Every living being encounters growth. As humans, our experiences help to shape our mental and emotional development. Each of these experiences provides an opportunity for growth. In my work, apes, monkeys, and lemurs serve as visual metaphors for human growth. The body of work that I created for my thesis project reflects different emotions and experiences that facilitate growth and maturity.

My work focuses on the development of playful and absurd combinations of small creatures that co-exist in a state of odd logic. The creatures share a vulnerable, somewhat fragile, quality, yet are assigned vital force in their existence. This juxtaposition is metaphorical for certain aspects of human existence. The Orthographic Characters is the title of a series of prints and paintings I have created that form a non-linear narrative. Each piece is inspired by the alliteration of one alphabet character. The writings form a bizarre, feverish context for the characters.

This body of work is about human nature, and centers on issues of aggression, consumption and collapse. Five materials make up the exhibition, and each carries a specific metaphor: wood is flesh, brick represents collective history, rope is a metaphor for human activity, metal is control and salt is a quintessential commodity. Craft is used as a means to explore the boundary between natural and synthetic phenomena, as well as elevating the status of the base materials. The work is arranged to provide an environment and context for the viewer to respond.

motion meanspassing through time and through space. Pushes and pulls seem to be the cause of motion. - Richard Wolfson. Push and Pull is about exploring process. While trying to locate my form of expression and process, I rediscovered my mothers form of expression and process crochet. I decided in order to continue forward, I must explore the past.

This video is an abstract audiovisual narrative. It relies heavily on its lush compositions to seduce the viewer. Pulse depicts humanity not as the strong rational rulers of the earth but instead as a tormented figure that struggles to find security in an uncertain world. The three characters, Blood, Lava, and Electricity, represent the human animal, the natural world, and civilization respectively. Blood struggles against both Lava and Electricity in their rivalry for control. The plot shows humanity developing a relationship with civilization, all the while being harassed by unpredictable nature. Civilization at first is a path to security. As the story unfolds, however, it becomes apparent that civilization is just as erratic. Humanity is losing itself to the very arrangement which we constructed to liberate ourselves from the chaotic animal world. My video is concerned with the false sense of control that civilization has created. This is portrayed by actors wearing costumes that embody the traits of each of the three characters. All of the sculpture, the costumes and the set, relate to the storys themes in form, texture, and color. These aspects are heightened further by video editing filters that are superimposed over top of the action in post production. There is no dialogue. Instead, the narrative relies heavily on the body language of the actors, and the editing of the sequences to relate its story. The sound track underscores the mood with piano and linguistic textures to produce an overall haunting atmosphere.

This thesis is presented in journal format and represents a process of painting initiated September 2001 at Louisiana State University. The basis of my paintings can best be described as image oriented mark making. Initially figural images are taken from life drawings then used as starting points to investigate the forms through changes made to their visual properties. Fragments of the images are traced onto paper, manipulated, and then reassembled. This process provides a spring board, a shift from what was recorded earlier by direct observation to images not confined by the requirements of representation.

This thesis report explains the process of creating the work in (Re)solution. The relationship between transferred digital prints and paint is described in relation to the intent of the work. Finally, there is a discussion of the questions and dilemmas posed by the working process as well as the completed work.

Memories Near and Far depicts the transformation, emotionally and psychologically, that occurs when childhood meets adulthood. The loss of naiveté, accumulation of experiences and memories, and the release of memory necessary to move on to new experiences mark this transition. The events that occur during this time period are represented through seven installations: Incubation, I Am What I Fear, Consumed, An Offering: Gifts for Healing, Between Realities, The Self as a House: Self-Confinement, and Gleanings. The work portrays memories of my personal journey through this time, the struggles I encountered, and lessons I have learned. Color, accumulation, and repetition of materials and objects help create the psychological atmosphere of the memories depicted in each installation.

Thick Skinned is a series of sculptures using the domestic structure as a metaphor for the body. Issues of sexuality, gender roles, and domesticity are explored in this mixed-media installation. Viewer interaction with the work is encouraged for a complete sensual experience. The body and home are protective, yet fragile and delicately vulnerable. My work confronts notions of beauty and cruelty, bodily function and presence, with a focus on gender-biased social conventions in our culture. Conceptually, the work is autobiographical in nature, as it pertains to my experiences as a woman. Universally, it deals with the merging of sexuality and domesticity. This body of work revolves around a motif that is beautiful and grotesque, yet playful, resulting in a surreal landscape of strange fantasy.

This thesis addresses the subject of two Medici family tombs designed by Andrea del Verrocchio for the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. One is the tomb of Cosimo de Medici and the other a dual tomb for his sons, Piero and Giovanni de Medici. In dealing with this subject, the paper discusses the Medicis rise to power in Florence, Verrocchios career leading up to the tombs, and the important relationship between the Medici and San Lorenzo. The family donated lavishly to the rebuilding of the church and received in return spiritual aid and extraordinary burial sites. Upon first looking at these tombs, they seem beautiful, but simple. They are a stark visual contrast to the ornate Medici tombs in the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo that were later designed by Michelangelo. The tomb of Cosimo is marked with a simple floor slab in the crossing of the church, and the tomb of his sons in the Old Sacristy, though decorated with intricate bronzework, seems to be a rather modest monument in some respects. It is the work of this thesis to disprove these first impressions. Upon closer scrutiny, it becomes clear that Verrocchio and his patrons chose sumptuous materials, unusual locations within the church, and inspiration from classical sources to create enduring monuments that serve the purpose of not only memorializing the men, but also aiding their souls in the afterlife.