Existentialism and Creative Practice

Author

Catherine HudgensFollow

Date of Graduation

5-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Art

Advisor/Mentor

Andree, David

Committee Member/Reader

Springer, Bethany

Committee Member/Second Reader

Lee, Richard

Committee Member/Third Reader

Sakon, Josh

Abstract

The creative process mimics the existentialist philosophy of human freedom and the responsibility to create one’s own meaning in life through an emphasis on invention, experimentation, and ceaseless becoming. Through my body of work, I examine the meaning-giving capacities of the viewer and creator as agents involved in a work of art. The sculptures, as well as found objects, have the power to illuminate the human circumstances they emerged from, while the process of making is also the process of learning, where objects can be used to understand ourselves and the world. Philosophical concepts can be accessed through art in the interest of advancing cross-disciniplary study.

Keywords

Sculpture, Existentialism, Creative Practice

Citation

Hudgens, C. (2023). Existentialism and Creative Practice. School of Art Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/artsuht/2