My thesis is made up of words and images. This study investigates the way in which silence operates productively within and between the two modes of communication. I suggest that in the process of changing words into images or scripto-visual art-practice, the silence in women's lives can be articulated. I argue that women draw on the generative qualities of silence to create forms of speech that override the cultural constructions of gender which have placed them within the space of ‘mute’ silence. To gain an historical perspective of this practice by women, I consider the lives of medieval nuns within religious enclosure and their work with words and images in the illuminated manuscript. I make a comparative study of original illuminated manuscripts, focussing mainly on visual language and locating aspects of the work closest to my own art-practice: the visual treatment of the space and inter-textual components of the page or folio. This project does not include an examination of miniatures or historiated initials. Rather, its aim is to identify and compare the use of other aesthetic devices available to the medieval scribe/artist through which they might have interacted with the text. I suggest links between verbal and visual performances of language and the repetition, or copying of texts by medieval nuns, as a means of female embodiment of words and their spaces. From the outcomes of my studio investigations and my consideration of other contemporary feminist art practices, I demonstrate how women artists may ‘re-write’ the text and ‘speak’ their silence through visual language and the acts of writing, drawing and painting the words of others. Through my engagement with feminist critical theory, the work of medieval scholars, original illuminated manuscripts and my studio research, I propose that scripto-visual practice remains particularly significant for women despite the differences between the medieval period and our own. As a generative practice, it negotiates some of the societal constraints on women's speech and visibility, because its language is ‘silent and disembodied’ from the image of woman constructed by male discourse. It is a form of speech that acknowledges as it defies the social and cultural conditions that shaped its necessity, articulating an alternative voice of women in the space of words and images.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Also available in print.

Renew thyself completely each day; do it again, and again, and forever again.Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go There You AreThe above quotation sums up my feelings about this thesis. By reviewing my life I feel a sense of renewal. I think that my memories are true and accurate. My story certainly is a living memory of my time. I have found that in telling my story I have purged myself of much of my past and refreshed myself in mind and spirit.I start my story by reviewing the three artists who have influenced my work over the past two years, Squeak Carnwath, Jean Hammond and Nancy Spero.I then give a chronological resume of my life to date: my time as a mother, teacher and artist. I describe some of my earlier works together with the moods and emotions which accompanied them. The latter part of the chapter deals with my life in the United States and how my work is developing and the many influences which are helping in this process.In Chapter 3, I talk about my imagery and my latest thoughts as an artist, and go on to describe the paintings which make up the exhibition which accompanies this thesis.Finally, I have attempted to evaluate the fragments of my life, fragments which make up the whole. This is my catharsis. I have released much of myself and my inhibitions. I have absorbed a variety of stimuli and felt a multitude of sensations. My emotions have ebbed to and fro, and in retelling my story I have renewed myself. / Department of Art

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2008. / Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 71 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 221-228). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Kent State University, 2010. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Apr. 28, 2010). Advisor: Fred Smith. Keywords: Uli; Igbo; Nigeria; body painting; wall painting; Nsukka; traditional women painters. Includes bibliographical references (p.101-105).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin, 1976. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-121).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Dept. of Art and Art History and Center for Religious Studies. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2005. / "A dissertation in art history and religious studies." Advisor: Maude Southwell Wahlman. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed Jan. 29, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 354-398). Online version of the print edition.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 221-228). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 270-276). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.