Add to ORKGThe written portion of my thesis explores the personal ideas, historical background, and creative context for a body of abstract paintings created for my MFA thesis exhibition at the Weatherspoon Art Museum. This body of work comes from an investigation into the language of painting, the differences between the image and the painting object, consciousness and illusion, the relationship of pleasure to viewing, and how much of a painting's communication comes from its history and context. The paintings are objects made from wood, canvas, acrylic, enamel, and epoxy resin. Their meaning comes from the tensions between painting as a material object, as a way of creating illusionist space, and as an experience of the artist and viewer's visual th...