From Introduction: Creative images which are normally called 'art' can be distinguished as either 'plastic' or visual. Both these forms throughout the history of art have relied to a greater or lesser degree on the use of colour. It is my intention to investigate specifically the changing role which colour has played in sculpture - the 'plastic' media of the visual arts and to chart the technical and aesthetic reasons for the use of colour. This investigation will encompass the historical perspective, the material qualities, aesthetic considerations, transitional codes and methods of approach in sociological frameworks and the examination of colour as a metaphysical element in the presentation of three dimensional media.

M.Tech. / My research investigates how modularity, repetition and material choices are employed as strategies in the work of selected South African sculptors, Willem Boshoff, Paul Edmunds and Alan Alborough. My argument is that these three strategies are purposefully used by the artists in the construction of their sculpture and that they create the intrinsic meaning of the works. Self-reflexivity is a major focus of this study that is central to the construction of intrinsic meaning embodied in each of the aforementioned strategies. I postulate that an obsessive focus characterises the repetition of modular materials in the production of the works. Obsessive focus is highlighted as a positive characteristic that enhances the reading of the work and is a direct result of the methodology employed by the artists. I analyse how each of the strategies manifests itself in specific works by these artists and how precursors can be found for the strategies in works by other local and international artists, particularly Tom Friedman, Tara Donovan, Tony Cragg and David Mach. This context allows for the close visual analysis of selected works within a postmodern paradigm. I acknowledge extrinsic readings of works as relevant to analysis of the works but focus my investigation on the intrinsic meanings generated by the three strategies. Once these strategies have been investigated, I am able to determine 2ow I deploy these strategies in my own work. This necessitates an explication of my practice through a close visual analysis.

This thesis is for a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture.

The group of works that I am presenting as my Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition is a selection of my best work from the past three years. It is made up of two different artistic forms: fairly small sculptures comprised of aluminum channel and plexiglas, on the one hand, and lithographs and watercolors, on the other.

This thesis sets out to explore the influences on and meaning of early imperial female portrait sculpture and statues of Aphrodisias in Asia Minor. This group is unlike any other. There survives a rich amount of contextual evidence as well as some unique portraits with unusual features. They appeared at a time of social change for women and as the first images of imperial wives and mothers emerged from Rome. Local artists exploited this imagery in the city of Aphrodite, the ultimate mother of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. These portraits have only ever been studied as part of the corpus of statues that includes those of males; as a homogenous group with little new to say. In the home of the most significant mother of the time, I propose that the portraits disproportionately emphasise motherhood and reflect the new-found power enjoyed by some of the earliest empresses. Emerging theories surrounding gender in the ancient world and an art-historical approach have highlighted inconsistencies and inadequacies in former arguments and methodologies dealing with material of this kind. In response, this thesis applies new theories, considering the role of gender with a close examination of iconography and social and political factors to develop an unbiased and objective approach, free from preconceptions and entirely based on the evidence. The stripping away of previous assumptions has necessitated a reassessment of ancient portraits of both sexes which is tackled in Chapter One. After an assessment of the special circumstances of early imperial Aphrodisias in Chapter Two, the thesis then interprets material by grouping portraits apparently influenced by Rome in Chapter Three, and those which seemingly do not in Chapter Four. In each case, I show how each individual portrait expresses its own unique message of sometimes unexpected values.

This thesis examines a Roman marble pinax in the collection of the Blanton Museum of Art (accession number 1981.96). Much of the most recent scholarship on pinakes has utilized a catalogue approach, wherein only the most essential information on a vast number of objects is given, followed by a cursory interpretation. While this method is useful for its recording and comparative advantages, the in-depth examination of a single pinax I utilize allows me to determine instead the role and function of a pinax within a Roman household. Following a formal and iconographical analysis, I suggest a possible reconstruction of the pinax’s missing half, with a maenad on one side and the chariot of Achilles on the other, which provides a fuller picture of this particular pinax. An examination of Roman sculptural traditions and workshops as well as the tool marks and stylistic properties evident in the pinax indicate a creation date in the second half of the first century A.D. and a potential provenance at Pompeii. I indicate that pinakes were part of a cohesive visual program of sculptural works in the peristyle garden through an examination of the material evidence of oscilla, herms, and masks with which pinakes were found and the wall paintings in which they all coexist. My final section deals with the ultimate function of this visual program: to express the high social standing of the house owner by communicating his likeness to a god. This phenomenon utilizes the visual language of the emperor under the changing social structure of the Empire, setting up the owner of the home as both emperor and deity in his own home. / text

This thesis examines a Roman marble pinax in the collection of the Blanton Museum of Art (accession number 1981.96). Much of the most recent scholarship on pinakes has utilized a catalogue approach, wherein only the most essential information on a vast number of objects is given, followed by a cursory interpretation. While this method is useful for its recording and comparative advantages, the in-depth examination of a single pinax I utilize allows me to determine instead the role and function of a pinax within a Roman household. Following a formal and iconographical analysis, I suggest a possible reconstruction of the pinax’s missing half, with a maenad on one side and the chariot of Achilles on the other, which provides a fuller picture of this particular pinax. An examination of Roman sculptural traditions and workshops as well as the tool marks and stylistic properties evident in the pinax indicate a creation date in the second half of the first century A.D. and a potential provenance at Pompeii. I indicate that pinakes were part of a cohesive visual program of sculptural works in the peristyle garden through an examination of the material evidence of oscilla, herms, and masks with which pinakes were found and the wall paintings in which they all coexist. My final section deals with the ultimate function of this visual program: to express the high social standing of the house owner by communicating his likeness to a god. This phenomenon utilizes the visual language of the emperor under the changing social structure of the Empire, setting up the owner of the home as both emperor and deity in his own home. / text

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