My thesis installation emerged from an interest in visualizing breath. The resulting work came to exist at the intersection between art, biology, and performance. The unicorn tapestries were used as a generative point of departure to explore the preservation and transformation of images through time, by time, and with time. Reproductions of the six tapestries were each etched into paper and then submerged into solutions of Phenol Red dye, Ferric Ferrocyanide (also known as Prussian Blue), and various forms of sodium chloride. Exhaled breath was used to encrust these images of the tapestries into physical objects which gradually crystallized and changed colors in response to viewers within the surrounding space. An invasive plant species native to Richmond, Virginia was utilized as a catalyst to re-absorb Carbonic acid from exhaled breath and convert the objects back to their original (or not so original) states. The final piece became the active remnants from an inquiry which quickly snowballed into so much more than I had initially planned. The following text is written as a supplemental reading to trace some of my influences at the periphery of the piece while mapping my thought processes.

This is a thesis that details the process of writing a short 30 page novel, and then converting the subsequent story into a graphic format via illustrations and into a comic book layout. The story itself deals in reworking our learned assumptions of good and evil, specifically in the supernatural and human possibility for both. The comic book format is an exploration of my reader’s different responses to the written and the graphic.

The artist describes the process and development of the work throughout her graduate career, relating them to the most recent works of her thesis exhibition. Topics discussed include experiences of beauty and themes of transformation. Contextual influences include the Rococo period as well as ideas and theories of Romanticism and the sublime. Histories and theories on representations of the body are also discussed. The artist discusses her MFA thesis exhibition Flushed, at the Tipton Gallery in Johnson City, Tennessee, from April 13th to April 24th, 2015. Two painting installations, a sculptural installation, and a number of collages are included. Media used to create these works include a range of wet and dry drawing and painting media, paper surfaces, and food.

The artist discusses his Master of Fine Arts exhibition, Meta-forms, held at the Tipton Gallery in downtown Johnson City. Exhibition dates are from March 14 through March 25, 2016. The artworks on display are a series of drawings made from carving wood panels and sheet metal and are accompanied with a large scaled site-specific installation. The exhibition culminates from research of historic and contemporary figures for non-objective art. The author gives insight to the artistic process while creating his exhibition, as well as their personal connection with the artwork.

I created a one minute 2D, hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animation with an original music score utilizing Toon Boom to demonstrate my ability to convey an interesting story without the use of any dialogue.I relied instead on pantomime, expressions, and context clues to communicate the story to the viewer.

I take a critical view of sociopolitical and cultural issues dealing with homoeroticism andgay politics. I explore gender theories in order to further understand what it means to bemasculine or feminine and how it affects my placement in society. I use art as a tool forexpressing sexual freedom while questioning traditional sexual identity. I'm interested in exploring ideas of the oppressor and the oppressed, and how power becomes an inevitable force (in every society) that creates a hierarchy, consequently establishing control. But what is power? According to various definitions, power is an entity that possesses and or exercises authority or influence. I want to focus on this idea of exercising authority, which one can argue we need, but why? To prevent chaos or is it to control a society? What about exercising influence? Do we need an influence exercised upon us? Or does that make us subjected to another person's subjective point of views? These are questions that I directly or indirectly ask with my work in relationship to gender, gender roles, and sexual orientation. I am interested in Judith Butler's theory in performing gender, and how in performing gender, one assumes social hierarchy of power depending on what gender we are performing. If I am a man performing as a man then I am treated differently by society than if I am a woman performing as a woman. But what happens if I am a man performing as a man who prefers men as lovers, or a woman who prefers other woman as lovers? In what context is this situation accepted by our society? And is it different for men and women? And why? What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be a woman, within the context of performance? Then taking it a step further and argue that we are all performing subjective ideas constructed by social norms.

This thesis is a science fiction exploration of a future dystopian world where privacy becomes a dominant currency that is distributed according to social class and ranking mechanisms. It utilizes speculative world-building to study the unanticipated implications of technology on personal privacy, surveillance and social inequality on future societies. The project introduces The Mall, as a highly efficient and hyper-connected world, but also exposes its downfall as a society with heightened cultural and socio-political disparities. Inspired by past civilizations, the development of the modern nation-state as well as contemporary society, the design adapts, appropriates and reformulates existing cultures into new hybrid possibilities. This thesis project is presented as an illustrated coded tapestry that allows the viewer to explore and interact with various components of the narrative to speculate and critique an alternative future-world void of privacy.

A collection of creative texts written concurrently with the creation of the artist’s thesis exhibition. A range of written forms coexist - poetry, prose, and dialogue - to open up the narrative and emotional space of the visual work. The text emerges from the point-of-view of different voices, describing experiences and body states that hinge upon the physical and conceptual space of the pond. Amphibiousness offers a gateway to a state of becoming and transformation. Some of the following texts appear in video works by the artist.

Anxiety is a common and often stigmatized condition. Destigmatizing mental disorders can positively impact people’s interaction and communication with others and can prompt conversations in which people share their experiences with mental health, leading to improved societal understanding and perception. My design solution tackles behavioral symptoms of anxiety, specifically two conditions that fall under obsessive-compulsive behavior: Dermatillomania and Trichotillomania. By redesigning women’s jewelry to specialized accessories, my intention is for these objects to help destigmatize these conditions and relieve symptoms of maladaptive behaviors and hurtful impulses. By redirecting these irresistible urges to an external artifact, the objects are designed to help the user tactfully and harmlessly manage symptoms while at the same time satisfying the user’s impulse.

Migration is a phenomenon wherein individuals relocate from one country to another, albeit temporarily or permanently, for numerous reasons. The State of Qatar is a highly diverse nation with a large population of foreign residents. According to Priya D’Souza, as of 2017, 60 percent of the resident population in Qatar are from South Asia. Growing up in this environment, third culture kids develop a unique, hybrid culture through experiencing multiple cultures. This research investigates a dichotomy of belonging from the perspective of South Asians in Qatar. A series of hybridized spinning tops were produced in collaboration with a South Asian artisan. These hybridized artifacts are infused with sensory materials in order to elicit an emotive response, engage memory, and celebrate the merging of diverse cultures.