Date of Award

5-2018

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

Anne Fiala

Committee Member

Karen Stock

Keywords

Jungian archetypes, Dream Analysis, Victor Turner, Liminal Space, Surrealism, Installation Art

Committee Member

Seth Rouser

Abstract

This body of work is an investigation of the memories and experiences of displacement. As a foreigner, I often find myself in a strange space between the familiar and the unfamiliar. I use various three-dimensional media to explore and depict these experiences, as well as dreams and memories related to Jungian archetypes, especially as they relate to my personal history. I overlap these dreams and memories, varying the media and shifting scale, so that the line between reality and dreams gets blurred and one becomes both a viewer and a part of the installation simultaneously. Through my manipulation of different materials and media, including wood structures, metalsmithing, drawing, and ceramic objects, I explore my experiences related to displacement and the human psyche. I see thematic and visual connections with my work and the work of Louise Bourgeois, Thomas Schütte, Chiharu Shiota and Do Ho Suh, as discussed in my thesis statement. The title of the thesis exhibition, Almost Familiar, is a reference to the tension between the recognizable and the unfamiliar. Each piece represents a memory or a dream sequence that I have experienced. Tension is created when the lines between the two blur, through scale shift and unexpected details. Each sculpture is a vital part of the puzzle, containing a bit of familiarity, suspension, and mystery – mirroring the complex nature of the human experience and psyche. Parts of the sculptures are left unfinished as a reminder that this person, myself, is incomplete and that the story continues.

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