Date of Award

Fall 12-2020

Document Type

Thesis

College

College of Visual and Performing Arts

Degree Program

Fine Arts

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Thesis Advisor

Shaun Cassidy

Committee Member

Claudia O'Steen

Committee Member

Karen Stock

Keywords

Nurture, Sculpture, Feminist theory, Performance art, Fluxus, Nel Noddings

Abstract

Nurture is a series of sculptural and performative works created to explore the emotional and psychological effects of objects as they relate to familial memory and the various processes one uses to nurture and express love. These moments incapsulate the need for comfort and connection, the need to be nourished, the need for protection, and the need to remember. The filmed interactions with each individual sculpture evoke the natural relationship of emotional release to the processes of remembering and healing.

By using sculpture as a residue of performance and creating work that serves as a memory of interaction and experience, Lauren Taylor League investigates connections between humans by blurring the distance between the artist, the art, and the audience. This thesis statement explores aspects of feminist theory, the historical use of Fluxus, Nel Nodding’s The Ethics of Care, Darwin’s classic essay, Emotions in Man and Animals, and Maurice Halbwachs’ theories on collective memory.

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