projects start with a goal, an end to be realized. this project provided a platform to explore architecture. drawings, models, text and printmaking were used to this end. a project is found through the assembly of these pieces. these pages contain no finite conclusion on architecture. rather they illuminate the path I choose travel. where will my ideas take me from here? / Master of Architecture

Consider the construction of a perspective drawing. The perspective is made by drawing lines between a point of origin and several focal points. A series of lines connect the focal points to one another. The culmination of lines drawn from origin to focal point and focal point to focal point describes a place. The perspective is a view, or window into this place. The relationship of these three elements - the origin, focal points, and view - is analogous to the development of a architectural project. The origin is a point of beginning. Each architect brings a set of experiences and ideas to the project. The project springs from the architects' knowledge and ideals. The focal points involve the design development of a project. They relate to the areas of study and discovery for the project. Some foci are specific to a site or program. Some foci further investigate design intentions and how they relate to a given program. The links between foci create a place. Each drawing or description of this place is a view into the project. This thesis outlines the origins, focal points and views of a design for a visitors' center located in southwestern Virginia. / Master of Architecture

This thesis paper supports the Artist’s Master of Fine Arts exhibition held at the Tipton Gallery, located in downtown Johnson City TN from November 30, 2015 through January 22, 2016. The works Included in the exhibition consists of a series of mixed media collage paintings, a large scale etching combined with clay and a site specific installation. The Exhibit features work that delves into the concept of nature as a subject of beauty, as well as a symbol of the resiliency of life. The work in this exhibit exposes the separation that exists between humanity and the natural world. Through an exploration of memory the importance of a connection between human beings and nature is revealed. The following further expands upon on the ideas, influences, techniques, and concepts that led to the formation of this exhibit.

Chance and the found object set the stage for artworks that illustrate the clash between the everyman, popular culture and high art. The investigation of my process, surroundings and interests leads to an infinite amount of possibilities in a process that is beginning to eat itself.

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ARTISTBy Matthew Dale Gamble, Master's of Fine ArtA research statement submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master's of Fine Art at Virginia Commonwealth University.Virginia Commonwealth University, 2005Committee Chair: Ruth Bolduan, Associate Professor Painting and PrintmakingIn this paper I start at the very beginning in my life and introduce the reader to my earliest surroundings, the structure of my family life and the dynamic of the individuals involved. I write about the major points of my youth and continue into adulthood, concluding the first chapter with how I came to be here. I than go into my artistic development, major role models, color theory, writings of interest, and my personal theory on art making. I finish the essay with my personal habits and outlook on my future.

I make images that are fragmented like ominous dreams. Described with sensuous marks of paint, they demand intimacy but reveal vulnerability as they threaten to break apart before the eyes. This thesis examines my journey over the past two years at VCU and describes my artistic beliefs and visions.

O objetivo desta tese é construir, através de trabalhos realizados na área de poéticas visuais, uma reflexão que procure compreender como a mulher negra é vista na sociedade brasileira atual e o modo pelo qual as sombras lançadas pela escravidão sobre esta população se refletem nas negrodescendentes ainda hoje, criando e perpetuando locais simbólicos e sociais para este grupo. Este questionamento será realizado tendo como base uma investigação que transita entre diferentes manifestações artísticas, que vão da instalação à gravura, sempre procurando os meios plásticos adequados para a produção das obras que irão tratar do problema. Uma breve análise sobre os motivos que levam à opção por determinados procedimentos técnicos necessários à realização dos trabalhos, a escolha e aplicação de diferentes meios artísticos e suas adaptações ao pensamento visual também fazem parte desta investigação. É ainda intenção do trabalho pensar sobre a forma de apresentação do texto que acompanha as obras produzidas e esclarecer os motivos da eleição por uma escrita de artista para o relato apresentado em conjunto com as imagens executadas. / The goal of this thesis is to offer, through artworks in the field of visual art, a reflection that seeks to comprehend how black women are seen in current Brazilian society and the way that shadows cast by slavery over this population is still reflected in female black descendants today, creating and perpetuating social and symbolic places for that group. This issue will be tackled on the basis of a research that moves across different art forms, ranging from installations to printmaking, and always looks for suitable art materials to produce the works that will address the problem. A brief analysis of the reasons for choosing certain technical procedures necessary to create the artworks, the choice and application of different artistic media, and the adaptation of them to the visual thinking are also part of this investigation. The work is also intended to think about the text format accompanying the artworks and give grounds for plumping for an \"artist writing\" to deliver the reports associated with the images.

Neste projeto pretendo realizar séries de desenhos, gravuras e pinturas tendo o jardim como tema central. Para realizá-lo, buscarei referências em minhas memórias pessoais, particularmente as relacionadas com o pequeno jardim da casa de subúrbio de minha infância, e nos jardins concebidos por poetas e artistas, no que possam ter de pequenos, modestos, delicados e instáveis. Esta impermanência ou efemeridade inerente a este tema será refletida durante a invenção e feitura das obras, através da exploração da instabilidade, dos possíveis limites e fronteiras, passagens e caminhos, afastamentos e aproximações entre a pintura, o desenho e a gravura. / In this project, I intend to perform series of drawings, prints and paintings with the garden as the central theme. To accomplish it, I will look for references in my personal memories, particularly those related to the small garden of the suburban house of my childhood, and in the gardens designed by poets and artists, in what they may have of small, modest, delicate and unstable. This impermanence or ephemerality inherent at this theme will be reflected during the invention and production of the works, through the exploration of the instability and of the possible limits and borders, passages and paths, separations and approximations between painting, drawing and printmaking.

O objetivo desta tese é construir, através de trabalhos realizados na área de poéticas visuais, uma reflexão que procure compreender como a mulher negra é vista na sociedade brasileira atual e o modo pelo qual as sombras lançadas pela escravidão sobre esta população se refletem nas negrodescendentes ainda hoje, criando e perpetuando locais simbólicos e sociais para este grupo. Este questionamento será realizado tendo como base uma investigação que transita entre diferentes manifestações artísticas, que vão da instalação à gravura, sempre procurando os meios plásticos adequados para a produção das obras que irão tratar do problema. Uma breve análise sobre os motivos que levam à opção por determinados procedimentos técnicos necessários à realização dos trabalhos, a escolha e aplicação de diferentes meios artísticos e suas adaptações ao pensamento visual também fazem parte desta investigação. É ainda intenção do trabalho pensar sobre a forma de apresentação do texto que acompanha as obras produzidas e esclarecer os motivos da eleição por uma escrita de artista para o relato apresentado em conjunto com as imagens executadas. / The goal of this thesis is to offer, through artworks in the field of visual art, a reflection that seeks to comprehend how black women are seen in current Brazilian society and the way that shadows cast by slavery over this population is still reflected in female black descendants today, creating and perpetuating social and symbolic places for that group. This issue will be tackled on the basis of a research that moves across different art forms, ranging from installations to printmaking, and always looks for suitable art materials to produce the works that will address the problem. A brief analysis of the reasons for choosing certain technical procedures necessary to create the artworks, the choice and application of different artistic media, and the adaptation of them to the visual thinking are also part of this investigation. The work is also intended to think about the text format accompanying the artworks and give grounds for plumping for an \"artist writing\" to deliver the reports associated with the images.

Neste projeto pretendo realizar séries de desenhos, gravuras e pinturas tendo o jardim como tema central. Para realizá-lo, buscarei referências em minhas memórias pessoais, particularmente as relacionadas com o pequeno jardim da casa de subúrbio de minha infância, e nos jardins concebidos por poetas e artistas, no que possam ter de pequenos, modestos, delicados e instáveis. Esta impermanência ou efemeridade inerente a este tema será refletida durante a invenção e feitura das obras, através da exploração da instabilidade, dos possíveis limites e fronteiras, passagens e caminhos, afastamentos e aproximações entre a pintura, o desenho e a gravura. / In this project, I intend to perform series of drawings, prints and paintings with the garden as the central theme. To accomplish it, I will look for references in my personal memories, particularly those related to the small garden of the suburban house of my childhood, and in the gardens designed by poets and artists, in what they may have of small, modest, delicate and unstable. This impermanence or ephemerality inherent at this theme will be reflected during the invention and production of the works, through the exploration of the instability and of the possible limits and borders, passages and paths, separations and approximations between painting, drawing and printmaking.