Date of Graduation

7-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts in Art (MFA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Art

Advisor/Mentor

Sam King

Committee Member

David Andree

Second Committee Member

Abra Levenson

Third Committee Member

Marc Ethan Mitchell

Keywords

Art, Landscape, Painting, Phenomenology, Poetics

Abstract

The Branch on Which the Blossom Hangs is a body of paintings which address the relationship between landscape or physical presence and the primary experiences of emotion and perception. Through this examination of phenomenology and the malleability of the perceptual apparatus, the paintings express my feeling of dislocation caused by a cycle between depression, dissociation, and mental well-being. They question how an individual relates to their environment. The paintings seek to elicit the allusive and embodied qualities of poetry, framing and evoking a broader experience without defining it. By using the recognizable visual language of landscape, abstracted to the point of familiarity if not identifiability, and immersive, human scale, the works envelop the viewer in a space in which they cannot comfortably situate themselves. This elusive quality is vital – to accurately express these fluctuating states, they must balance a sense of both distance and belonging.

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