Publication Date

1-1-2018

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Labatte, Jessica

Degree Name

M.F.A. (Master of Fine Arts)

Legacy Department

School of Art

Abstract

Fresh Out explores the infinite and indefinable world of femininity. Portraits, still lifes, and installation materials work together to investigate gender performance, power structures, and pleasure paradoxes. Within staged scenes of domestic arrangements and female bodies, a synchronicity between disturbance and enchantment is created. I define pleasure paradoxes in accordance to this synchronicity; an interest that both repulses, embarrasses, or disturbs you, while also excites and intrigues. When I think of these guilty pleasures, I immediately think of gender. I explore objectification, control, and sex positivity through my portraits of females; but there is a push and pull between silliness and seriousness. By constructing objects and set-ups in a playful, colorful, childlike manner, I drawn attention to how we are raised to be female; how that dictates the ways we perceive and conduct our adult selves according to our gender. In my images, I am exploring historical elements in femininity like art history, myth, and familial traditions; while also exploring contemporary themes in popular culture, social media, and activism. Within the frame, a discontinuity between comprehension and reaction is created. Because of the seemingly playful but disrupting objects and poses, more and more layers of understanding and language is created as individuals project their own experiences of femininity into the composition.

Comments

MFA committee chair: Jessica Labatte MFA committee members: Nina Rizzo, Rebecca Houze, Jamie Obermeier

Extent

51 pages; 47 images

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement 2

CC BY-NC-ND

Alt Title

Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition

Media Type

Image||Text

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