Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 38).

Shutters is a fragmented novel that employs various prose and poetic elements to document the life and endeavors of photographer-writer Ishi in present day New York City. The work follows his quest for emotional and physical connection, and his artistic project where he photographs and writes about suicide survivors. The work explores the observer-observed divide that often manifests in fiction and addresses the themes of physical beauty, art, death and the human condition.

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-83).

The work I created in conjunction with this paper is a representation of myself and my family, both individually and as a unit. The work was spawned by a search for my identity at my current age of 25. The outcome is an installation of photographs that focus on my heritage and family work ethic and a series of altar-like tables highlighting the personalities of my grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, and sister when they were experiencing life at my stage. I believe that this work culminates in defining me. Every element, every individual, reflects a part of myself in the people I love. The following paper explores the elements that come into play in the creation of this work.

The purpose of this project was to produce visual work that examined a possible nostalgia that unfolds around the breakfast meal. The method of examination involved creating a process breakfast that was followed thirty times. The result of following this process was the taking of three hundred Polaroids that were then edited for their potential to visually reconstruct the ideal process breakfast. This process of discovery has resulted in a number of significant insight into the narrative of breakfast: that an idealized narrative could exist in the visualization of the process breakfast; that elements of nostalgia that may exist within the work are contingent on the viewer; and the level of authenticity of the project affects the nature of the idealization in effect.

Artists' book utilizing cross disciplinary media.

The adaptive reuse of secular buildings as churches signals a return to the fundamental belief that architecture is not necessary for Christian worship. Following are the stories and photographs of fifteen churches in the Greater Toronto Area where congregations worship inside buildings designed for non-religious purposes. These photographs document the utilitarian architecture of secular buildings as a backdrop to the act of worship and fellowship that have become the sole embodiment and expression of faith. While the stories behind these churches testify to the adaptability of Christian worship and the power of faith and community during times of economic struggle, they also ask us to reconsider our role as architects in the relationship between architecture and faith.

This thesis is a critical cultural investigation into the meaning of wilderness. It is based on the premise that as a constructed, imaginary landscape wilderness is an expression of cultural impulses. It suggests that the longing for wilderness is a manifestation of cultural malaise, which indicates an uncomfortable relationship between contemporary civilization and its citizens. Poetic reviews of the definitions of nature and wilderness, as well as of Canada, which draw on a collage of sources, are used to explore the meaning of these ideas. Accompanying the text are several series of photographs which confront landscapes that exist around us and explore our relationship with the material environment. The sites include wilderness and conservation areas, the Don Valley, the Lesley Street Spit, suburban construction sites, piles of discarded dirt, various farm fields, and fragments of woodland bordering roads and highways. An extended foreword defines the wider context of this work: An essay regarding topic specifies that though this thesis aims to be sympathetic to environmental or sustainable interests, its main goal is to examine the cultural, affective desire for wilderness as space. An essay regarding place discusses the thesis’ connection to a specifically Canadian context. A third essay regarding method reviews the fragmented compositional method and intuitive manner of working used in the thesis, as well as the photographic method used for the images. And finally, an essay on tradition suggests that the thesis work, both in topic and method, engages a continuing tradition of Romanticism, which remains both relevant and meaningful. The aim of this thesis is to speculate on the value of wilderness in contemporary times, particularly in a Canadian context. The ambition is to gain insight into the forces at work in contemporary culture. The thesis also aspires to offer a fertile, even if ambiguous, vision of wilderness that could suggest how to better respond, as architects, to the impulses that feed the longing for this landscape.

The adaptive reuse of secular buildings as churches signals a return to the fundamental belief that architecture is not necessary for Christian worship. Following are the stories and photographs of fifteen churches in the Greater Toronto Area where congregations worship inside buildings designed for non-religious purposes. These photographs document the utilitarian architecture of secular buildings as a backdrop to the act of worship and fellowship that have become the sole embodiment and expression of faith. While the stories behind these churches testify to the adaptability of Christian worship and the power of faith and community during times of economic struggle, they also ask us to reconsider our role as architects in the relationship between architecture and faith.

This thesis is a critical cultural investigation into the meaning of wilderness. It is based on the premise that as a constructed, imaginary landscape wilderness is an expression of cultural impulses. It suggests that the longing for wilderness is a manifestation of cultural malaise, which indicates an uncomfortable relationship between contemporary civilization and its citizens. Poetic reviews of the definitions of nature and wilderness, as well as of Canada, which draw on a collage of sources, are used to explore the meaning of these ideas. Accompanying the text are several series of photographs which confront landscapes that exist around us and explore our relationship with the material environment. The sites include wilderness and conservation areas, the Don Valley, the Lesley Street Spit, suburban construction sites, piles of discarded dirt, various farm fields, and fragments of woodland bordering roads and highways. An extended foreword defines the wider context of this work: An essay regarding topic specifies that though this thesis aims to be sympathetic to environmental or sustainable interests, its main goal is to examine the cultural, affective desire for wilderness as space. An essay regarding place discusses the thesis’ connection to a specifically Canadian context. A third essay regarding method reviews the fragmented compositional method and intuitive manner of working used in the thesis, as well as the photographic method used for the images. And finally, an essay on tradition suggests that the thesis work, both in topic and method, engages a continuing tradition of Romanticism, which remains both relevant and meaningful. The aim of this thesis is to speculate on the value of wilderness in contemporary times, particularly in a Canadian context. The ambition is to gain insight into the forces at work in contemporary culture. The thesis also aspires to offer a fertile, even if ambiguous, vision of wilderness that could suggest how to better respond, as architects, to the impulses that feed the longing for this landscape.