Firstly, sexuality and death are discussed as instinctual drives, specifically through Freud's essay, Beyond The Pleasure Principle. Sexuality and death are then related through pleasurable attachment and painful severance. Next they are discussed in terms of Georges Bataille's notions of continuity and discontinuity. Secondly, The Garden of Eden is looked at as a mythological indicator of the psychological links between sexuality and death. Sexual differentiation has a role to play as woman is seen to be a signifier of death through the writings of Julia Kristeva and Victor Burgin. Thirdly, Plato's argument for immortality is discussed, specifically through The Phaedo. The argument centres on the separation of self from sexual pleasure in order to defeat death. Fourthly, the chastity of Mary and Christ is dealt with. It can be seen to be resultant of the tight connection between sexuality and death and relevant to a hope for immortality. For Christian theology there exists a necessary division for those who are immortal from their own earthly carnality. Fifthly, Julia Kristeva's notion of Abjection is looked at through her essay, Powers of Horror. Abjection plays a significant role in the attempt at repression of the sexual drive and the death drive. Lastly, the reflection of Narcissus is observed. There seems a human need for a reflection self that goes beyond notions of delusionistic beauty or reviling horror. Sexuality and death are accepted as most essential aspects of our being. Abjection leads to a rejection then an acceptance of our own perishing carnality. / Master of Arts (Hons)

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 66). / iv, 73 leaves, bound col. ill. 29 cm

Thesis (M Visual Arts)--University of South Australia, 1996

Thesis (M.A.)(Hons)--University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1998. / Slides included in print copy. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2004. / A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, Education and Social Sciences, School of Contemporary Arts, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Contemporary Arts. Includes bibliographies. Electronic version minus appendices 2, 3, 4 is also available online at: http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/29745.

Thesis (M.A.)--Duquesne University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-105) and index.

This thesis deals with the topic of borders and includes art series, which focuses on the development of social perception and thinking of pupils of second grade of primary school. The theoretical part of the thesis maps the border issue within society. The beginning of the work clarifies the borders in terms of psychology. Afterwards, different ways of dealing with the subject boundaries in art are presented. There are primarily highlighted figures of visual arts and artistic styles that inspired the creation of art series. Works of artists are chronologically ordered into artistic styles and semantically clarified with regard to time, cultural and social context. The next part of this work is devoted to a school curriculum and the possibilities of including the chosen theme to teaching of art subject within the school educational programs, for which the project was implemented. At the end of the theoretical part there is outlined the history of the project teaching and the method used for the creation of the art series.The project part is a set of seven lessons dealing with the topic of boundaries, which are focused on working with different techniques. The whole project was based on the perception and understanding of the issue of boundaries by the pupils of primary school during particular lessons. The course of the lessons and their content is described chronologically. The end of the practical part presents additional possibilities of how, according to the author of this qualification work, the topic of boundaries can be used for further processing.

This visual arts based research explores the autonomous process of mark-making from the unconscious for the sake of expressing inner turmoil that comes with ‘Living in the Shadow of Death series’ (2014). The manner by which emotions are, in a sense, naturally released in automatic drawing and painting underpin the basis of this research as part of the development of an expressive visual language. ‘Living in the Shadow of Death’ is definitively concerned with how an emotional predisposition, a severe case of unconscious aggression due to struggles with the illness of Marfan Syndrome comes to the surface naturally and is expressed visually. Essentially, this research aims to answer the main research question: How might the act of drawing convey the power and complexity of emotion through the exploration of autonomous mark-making with unconventional tools, mediums and methodologies? This research inquiry rests upon three important benefactors and influences: Illness, anatomy and unconventional tools. What is discussed is an interdisciplinary regime of theoretical and practical research into Surrealist Automatism and a progressive development of this methodology formed from the perspective and approach of a Marfan Syndrome sufferer. The research includes an analysis of Automatism in the works and practice of artists Roberto Matta, Joan Miro and Andre Masson and their influence on the working methods of Jackson Pollock. To this end, the contribution made by Jungian therapy to Pollock’s Action Painting technique and experimentation with unconventional methodologies is explored. Furthermore, the practice-led analysis and documentation of information gained on Surrealist Automatism aided development of working procedures and how this guided the creation of a body of works entitled ‘Living in the Shadow of Death’ is discussed. Ultimately, the content of this research expands the discourse on what constitutes drawing tools, media and format, and how suffering from Marfan Syndrome extended and amplified the expressive potential of Surrealist Automatism and Action Painting exemplified in the development of an innovative methodology known as ‘Anatomical Automatism’.

Both Temple and Tomb is a dissertation in two parts. The first part is an examination and analysis of a collection of 'colonial' sculptures on permanent display in the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren Belgium. The second part is a reflection on the author's own paintings, drawings and film and an examination of the critical potential of these images in challenging the colonial narratives of the RMCA. Part I presents two arguments. The first is that European aesthetic codes have been used to legitimize the conquest of the Congo and to award sanction to a voyeuristic gaze. The second is that the organization of the sculptures of Africans (and European females) into carefully managed spaces and relationships results in the creation of erotically-charged formations that are intended to afford pleasure to male European spectators. Part II examines the strategies used in Re-Turning the Shadows to disrupt (neo)colonial patterns of viewing that have become ritual and 'naturalized'. Against RMCA narratives that pay homage to the objectivity of science and research, the paintings and film present images that explore multiple subjectivities, mythologizing impulses, and metaphoric allusions. / Art History, Visual Arts & Musicology / M.A. (Visual Arts)

This study examines the illustrations that appear at the Office of the Dead in English Books of Hours, and seeks to understand how text and image work together in this thriving culture of commemoration to say something about how the English understood and thought about death in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Office of the Dead would have been one of the most familiar liturgical rituals in the medieval period, and was recited almost without ceasing at family funerals, gild commemorations, yearly minds, and chantry chapel services. The Placebo and Dirige were texts that many people knew through this constant exposure, and would have been more widely known than other 'death' texts such as the Ars Moriendi. The images that are found in these books reflect wider trends in the piety and devotional practice of the time. The first half of the study discusses the images that appear in these horae, and the relationship between the text and image is explored. The funeral or vigil scene, as the most commonly occurring, is discussed with reference to contemporary funeral practices, and ways of reading a Book of Hours. Other iconographic themes that appear in the Office of the Dead, such as the Roman de Renart, the Pety Job, the Legend of the Three Living and the Three Dead, the story of Lazarus, and the life of Job, are also discussed. The second part of the thesis investigates the musical elaborations of the Office of the Dead as found in English prayer books. The Office of the Dead had a close relationship with music, which is demonstrated through an examination of the popularity of musical funerals and obits, as well as in the occurrence of musical notation for the Office in a book often used by the musically illiterate. The development of the Office of the Dead in conjunction with the development of the Books of Hours is also considered, and places the traditions and ideas that were part of the funeral process in medieval England in a larger historical context.