Thesis (M.F.A.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 12 p. : ill. (some col.) Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 4).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Michigan, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 365-381).

Western aesthetic convention represents an accrual of inherited societal perspectives on the artist, the artifact and its consumer. A review of its history and the etymology of its terminology discloses a twofold problem. The first aspect concerns the separation of the manufacture of aesthetic objects from their economic raison d'etre. The second involves the categorization of these artifacts into art or craft. This problem is compounded when considering Western judgements on non-Western aesthetics. Inuit handicraft provides an appropriate model to illustrate the fact that present convention and nomenclature prove inadequate in addressing both intra and especially extra-cultural concerns. A broader and more inclusive orientation is needed.

The aim of this study is to test the assumption that the depictions of ancient boxing found on Attic Black and Red Figure pottery are accurate. Due to the scarcity of ancient written material and physical evidence, most of our knowledge of the sport must be based on the depictions themselves. / This thesis sets out to discover whether or not our basis of knowledge, the vases and their depictions, are accurate and reflect what truly happened in a boxing match. To accomplish this, two main variables are put to test: the ratio of left- and right-handed boxers, and the occurrence of certain tactics used when right-handed and left-handed fighters face each other. / Primary sources of depictions are drawn from the Panathenaic amphorae together with some other Attic Black and Red Figure vases. Boxing knowledge is that of the author, who has studied in the field for the past five years.

The vitality of the human figure has been an unending source of curiosity for artists from the beginning to now. Although many artists have focused their creativity to searching for the perfect, in fact, beautiful, human form, others have striven to convey the human experience within the spirit of their own era. The latter is true of this creative project, which has addressed the following problem: hog: could large-scale intaglio printmaking be used to 02arify the negative impact our rigid contemporary notion of beauty can have on individual women? The project was inspired by the work of Kaethe Kollwitz, German artist of the early 20th century whc used her technical drawing skills to translate her knowledge of war and famine shattered women into forceful lithographs and etchings. The insight she Portrayed vividly combined her intensely personal vision the Vicious events of her times: social commentary at its finest.The significance of the project has been, first of all, its benefit to myself, the artist. The journey which I undertook through historical research on Kollwitz; conceptual investigation of women and rigid norms for beauty; and extension of my technical expertise as an etcher-has produced insights about creating art that are invaluable to the mature artist. The second significance involves the viewer, whom I hope reconsiders the images of women displayed in contemporary society.The project’s five large-scale etchings of the female figure portray in a series my ideas about roles women are expected to assume in contemporary American society. These ideas unfolded especially during the creation of the first and second etchings.The report of the project deals extensively with the drawing and etching techniques used for each print; a description of each of the works; the ideas which inspired the content of the works; how these ideas were transformed into visual images; and the technical competencies that I acquired while working through each plate. / Department of Art

While graffiti is revered as an art form to some, it is often seen as an unwanted nuisance by others. While vibrantly rich in history, graffiti has a controversial past, present, and future that will likely continue to be the subject of debate, especially with the insurgence of street art, an art form that often overlaps graffiti art in subject matter, media, aesthetic appearance, and placement as a public form of art. Distinguishing between street art and graffiti art proves quite challenging to the undiscerning eye, yet through a series of interviews and thorough investigation, I questioned the contexts of street art and graffiti art. By introducing non-traditional forms of art that are engaging to adolescent students, street art and graffiti art can expand the secondary art curriculum by helping students become more cognizant of current social, visual and cultural aesthetics in their own visual world.

Though an installation, the exhibition Four Corners Gateway, examines how history and memory construct us as individuals and construct our national and personal identities and worldviews. All such constructions are ultimately fragmented and fictional. This body of work points at how ideologically formed, subjective narratives are made into ‘truths’. Connecting the personal with the public is my way of playing with history and its paradoxes. The resulting landscapes that I construct can be read as archives of fragments.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 25). / v, 25 leaves, bound col. plates 29 cm

At the base of my creative research project lie (a) the contention that within the field of contemporary abstract painting there is an intrinsic relationship between the gesture and the sublime and (b) the intention to explore this relationship through experimentation in the production of artefacts complemented by investigation of relevant academic and theoretical commentary and explication. However, my lifelong involvement with surfing and with its art and culture provided in the first place an intuitive knowledge of the relationship between the gesture and the sublime and, in the second, a source of comparison and parallels in regard to this relationship that informed and interacted with the processes both of creative experimentation and scholarly investigation. This dynamic interplay was active and continued throughout the whole research project. In consqeuence its effects are evident not only in the aftefacts themselves but also in the structure of the exegesis which, in following the course of the interplay and in providing commentary on the artefacts, draws upon and interweaves personal experience, perceptions and insights with facets and characteristics of the history and evolution of contemporary abstraction, the art of surfing and surf art. / Thesis (MVisualArts)--University of South Australia, 2007.

Thesis (MVisualArts)--University of South Australia, 2005.