This practice-based PHD project tests cross/trans disciplinary approaches to historical artifacts, set in the field of contemporary fine art research. It is predicated specifically upon my discovery in 2013 of a forgotten deck of fortune-telling cards, hand painted 1906 by the English artist and mystic Austin Osman Spare. Spare's cards had lain unnoticed for almost seventy years within the collection of London's secretive Magic Circle, following their accession to the magic club's museum in 1944; before that date, no record of the deck exists. I respond to this historical find in the form of two interdependent "readings" of the artist's deck of cards. 'Reading One' provides the first in-depth descriptive survey of the deck, as well as establishing its provenance, its place in the artist's oeuvre and within the wider histories of cartomancy. 'Reading Two' adopts complementary approaches that are contingent upon, and shaped by, specific findings within 'Reading One'. These include an elaboration of the deck's release from captivity at The Magic Circle ('Facsimilate and proliferate'), an evaluation of its internal connective logic ('Combinatoric consciousness'), its introduction to the moving image ('Cartomantic cinema') and to historical time ('Making up for lost time'), and the articulation of a card that is missing from the deck ('Casting for the voice of Strength'). The relationship between these two constituent readings is explored as a continuity which follows a cyclical, rather than linear, progression - second readings are contingent upon first but often lead to renewed first readings, leading to renewed second readings and so on. Within this reanimating process, the object can be seen directing its researcher, sometimes casting her/him in particular roles that meet its needs. In the realm of art production, this orientation towards the object implies that the appropriation of historical material by artists be appropriate, with all the psychological, ethical, and political consequences that such encounters entail. While applied here to a single object - Austin Spare's cartomancy deck - the project's model of contingent and continuous knowledge production encourages other researchers to respond innovatively to the directives, even demands of their chosen objects of research.

The Oval Office is the most iconic room in the White House and one of the most recognizable interiors in the United States. I have recreated the Oval Office as a three-dimensional, interactive environment for the purpose of studying 3D modeling, texturing, and environment creation. My recreation of the Oval Office contains more than 30 unique models which use over 100 high-quality texture maps. My goal was to study the creation of both organic and hard surface models as well as learning which workflows were best suited to each object within a scene. I also wanted to study how different textures might be created and what workflows resulted in the most efficient and effective results, especially when creating Normal maps. The final project is designed for the Unreal 3 Engine, and still image renders were created with the Mental Ray renderer from within Autodesk Maya. The software I used to complete this project included Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Mudbox, Adobe Photoshop, Quixel’s nDO2, XNormal, and the Unreal Development Kit 3 (UDK) by Epic Games.

The artist discusses her Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition, Confessions, held at the Tipton Gallery, from November 14th to November 25th. The exhibit portrays how the artist responds to issues such as organized religion, war, and politics. Being drawn to art from the Renaissance to Baroque era, the work encorporates an "old world" aesthetic, also with an emphasis on Gothic architecture.

Personages from my past and present have spoken to me in a familiar language that demanded a translation of their own ‘essence’ into visual form. Using the methods exampled by Cézanne and Matisse, I have sought to create portraits that are revelations of both the sitters and myself. The totality of an individual’s being is ineffable. Thus, the task of the portrait artist is limited to an evocation. ‘Essence’, attributes that identify a unique entity provide the necessary links to this act of re-creation. While some subjects depict strangers, the majority have developed from physiological and psychological investigations of individuals I have known. Drawing delivers form to a portrait. While the likeness of a sitter initially resides in the eye and the mind of the artist, conversion of this mental image into a visible representation requires the physical engagement of the artist and her medium.

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The paintings in this thesis project began with a study of various representational images, both personal and symbolic. It included the exploration of assorted media and different styles of execution in a search for imagery to represent the scope of my life experience. This search involved a method of working that excluded preconceived images. The original images evolved into an abstract state which alludes directly to the figurative and organic nature of the earlier work.

generic of is a creative text paralleling the creation of my thesis exhibition. I use fragmented layers of narrative, description and prose in the same way each handbuilt ceramic is fired multiple times, allowing the glazes to build upon themselves. This is a close study of the still life, the intimacy of consuming, and how trauma is passed through the gut.

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HOME ENVIRONMENT AND CREATIVE AND ARTISTIC ACTIVITY by WILLIAM ALAN BARSH Under the direction of Melody Milbrandt ABSTRACT This study sought to delve into and analyze the home environment and its relation to creative and artistic activity. Three artistically exceptional third grade art students, their parents, and their previous year teacher were interviewed to collect data relating to students and their home environments. Factors related to a student’s home environment such as the origins of their artistic inspirations, environment in which they made art at home, materials available to them, and the cultural values and beliefs transmitted to them in their homes were looked at to see how they influenced a child’s artistic activity. Data was collected through interviews and teacher observations and combined with a review of literature to compile strategies that might be useful for parents to use to influence their children's artistic activity. INDEX WORDS: Home environment, Creativity, Artistic activity, Families, Artistic influence, Parents, Children

Binge is a multi-media installation consisting of dangling IV bags looming over a large table of food. Monitors on the table show live online chats about thinness, depression and eating disorders. On the rear wall, interview footage describing the gruesome experiences of the eating disorder sufferer intercut with the newest development of the disease, the online presence. The installation confronts the viewer with the horrible dualities of the disease: discipline and madness, reason and passion, and suffering and indulgence. The work references the philosophic mind/body struggle as well as the grim reality of these afflicted young women.