This arts-based thesis is a culmination of how I explore the condition of being mortal through artwork which includes the use of animal bones and religion. This examination will determine how my future art curriculum may help students think in personal and spiritual which provides critical thinking and personal growth.

This dissertation examines the development of Henri Laurens' artistic work from 1915 to his death in 1954. It is divided into four sections: from 1915 to 1922, 1924 to 1929, 1930 to 1939 and 1939 to 1954. There are several threads that run through the dissertation. Where relevant, the influence of poetry on his work is discussed. His work is also analyzed in relation to that of the Parisian avant-garde. The first section discusses his early Cubist work. Initially it reflected the cosmopolitan influences in Paris. With the continuation of the war, his work showed the influence both of Leonce Rosenberg's 'school' of Cubism and the literary subject of contemporary Paris. The second section considers Laurens' work in relation to the expanding art market. Laurens gained a number of public commissions as well as many ones for private clients. Being site specific, all the works were different. The different needs of architectural sculpture as opposed to studio sculpture are discussed, as is his use of materials. Although the situation was not easy for avant-garde sculptors, Laurens became well respected through exposure in magazines and exhibitions. The third section considers Laurens in relation to the depression and the changing political scene. Like many of the avant-garde, he had left wing tendencies, which found form in various projects, including producing a sculpture for the Ecole Karl Marx at Villejuif. Patronage virtually ceased. However, Laurens was frequently included in articles in avant-garde journals and exhibited widely. The fourth section begins with the war. Laurens continued to live and work in Paris but was not included in official exhibitions. After the war, the press and State, which had largely disregarded members of the tcole de Paris, reversed this trend. As well as revisiting old sculptural themes, Laurens illustrated a number of books.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 11). / iv, 32 leaves, bound col. photos. 29 cm

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 23). / iv, 23 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Abstract This project was in the Dorothy Somerset Studios on the University of British Columbia Campus during the week of April 14th till the 20th, 2008. I was advised by Professor Alison Green and Professor Richard Prince. The project’s title was When I’m in it… . It consisted of three groupings of sculptures set within the black box theatre space (see Illus. 1A, B and C). The Pattern Bubbles sculpture consisted of hollow tissue balls suspended from the ceiling, each containing a small and suspended object. These bubbles were suspended in a line, at different heights, and they were lit from within (see Illus. 2A and B). The entire theatre space was also lit using the lights on the grid in the theatre. A Silhouetted Cast consisted of Styrofoam cutouts shaped like dress forms covered with muslin and padding (see Illus. 3A, B and C). These cutouts were about 4ft X 2ft X 3inches. On one side I had a mixed media collage of imagery pinned to the muslin covering and on the other side were phrases stenciled right onto the muslin. These forms stood on the floor atop actual iron dress form stands. There were eight of these silhouettes, each one representing a character from a theatre production for which I had designed the costumes and the information on each one came from that experience. Costume Aprons, the final sculpture in the space, was also suspended from the ceiling. It had eight aprons made from cottons, silks and burlap hanging from a laundry carousel. The aprons were hung from the lines with silver bulldog stationary clips. I had hand-embroidered words on the aprons using embroidery threads of many different colors. In the pocket of each of the aprons was the title page from a script on blue paper (see Illus. 4A, B, C, and D). The black curtains were drawn around the square perimeter of the theatre stage, and you could still see the audience seating and the theatre booth. There was a soundtrack playing constantly within the space.

The contemporary visual landscape can be seen as a continuously shifting experience of surfaces. Synthetic, glossy, reflective, transparent, flexible and colour saturated. We find them often in the form of architectural facades, automotive finishes, interior fabrications, printed materials and design objects. They are rich, seductive and desirable skins on the surface of everyday items. / Within recent contemporary visual art practice, and particularly certain nonobjective painting practices, there can be seen to be an engagement with the idea of surface as it relates to aspects of the 'everyday'. These artists are often incorporating 'new' materials and methods of making that actively respond to what is out there in our lived urban environment. They share a concern for rigorous play with an attention to surface quality, functionality, materiality and manipulability. Contemporary artists such as Thomas Rentmeister, Ian Davenport or Jessica Stockholder, to name just a few, could be seen to fit here. On the function of paint and surface Stockholder writes: The paint functions both to alter existing surfaces and as a very flat object in its own right placed over or alongside other objects. The surface of the object conceals the mass of the object from us; it is also the part of the object revealed to our sight, it is an area where we are vulnerable to deception and also a site poignantly ripe for the development of fiction. The surface becomes a tenuous site where fiction and reality struggle with notions of subjectivity and objectivity to find boundaries or to determine difference. / Stockholder talks here about the fundamental ability of paint to alter the visual and tactile characteristics of the 'thing' being painted, making its reality somewhat indeterminate by imposing a different quality. She speaks about paint in terms of surface substance, surface quality and surface manipulation. Paint is a substance separate from the object it is applied to; like a skin yet capable of transforming its visual and tactile presence in extreme ways, rendering the object less certain. It is this potential of paint as a plastic material capable of contradictory functions that underlies this research project and defines my use of the term 'uncertainty' in the title of my thesis. / Surface - as a kind of fluid, organic, and mobile skin applied over a structure or even as 'structure' itself - can be seen to be a key operative concern within several important architecture and design practices of the past ten years. This development is itself influenced largely by the potential of recent technological developments in software design tools and new materials and manufacturing techniques, which now enable complex, topographically located objects and structures to be readily designed and manufactured. / My research set out to focus mainly on recent comtemporary painting, sculpture and installation practices which, through the use of new materials and methods of making, engage primarily with the manipulation of a surface in a way that emphasises a largely visual engagement with the work. The exegesis will look at the historical relationship of such work to a largely modernist tradition of material-based practice, in an attempt to suggest there exists today a particular attitude that has a positive and openly indexical relationship to the surfaces of our everyday urban environment. This will be supported and extended by references made to particular contemporary design and architectural practices that share concerns for uncertain surfaces or surfaces that suggest ambiguity and flux. / The major focus of my research into this topic has been the development in the studio of a body of artefacts that have been exhibited at various points during my candidature. The written exegesis attempts to position these studio artefacts within a wider critical/cultural context, through discussion of the studio work as situated in relation to ideas and works developed largely by other visual artists, but also by designers and architects which share similar concerns and aesthetic sensibilities with the particular notion of surface that I am attempting to define. / Thesis (MVisualArts) - University of South Australia, 2004.

My Master of Fine Arts research project focuses on installation and sculpture that embodies the themes of Buddhism and War. My artwork examines how the two themes interact and influence each other. Making art, for me, is an intensely personal process of rediscovering myself. The project is an attempt to create a visual conversation between my personal experiences, memories and imagination. In particular, I explore the collective memory of the people of Hue in relation to the immediate past, and the longer historical heritage of the city and the region. Chapter One provides a background to my personal experiences of growing up in Hue, Vietnam, during a time of war. This is a relevant starting point as these experiences have shaped my life and my art practice. This chapter begins with my childhood and charts my journey into art education. Visual art is the form and methodology by which I can best express my thoughts, dreams, and reflections. Through sculpture I can share my own vision and thoughts with people from different cultural backgrounds, ideally reaching beyond existing socio-cultural boundaries. It is a personal journey that has led me toward the path of re-discovering my inner world and awakening a forward-looking perspective. Chapter Two explores the influence Buddhist philosophy has on my art practice. This chapter also discusses the work of four contemporary artists who are primarily concerned with themes of Buddhism and war. Through this research I explore how the philosophy of Buddhism gave me a new perspective on how an artist can live completely in the present, while building a bridge between the past and the future through creative practice. Buddhism is a process of everyday transformation; in practice it is an attempt to forge new beginnings in every facet of daily life. Chapter Three discusses my earlier sculpture and installation artworks. I then examine how this led me to collaborate with other international contemporary artists who share a common aesthetic or theme. Chapter Four examines my current art practice and discuss how I see it shaping my future art practice.

ABSTRACT This Project is a sculptural and spatial response to the concept of the Are Korero (house of history and learning) within the Paepae Ariki, Taputapuatea. In considering the philosophical and cultural basis that might encourage structure, the project investigates the re introduction of tribal art that might assist cultural revival and security, this tribal structure providing a platform and focus for its expression. The implications of such a proposition are twofold, on the one hand, the revivification of innovative, ancient cultural expressions to assist the concepts progress, and on the other, the realisation of a Pacific architecture to confirm, actuate and create, a new Polynesian reality. The thesis is 80% practice based work, accompanied by 20% exegesis.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-72).