The visual consistency of branding makes a significant difference when successfully introduced to another culture. My study focuses on how to facilitate a smooth visual transition in western branding from Latin letters to Chinese characters. To move beyond traditional Chinese type design, Visual Translation introduces a new method for designing Chinese typefaces using existing Latin typefaces. This web-based educational tool seeks to help Chinese graphic design students and type enthusiasts, with emphasis on designers who are working in a cross-cultural environment to maintain visual consistency for branding.

When Christian artwork expanded into the grand, newly constructed Christian basilicas of the fourth century, new iconography emerged. The apse was a focal point of the basilicas interior and provided a novel space for artistic decoration. The church of Santa Pudenziana, located in Rome, contains the earliest surviving apse decoration in a Christian basilica. Shown here is a depiction of Christ surrounded by his apostles. This figural arrangement is familiar because of previously established pagan and Christian imagery. However, at S. Pudenziana, and for the first time in Christian art, four angelic figures and the Heavenly Jerusalem appear in the background of Christ enthroned with his apostles. Therefore, a new message is being portrayed. This thesis examines the origin, iconography, and content of this complex, multi-layered composition, and places the S. Pudenziana mosaic within a wider art-historical context. Through each chapters discussion it will become clear that S. Pudenzianas apsidal decoration was shaped by contemporary Christian doctrine, an understanding of Old and New Testament scriptures, and historical circumstances of the Christian church in the late fourth and early fifth century.

The public saw the wars in Iraq (2003 2012) and Afghanistan (2001 present) through the lens of reverence and sentimentality toward the soldier. This was manifest not simply in the catchy support our troops rhetoric, but in the one-sided depiction of the experience of battle by the photojournalists who worked for the major news organizations in the Western world. From the emotionally bloated to the nationalistic, the photographs taken by embedded photojournalists, whether the result of heavy-handed censorship or merely political influence, presented a consistent image: the soldier as a selfless victim of his or her own heroism. This practice stands in stark contrast to the coverage and reception of the soldiers who fought in Vietnam, and who were often pictured and treated as inhumane and malicious. This paper argues that while the strong public opposition to involvement in Vietnam was largely contingent upon the images that portrayed the soldier as an unethical and malignant presence, the lessons from Vietnam were, in this case, learned by the government and media organizations that sought to justify the similar invasive presence of soldiers in the Middle East. By comparing the common themes and iconic photographs from the war in Vietnam with those from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this paper shows how the newly established cult of the soldier attempted to instill public support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while more critical and violent images, which formerly helped to galvanize opposition, were edited out

My work attempts to express personal experiences and external observations of the present day western female ethos. Through visual depictions of forms with mixed media, my paintings convey females exposing themselves as sexual beings yet displaced in reality, as the illusion of their character is a projection based on environment and other people. Dressed in intimate garments with different hairstyles or wigs, I reference myself and create various extensions of my persona. Through these facades I investigate aspects of womanhood dictated by a cultural paradigm. I aim to create sexually charged scenes and explore the concept of perception, the internal sense of self, and the external projection of ones sexual identity. Lingerie and other gender specific attire are used to express inherent sexual promiscuity and vanity. They mask individuality while enabling women to assume a role, playing into a need of feeling desired. Women in a way objectify themselves in this regard as a form of empowerment. With little or no focus on physical features, emphasis is placed on the body and its gesture. As women are expected to be graceful, elegant, and alluring, I contradict this through an awkward pose or one that may reveal insecurity. A power exchange exists between the figures despite any indication of their relationship. Fixed within invented and abstracted spaces, interplay between chaos and harmony surrounds the figures. Intense and absurd colors evoke a sense of anxiety and sexual tension. I apply paint in a direct and impulsive way allowing erratic mark marking to comprise the forms, which gives the paintings an in the moment quality. Through painting, I question the notion of sexiness and attraction and the extent women will undergo to feel desirable. I explore the contradictions of physical appearances and the internal awareness of true self. I hope to infer substance and depth that goes beyond what is seen on the surface and signify the differences between outward and inward perception.

Secor, Michael, B.A. Art, Centre College, 2006 Master of Fine Arts, Spring Commencement, 2012 Studio Art Color Locality Thesis directed by Professor John Malveto Pages in thesis, 10. Words in abstract, 188. ABSTRACT I go outside to make small drawings and sketches of the local landscapes. My paintings are created in my studio. I use the lines and shapes from the drawings as a guide in making a design of color and space. This practice allows me to relate my enjoyment of the outdoors to my interest in color relationships. It is very important to me to spend time outside, to interact with the natural environment, when so much of a persons time is spent in a man-made setting. Living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana I have found two locations that reveal these two situations encountering one another. The I-10 Bridge that crosses the Mississippi River downtown and the I-10 overpass that goes through the City Park Lake are man-made forms in a natural environment. I wanted to paint about the relationship between the man-made structures and the environment in which they exist. As well, I wanted to paint in response to my physical and visual connection to these places. The paintings show spaces and objects that are important to me, while also demonstrating an understanding of color, paint, and design.

The boxing paintings and drawings are not about fighting as much as they are about the fighters existence. Many of the images show the boxer training or in an isolated environment in order to show how methodical their lives become. I see boxers as sacrificial athletes, not only because their health is at risk, but also because they must separate themselves from loved ones during training, as well as abstain from certain foods in order to maintain a certain weight. Every boxer is an underdog, in a sense. They are all at risk of losing something, whether it is their current fight, or their physical ability, which will decline with age. I dont believe that a person can watch a boxing match without considering his own mortality. Each boxer, like every person, has his own limitations. The fighters in the gym are trying to strengthen what is weak, whether its their body, their skill-set, their strategy, etc. Every person, and fighter, has his own Achilles heel.

On January 12, 2010, the world was stunned when a massive earthquake struck Haiti. Following the crisis, author Jeremy Rifkin described the collective spirit that developed worldwide as mans transformation into Homo empathicus. The social state described by Rifkin is one in which individuals leave behind their differences and rally around the common humanity that unites all humans. Despite proclamations of the earthquakes ability to create a sense of equality among all people, the images coming from Haiti only added to the countrys lengthy list of ailments. The spectacle surrounding the earthquake was unsuccessful in generating equality, but instead, further reinforced Haitis status as a nation to be pitied. By looking closer at forms of collaboration believed to produce democratic engagement, it becomes clear that these interactions can be more harmful than once believed. The 2011 Ghetto Biennale located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is one such event. The Haitian sculptural collective Atis Rezistans, hosted the event and invited artists into their neighborhood to experience the conditions they work under every day. The biennials title, A Salon des Refusés for the 21st Century, and its subsequent tag line, What happens when First World Art rubs up against the Third World art? Does it bleed? set the tone for the event. The Ghetto Biennales proposed question reveals a belief that the practice of relational aesthetics is a form of democratic engagement. Relational aesthetics purports that radical spaces of equality are created by simply bringing individuals together in the already-available networks of social interaction. The utopian agendas of many contemporary art biennials idealize the practice of relational aesthetics because they are believed to transform the limitations of social interaction into points of access within the existing networks of communication. This thesis will contest these claims by showing that the 2011 Ghetto Biennale projects did not fight, but further reaffirmed, stereotypes against Haiti. This argument will not entirely condemn the Ghetto Biennale, but will propose that a redefinition of the art biennials purpose in society be considered to address its current social justice ineffectiveness.

Hasan, Salima, B.F.A, University of South Alabama, 2009. Master of fine Art, spring commencement, 2012. Major: Studio Art, painting and drawing. Permitted Memories and Ornamentation. Thesis directed by professor Denyce Celentano. Pages in thesis, 18, word in abstract, 116. ABSTRACT My thesis project is a collection of paintings and drawings that juxtapose iconic Islamic ornamentation with portraits of members of my family, both living and dead. The creation of images of living beings, particularly people, has long been banned in Islam and, as a result, the faces of my loved ones have long lived only in my memory. For my sake and theirs, I have liberated them onto the canvas, combining them with the intricate patterns of my youth. In doing so, I drew upon influences from renowned portrait painters such as Rembrandt, Lucian Freud, and Celia Paul. The result is both immediate and nostalgic, abstract and concrete: a combination uncommon in Islamic art.

The photographs in the series From Here to There are not a description of a place; instead, the images are about engaging in a particular type of looking. Elements of here and time are included in the work; by photographing a moment that will never exist again, transitory objects are imbued with importance. A tree branch drifts, a puddle evaporates, and light shifts, slowly, but immediately. In the midst of this change, my photographs represent specific moments. Integral to the work is the act of finding the photograph, as is the act of framing, taking, and making the photograph. Each decision informs an image, and each image in turn informs a group of images. Although the images appear simple at first, the longer the viewer spends with the images, the more complicated the imagery becomes. The more connections the viewer finds, the more rewarding the act of looking becomes.

North to South is a series of photographs that reflect ideas of home and community. The images and video components depict portraits of my neighbors taken over the last two years. The individuals I photographed were crucial to my process, for with their help and a simple homemade photo booth, I found a home here in the south.