Thesis--Bonn. / Vita. Bibliography: p. 257-279.

Thesis--Bonn. / Vita. Bibliography: p. 257-279.

Thesis (MA) --University of Melbourne, School of Culture and Communication, 2010. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-110)

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Arts. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Fine Arts. Johannesburg 1996 / Likeness is a central issue to the tradition of portrait painting. This dissertation examines the notion of likeness in some contemporary high portrait painting. Likeness is viewed as constructed socially through the complex relations between artist, sitter and viewer. Faced with the problematic notions of realism and naturalism and their philosophical ramifications, the dissertation confronts the question of What in our world can be regarded as natural or given, and what is constructed or acquired. The discussion, framed by the debate set up between Nelson Goodman and E.H. Gombrich, leads to the conclusion that the 'natural' and the 'real' are not neutral, they are highly constructed. The dIfferences between various conventions; various ways of representing others, are extrapolated from the debate, and once acknowledged. the final position taken is a less linear conventionalist stance. The constructed nature of likeness is tested against the portraits by American artist, Andy Warhol and British artist. Lucian Freud, contemporary painters working in direct antithesis to one another. The aim is to show that both of their portrait likenesses. whether private or public, painterly Or mechanical, are embedded within socially constructed conventions. Recognition of 'the conventions can guide the viewer in deconstructing the work and locating the meaning. I discuss my own work in relation to the contents of this dissertation.

Thèse--Université de Paris. / "Bibliographie": p. [183]-186.

Portrait painting is an art form that has been used by artists for years. I am using the portrait to convey a story. The story follows a boy's process of becoming a man. The discovery of old family photographs initially inspired the project. The rite of passage theme stems from this inquiry into the process of growing up. Several artists inspired my work in the formal and conceptual aspects of my portraits. Those artists include Paula Rego, Chuck Close, and Robert Henri. "Rites of passage" is a phrase that carries with it many meanings and issues. This creative project is both a consideration of the rites of passage theme and an investigation of the painted portrait. / Department of Art

The subject of this dissertation is female self-portraiture in Australia of the interwar years, 1918 to 1939. The primary concern of this thesis is to consider self-portraiture as a conceptual process. Self-portrayal is understood as an act of cultural invention rather than an unmediated access to an essential core self. It is this invention and what is entailed in the process of self-imagining, rather than any formal analysis of the style, which is of greatest concern. (For complete abstract open document)

Thesis (MFA)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2008. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sara Mast.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Delaware, 2008. / Principal faculty advisor: Wendy Bellion, Dept. of Art History. Includes bibliographical references.

International Passports: Portraits of the Nigerian Diaspora considers notions of 'alienation‘ and 'nation-hood‘ through the lens of portraiture. This dissertation addresses issues of identity and representation in a contemporary cultural context as they pertain to the concerns presented through my current visual practice. The paintings that I have produced from 'real‘ life are primarily depictions of Nigerian individuals, friends and acquaintances (professionals and students) residing in Grahamstown, South Africa as temporary or permanent migrants. I reference the mug shot pose of identity documents and passport photographs and render them in such a way that ideas of their persona are subject to the viewer‘s gaze and deliberations, thus provoking the spectator to consider questions of 'otherness‘ and 'stereotypes‘. This provocation is subtle and complex, and in many ways I am offering the viewer a 're-looking‘, an opportunity to examine one‘s moral position and subsequent implication within the act of stereotyping an 'other‘ individual. The initial idea within this body of work was to paint images of Nigerian nationals exclusively, yet the restrictive nature of such categorization pushed me to complicate certain nationalist ideologies through the inclusion of non-Nigerian individuals. I look specifically at notions of the 'other‘ and 'strangeness‘ in a contemporary South African context and how this connects to the concept of portraiture and not simply portraiture theory but also the social theory in relation to how people are 'imaged‘. Throughout this thesis I consider several theoretical concerns in portraiture practice and discourse whilst simultaneously unpacking the psychological and social contexts that influence my practice.