TRANSITION is an installation of films that engages the histories of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the meltdown of Fukushima Daiichi in 2011—it is an attempt to bridge the gap of nuclear issues that are still present today. I redirect found images from their institutional contexts to reposition them as a dialogue between the archival and my own footage. All histories are told through media, and all mediations are remediation of the event. Histories are never fixed, but are constantly reproduced by different groups who are involved. The past and the present must always be interconnected, contesting the importance to understand the fluidity and intersectionality of histories.

No description available.

The work described in this thesis is a series of narrative prints detailing the exploits of a criminally inclined religious cult. These prints encourage an open dialogue about the nature of religious practice and serve as a cautionary tale regarding absolute power and the importance of questioning authority and generally accepted beliefs.

This dissertation accompanies my MFA thesis exhibition, a series of paintings and drawings. As is the case with any artist, what I create is so shaped by life experience and unconscious desire, that the paintings will speak more truthfully than I can. It is my hope that someone with a shared sensibility will stumble upon my thesis at the right time and be able to relate to it. David Hume made a remark in Of the Standard of Taste about this type of kinship forming between author and reader. “We choose our favourite author as we do our friend, from a conformity of humour and disposition. Mirth or passion, sentiment or reflection; which ever of these most predominates in our temper, it gives us a peculiar sympathy with the writer that resembles us.” 1 Through art, I am sometimes able to step outside of my own situation long enough to disentangle myself from the ego. In these moments, whatever is preoccupying my mind—fantasies, anxieties, joys, sorrows—emerges unconsciously. Sometimes frightening aspects of my personality arise in the work—a tendency toward self-loathing, detachment from others, neuroses about sex. It is precisely because I am a self-conscious person that I resist analyzing or censoring what disturbs me about my work. As a person who has dealt with trauma, I experience emotions acutely. Though empathetic to others, I find it difficult to connect intimately even with the people I love. Painting from observation provides a way to establish a safe and intimate bond with a person and gain a greater understanding of my relationship with others. Through painting portraiture, I hope to capture the feeling and memory of being in another person’s presence. In my self-portraits, I address the longest standing and perhaps the most difficult relationship I ( or any of us) will encounter—the relationship to the self. Hume, David, Selected Essays. (Oxford University Press, 1998), 150.

A thesis report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Painting.

My work does not aim to answer a question or solve any problems; it tries to activate a conversation around the content. I intend to keep things playful and entertaining because not only is that how I relate best to the subject, but I find it helps animate aspects of culture that people enjoy responding to and thinking about. Like “The Real World,” or Facebook, my work entertains me, but it has a way of slowing down certain aspects of life, letting someone take a breath, have a conversation and maybe LOL.

This project report explains my MFA show of landscapes presented at the Woodbury Museum in Orem, Utah. Referencing source material from my 2008 trip to the Middle East, Bible narratives and contemporary scholars, I created mixed media paintings around the themes of traveling and migrations (peregrinations) and some significant stopping places in Syria, Jordan and Israel. More importantly, this report also speaks to my personal peregrinations as an artist and relates my painting methods to my subject matter.

No description available.

This is a research project to design a series of flat pack furniture that assemble without using any hardware and tools. The furniture series included a chair, a table, a coffee table, a side table, a bed and a sofa. Wheels were designed in the furniture to create mobility with the exception of the bed. Sustainable materials, such as Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified plywood and High-density polyethylene (HDPE), had been used to produce the furniture. Rapid prototyping (RP) processes were being used to shorten the design process, such as Computer Aided-Design program (CAD) and Computer Modeling software to design; 3D Printer to create small scale model; Computer Numerical Control (CNC) to create full-scale prototype. Flat packaging has been used in the series to provide convenient to transport the furniture and the shipping cost.

No description available.