Thesis (M.F.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1990. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 20).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1990. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 33).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1990. / Typescript.

A Thesis Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Fine Arts in Painting.

The primary objective of this creative project was the exploration of cultural and self identity and the painting techniques used for their creation. The paintings are an attempt to portray through the use of the human figure and symbolic elements to communicate my personal struggle relating to events in my past, present, and future. In these three large paintings I have explored an approach reminiscent to German Expressionism style along with more contemporary motifs which are derived from my research and past experiences in painting at Ball State University. It was very important for me to spend time researching artist involved in the German expressionist movement, because they have been an integral part of reshaping the way I approach art. This body of work required a variety of traditional oil painting techniques including: canvas construction, under painting, stumbling, and glazing. / Department of Art

Thesis (MFA)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2008. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sara Mast.

The research question explored in this exhibition and dissertation was to review the conventional notions of craftsmanship and the use of the specific medium of oil paint with reference to the art of Rembrandt and Damien Hirst. The subject matter is flesh. This study foregrounds the involvement and acknowledgment of the corporeal body, the hand of the artist, and of the organic material reality of our existence and the objects that surround us. The paintings reflect a series of interventions that resulted in abstracted images based on photographs of meat. Once a detail had emerged that emphasised the fleshiness of the selected image, it was printed by a professional printing company. These details were then translated into oil paintings. What is explored is the specific material qualities of the binding mediums traditionally associated with the use of oil painting to create expressive paintings. In the creation of the series of paintings, I prepared binding mediums consisting of wax, stand oil, damar varnish, zel-ken liquin and acrylic paste medium mixed with manufactured readymade oil paints. Consequently the choice and exploration of the material possibilities of a specific medium becomes content, using art to explore the idea of art. Paint becomes flesh-like, having congealed over the surface of the technical support. These paintings propose an internal and an external reality simultaneously referenced through the flesh-like surface, pierced and cut to reveal multiple layers created on the supporting structure (wood and canvas) with the use of a specific medium, oil paint, combined with a variety of other binding mediums. The edges of the unframed paintings play an important role assuming a specific physical presence, enabling them to define themselves as boundaries, both of the paintings particular field of forces and of the viewer’s aesthetic experience. They are no longer edges or frames in the conventional sense, but become other surfaces that are of equal significance in the reading or viewing of the work. Finally, the notion of an exhibition site being neutral or given is contested and, as a result, the contemporary artist needs to be mindful of site specificity in relation to the exhibition of the artworks. This series of paintings is intended to communicate as a body of work, reflecting an individual vision: a recurring, introspective process that is always unfolding. The body is constantly recreated by each individual viewer, and the context or site of display. The artist’s intention is to activate the viewer’s heightened awareness and response to the conscious arrangement of the collection of canvases, as each one represents a fragment or detail of a flayed carcass.

Ten figurativ paintings from kitchen. Technology - acrylic on canvas.

No description available.

As an artist and stay-at-home father of two daughters, issues of masculinity and gender roles are vivid aspects of my daily experience. It takes confidence for a man to live outside the domestic status quo. However, I doubt my ability to fulfill this role. My art is an observation of my character, and projecting it onto a greater conversation of contemporary manhood. My inclination toward realist self-portraiture is the most sincere way I can offer to express my ideas of personal and contemporary masculinity, and the imagery I am creating occupies both physical and psychological states of engagement. Our personalities are most honest when played out behind closed doors. By lifting the veil of privacy, I can bring both you and me into a personal space that I intend to be both inviting and unsettling, a shared moment and voyeuristic in nature. This thesis documents the creation of a body of paintings based on self-portraiture, personal experiences, and a greater conversation about men, fathers, and artists.