Embodying Simultaneity Presenting the Body as a Whole
Date
2020-05
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Abstract
This paper serves as a dissection of my work and studio practice, discussing process, materials, concepts, ideas, and significance. My sculptural practice embodies personal psychological and physical experiences, bridging the connections between the interior and exterior body, public and private space, and vulnerability. The essences of events and moments, emotions and physical responses are materialized through clay, relying on memory and intuition. The simultaneity of internal and external exposures of the body is presented as a whole. Body is all-encompassing, referring to both the physical and mental attributes of the individual. Abstraction allows elements of the physical and mental body to coexist visually. Emotional turmoil is rooted in dualities, contradictions, conflicting ideas, and anxiety—caught in a state of ambivalence, represented through ambiguous expression in abstracted sculptures, residing within the grotesque. Working in the realm of body, flesh and blood is a way of claiming power and humanizing one’s own body. Material choices, aesthetics, ambivalence and its significance align within feminist ideologies and lay within the canon of contemporary artists.
Description
Thesis completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Fine Arts degree in the School of Art and Design at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, NY.
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Thesis
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MFA thesis, female artist, abstract, internal body, external body, Ceramics