Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1990. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 36-37).

Brief mentions by three writers on synthetic painting media first intrigued my interest in a' new technique of making transparent acrylic paintings on glass or plexiglas supports, some of which were said to I I simulate stained-glass windows. In writing this paper on acrylic polymer transparencies my problem was three-told: first. to determine whether any major recognized works of art have been produced by this, method; second, to experiment with the technique and materials in order to explore their possibilities for my own work; and third, to determine whether both materials and methods would be suitable for use in a classroom. Pursuant to these objectives I reviewed art journals of the past decade to determine whether any major works in acrylic polymer transparencies have received national recognition. At the same time I consulted every available book on acrylic painting methods, to obtain all possible information as to how to proceed. Following this, I experimented, over a period of approximately eight months, with a great many materials and methods. During the course of this experimentation, I produced a number of transparencies, using. various colorants, media, supports and dikes, also exploring many methods of applying these materials to obtain a variety of effects. As a result of my research and experimentation, I have reached the following conclusions: First: So far as can be determined, no major works in acrylic polymer transparencies using these specific methods have yet received national recognition. However, a great many works in closely related art forms are being produced, and are receiving recognition. Second: After several months of experimentation, I agree with Jensen, Woody and Chavatel that this medium has great possibilities, and that when these possibilities are realized in the future, by artists of skill and imagination, major works of great beauty may well be created. Third: It is believed that acrylic polymer transparencies would I be a most suitable project for use in many classrooms. The materials are non-toxic and perfectly safe and easy to use; both the emulsion and the colors are water-soluble, making for ease of cleanup; both materials and technique are new, and therefore challenging to young people; .and finally, the beauty of the jewel-like colors when viewed by transmitted light furnish a great incentive to the student to create in this medium.

The need and longing to connect to another is a fundamental desire of the human heart, enforcing a sense of movement toward social and personal security and, moreover, the future. Yet it is paradoxical that, where people are the most closely crowded together, feelings of alienation and loneliness are often the greatest. We live in times of busy isolation, on streets where we dont know our neighbours, in societies where our lives are lived behind closed doors. As the global village grows, our personal worlds shrink, both by circumstance and by choice. Our innate, gregarious nature faces its greatest challenge, or ultimate defeat.<p> The story of my hometown, New Waterford, is a substantial element in the story of my life as well as my art. The woodcuts and many of the paintings in the exhibition, Slag, are documentations of this place, its inhabitants and their way of life. It is a town with a unique character resulting from the circumstances surrounding its relationship to coalmininga town that is withering away now that the mines are gone. Other paintings in the exhibition depict people and spaces from other places that I have lived. Though the environments change, there are similarities in the pathos of the human subjects that remain constant. In my work, whether I am depicting the inhabitants of a hollowed out town or the solitary subway commuter, they are united as those things that have been lost or left behind in the name of progressthe leftovers and waste: the slag.

The need and longing to connect to another is a fundamental desire of the human heart, enforcing a sense of movement toward social and personal security and, moreover, the future. Yet it is paradoxical that, where people are the most closely crowded together, feelings of alienation and loneliness are often the greatest. We live in times of busy isolation, on streets where we dont know our neighbours, in societies where our lives are lived behind closed doors. As the global village grows, our personal worlds shrink, both by circumstance and by choice. Our innate, gregarious nature faces its greatest challenge, or ultimate defeat.<p> The story of my hometown, New Waterford, is a substantial element in the story of my life as well as my art. The woodcuts and many of the paintings in the exhibition, Slag, are documentations of this place, its inhabitants and their way of life. It is a town with a unique character resulting from the circumstances surrounding its relationship to coalmininga town that is withering away now that the mines are gone. Other paintings in the exhibition depict people and spaces from other places that I have lived. Though the environments change, there are similarities in the pathos of the human subjects that remain constant. In my work, whether I am depicting the inhabitants of a hollowed out town or the solitary subway commuter, they are united as those things that have been lost or left behind in the name of progressthe leftovers and waste: the slag.

Prior to January 2010, my work in painting focused on opposites, such as the difference between the instinctual and the planned. Formally I was interested in the need to veil, and the urge to reveal the thinking and processes in the creation of a painting. Through the juxtaposition of these things I sought to strip landscape of its inherent divinity and create a new kind oflandscape using color, atmosphere, and mark making. My goal was to make the monumental insignificant and secondary to my process and create works with clear intent, a physical process, and an interest in how color can be used to suggest the illusions of space, time, and depth. Currently, my work has undergone major changes in regards to content. This thesis will explain the journey I have undertaken during the past two and a half years while discussing my reasons for abandoning my initial proposal for something based less in academic discourse and more in personal introspection.

This diploma is devided into two major parts. Theoretical and practical. In the theoretical part I consider the meaning of touch which is ambiguouse. Fist of all it should express, by the form of art, our desire and necessity to establish into relationship with another human-being, get in touch and get to know each other. By the time of working at this cycle my form is beginning to change. Touch doesn´t only express relationship but they´re also recording my touching, getting to know myself. The practical part of my thesis focus on production figures. It consists of a cycle of paintings, fiberboard of various sizes made by acrylic technique. These paintings capture directly human bodies in positions of touching, proximity, delay. They capture the joy in positions of direct touch againts deprivation when a person is deprived of contact with another person. The starting point of this thesis is personality and emocionality.