influence more responsible ecological artmaking practices and contribute to a healthier environment on this planet. Reconsidering traditional housewife and family-based routines and rituals creates a spiritual and visual imaginative escape for self-reflection and discovery, and to conjure the magical from the mundane.Item Palimpsest(2020-12) Gonzalez, Clarissa; O'Malley, Ryan; Aubrey, Margaret; Roeder, LarsonPalimpsest is an exhibition of large drawings, artists books, and monotypes which considers the social influences of colonialism, geographic bias, authority, and nationalism amongst shifting global cultures. It is abstract cartography with a primary focus on the physical world map as an imperfect object with emphasis on how and why they were made, and the intentions of those who created them. The works in this exhibition utilize printmaking processes to create unconventional representations of global bodies and aesthetically claim agency over the fallible nature of maps. This supporting paper will illuminate the vacillating aspects of map history and usage through themes of material culture, simultaneous time and nationalism. Further, geological change, geopolitical perspectives, and my personal history will explain why I subvert these notions through abstraction in attempt to unite the personal geographies of the viewer to the broader world. The works display simultaneity of space and time while dissolving concepts of national identity, borders or boundaries to illuminate a need for better understanding across cultures.Item Positive Disintegration: Memories, Morals, and Other Combustibles(2019-12) Thigpen, Trent A.; Peña, Joseph; Aubrey, Margaret; Bajuyo, LeticiaThis practice-lead research and the resulting exhibition of paintings are the product of an investigation into personal experiences of cognitive dissonance caused by emotional conflict and traumatic events. Expressing these points of conflict in fine art paintings creates the opportunity to identify defense mechanisms, coping methods, and positive resolution potential. It serves as a model for bringing these emotional experiences from the unconscious into self-directed awareness. Following the precedent of the Surrealists’ who applied Psychoanalytic Theory to art, I applied psychoanalytic concepts and two additional contemporary psychological models to guide and interpret my painting practice. The Theory of Positive Disintegration (TPD) provided a model for viewing emotional conflict and neurosis as triggers for personal growth. The Vienna Integrated Model of Top-down and Bottom-up Processes in Art Perception (VIMAP) includes a similar scenario of personal growth from conflict that an art viewer may experience. Together these naturalistic, cognitive models allowed me to consciously examine, reflect upon, and translate mental states at the cusp of change. Collage and automatic writing practices like that of the Surrealists provided an intuitive way to evoke emotional memories and explore source images that recall points of conflict and emotional states. In the painting process, I employed stylistic elements of Romantic landscapes, Neo-Expressionism, Pop Surrealism, and Magic Realism to communicate tension and to balance emotion with objectivity. This mix of styles creates flexibility in aesthetic distance within the paintings allowing the examination of emotional memories, defense mechanisms, and conflicting values and beliefs. Expressive mark-making, the psychology of landscape, metaphorical narratives, and traditional painting formats help communicate these difficult to describe mental states. A viewer may experience these feelings through triggered memories or empathy with the mood and narrative. Combining psychological models with fine art provides a relatively safe environment and perspective within which to view anxiety, depression, and other emotional tension caused by conflict and trauma as a positive means for personal growth and transformation. Viewing neurosis as a catalyst for positive change is relevant to overturning the stigma of mental “illness” and contributing to collective empowerment in response to pervasive feelings of personal, environmental, or other socio-cultural existential threats.Item Quiescent(2022-05) Koranek, Payton; Katz, Louis; O'Malley, Ryan; Aubrey, MargaretQuiescent refers to a state or period of inactivity or dormancy. This exhibition is centered around the complexity and nuance of the face to convey emotion. The concept for this body of work grew during a period of my life where I was feeling very uncertain, as though I was emotionally frozen and dormant. I was conflicted in how to approach life-changing decisions, unsure as to whether their outcomes would metaphorically move me forward or back. This was compounded by fears we all have when forced to confront the confines of our own existence. The exhibition presents a series of expressively sculpted heads to reflect the progression of my emotional self, through experiences of personal struggle, social upheaval, and the global effects of COVID-19. Their expressions do not repress, they exhibit a range of nuanced emotions including longing, disdain, or exhaustion, all familiar feelings towards the unknown. Empathy is the vehicle through which these works connect to the viewer. My process relies heavily on intuition. These pieces are intuitively sculpted and intuitively arranged. This method correlates to the inspiration for the work, relationships are driven by intuition as well.