Date of Award

5-1-2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

Art and Design

First Advisor

Wesley Harvey

Second Advisor

Nedda Ahmed

Third Advisor

Jill Frank

Fourth Advisor

Katherine Cunningham

Abstract

Before women went to work in factories during World War 2, the domestic sphere was a woman’s place. Although we are now free to venture beyond the four walls of our homes, other barriers, in the form of beauty standards and internalized expectations of femininity, control us and keep us in our place. Decorum explores the tumultuous relationship that I and many women experience with our bodies as we navigate our beauty-obsessed culture. These ceramic sculptures use distorted, fragmented, and abstracted feminine forms to illustrate the ways we restrict and contort our bodies to achieve impossible beauty ideals. Imagery referencing clothing, cosmetics, diet, weight loss and domestic decor prompts us to consider our ideas of beauty, their origins, and their effects.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/37003039

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