Date of Award

5-7-2016

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

Art and Design

First Advisor

Pamela Longobardi

Second Advisor

William Downs

Third Advisor

Craig Drennen

Fourth Advisor

Katherine Taylor

Fifth Advisor

Daniel Weiskopf

Abstract

My thesis exhibition Double Distance is an installation of paintings and sculptures exploring my changing relationship with myself and with my mother as she succumbs to a degenerative brain disease. Through the intersection of surrogate life-size figures made from found objects alongside and within paintings of hugging bodies, the exhibition reveals the simultaneous enmeshment and separation that occurs in caring for my mother. In repeating similar figures within and outside the painted surface, the exhibition reflects on the act of caregiving and the desire to reproduce what is loved and that which has been lost. The works included in the exhibition not only serve as preemptive memorials to my mother, but they also stand as monuments to resilience. The resulting exhibition Double Distance highlights the challenges of holding on and how sculpture and painting can serve as proxies for reconnection.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/8514067

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