Master of Fine Arts

thesisMaster of ArtsArt/Art HistoryExhibiting work has to do with communication. Like the Berkeley illustration of a tree falling in the forest, a receiver must be present in order for the sound to be heard. In the sharing of the work is the desire to communicate the experience. My Master of Fine Arts graduate exhibition consists of two large murals, six works on paper, three works on stretched canvas, and two pieces on Masonite board. A variety of traditional drawing and painting media have been worked together: acrylic, charcoal, and ink, while oil paint, paint sticks, and oil pastels are most dominant. To accompany the work in Gittins Gallery, I installed pieces of furniture offering some places for visitors to sit and spend time and to suggest a sense of intimate domesticity. At one end of the gallery sits a worn love seat and at the opposite end of the gallery is a small single tapestry-covered chair. Placed beneath the wall statement is a small table draped with a lace doilie and topped with a chrome toaster. This body of work evolved from a process that has led me to learn to trust my imagination and memory, accompanied by observation. Different kinds of accuracies were revealed through the process. Natural exaggerations emerged, and I was excited with the configurations when they worked; that is to say, when the paintings felt right in their power to express a humanness. I felt several polarities as the work advanced and a great deal of uncertainty accompanied the experience. It is this transience that makes the encounter so intriguing. What I have discovered is that working from imagination and observation parallels my interest in people whose connections and separations are made up of inner and outer realities. This is the foundation of my work