LSU SCHOOL OF ART – GRAD BOOKLET 2021
Alexandra Saunders FROM THE ARTIST My focus this semester has been on creating ceramics that meet the demands of function including considerations of weight, comfort, and use while still exhibiting strong pattern and color. In the previous semester, I explored forms that began crossing boundaries and drew questions about how significant the role of function is in my work. This semester I addressed this question by clarifying the importance of function and also by finding my place within the spectrum of utility. I see the role of my pottery not necessarily as that of daily use but as something that the user would select to share coffee or a special meal with friends. I have been thinking about the concept of celebration and how ceramics can be a vehicle for intimacy. One idea that has impacted this semester’s work is that of family and home. These concepts have twofold significance. The first is the more literal interpretation. I am making objects that are to be used by the family in the home. However, there is also another way that these terms relate to my work. Groupings of ceramics that are used or displayed together can exhibit familial connections. They can be seen as sisters, aunts, or cousins. In my work, these affiliations are defined by form, color, and pattern. These relationships are most present in the two pitcher sets I made this semester. The pieces in these sets share traits but are not identical. These
CERAMICS | MFA Candidate
familial links are further instilled by the use of trays that serve as the home or anchor. I think the concept of family has great potential to expand on. Eva Zeisel, an iconic ceramics designer, developed a wide array of objects that had varying functions but shared key similarities in terms of form. She referred to these objects by their familial connections. Going forward, I too would like to make larger groupings of pots that employ this idea of familial linkage. Another component of this semester’s work has been plates and trays for serving. These forms are important to my work both because of their function and because of the large canvas they offer for surface decoration. I have experimented with a range of forms for these both symmetric and those with less regular rims. The less regular rims seem to have a better interaction with the choice of pattern. I enjoy creating these because they give the opportunity to play with bold design. Most of these feature the same abstracted floral pattern and strong colors. This pattern is predominately a visual choice. I appreciate the way that the shapes interact with each other and the form they fill. I also like the reference to nature and the connection to growth, life, and abundance. This connection is further developed by the use of color. Colors are suggestive of spring and tend to contain a highlight of bright orange. This creates work that is lively and energetic and poised for use.
This semester I also experimented with slab building. This was challenging for me and resulted in many failed attempts. I am interested in this form of hand building because of the potential it offers for dimensionality. The decoration I have made up to this point is flat and I believe that the use of more textured pattern could give my work stronger character. Ultimately, I would like to combine the dimensional patterns with the flatter, stenciled patterns. However, this requires overcoming the hand building learning curve and also developing a glaze system that works well with these textures. At this point I see the potential for the evolution of this work but need to make a lot of improvements before more successful work is realized. Going forward, I would like to develop a body of work focused on function and design. I am excited to investigate work that can combine texture, form, and pattern. This involves improvement in my hand building skills and also an expansion of work to include a wider range of functional forms linked by familial connections. I see my work for the thesis year as a set of ceramic objects that foster celebration and connectivity. This body of work would be equally relevant in the home or in a gallery. Through clay, I hope to share a sense of joy and abundance.
daniel davis
DIGITAL ART | MFA Candidate
FROM THE ARTIST Daniel Keith Davis is pursuing his MFA in digital art at Louisiana State University. He received his BA from the University of Southern California in Animation and Digital Art. Throughout his academic career, Daniel has been selected for both internship and mentorship programs with multiple animation studios. Some of these include DreamWorks Feature Film Animation and Disney Television Animation. More recently, he has professionally designed characters for animated mobile app videos, life‑sized animatronics, and mascot costumes that have appeared internationally.
His current work focuses on telling the story of Mama Florence through digital illustrations and personal interviews. Mama Florence is the Ghanaian cofounder of the Amazing Grace Preparatory School. The school is located in Ghana, West Africa, and it is dedicated to developing African leaders and ending the cycles of poverty in the village of Kodiekrom.
Mama Florence
Osofo
Andres Gonzales
Fernando Botero illustration
GRAPHIC DESIGN | MFA Candidate
FROM THE ARTIST My first steps within the creative world go back to my childhood, as early on I had many artistic affinities: I liked reading, and molding figures with clay. But above all, I loved to draw. I developed these tastes for many years, and at a young age, when my parents enrolled me in a professional drawing academy, I was able to further explore my passion. In this academy, I learned new ways of thinking, exploring styles and techniques, as well as developing my ideas. I really enjoyed my undergrad school and I never imagined learning so many different things which together can create a great composition and complement each other, such as illustration, photography, lithography, editorial design, etc. One of the most satisfying projects I have done was my thesis project. This consisted of an illustrated book where I was able to illustrate the life of a very important character of my city. Unfortunately, this character is unknown to the new generations. My proposal was to bring the character to life in a new language, different from traditional history books, which seeks to attract the attention of young people and even adults. This project was the spark that pushed me to illustrate and keep looking for new elements and themes of inspiration.
Living abroad has given me the opportunity to identify the perceptions that exist about my country. A lot of them are very generalized, the typical association of my country with drugs, Pablo Escobar, and wars. Through the illustration I want to show that Colombia, in spite of the past, the antecedents of drug trafficking, and the indelible history, has been able to overcome and move forward, fighting to build a new history. To show that Colombia is a country of friendly, hospitable, and joyful people who find in music, art, sports, ingenuity, and creativity a way to express their way of being and living. Fortunately, in recent years, we have had a great representation of characters who have excelled in different fields. With my illustration, I want to honor characters like Shakira, Adriana Ocampo, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Fernando Botero among others. They have generated a cultural impact and have shown the true face of Colombia. In the same way, I wanted to recognize some characters of our history that impacted and sowed the foundations for a free, enterprising country and hope for a better future.
Simon Bolivar illustration
Shakira illustration
JERRY LOCKABY
Magazine Design
GRAPHIC DESIGN | MFA Candidate
FROM THE ARTIST This year has been defined by the plague of Covid-19 and the social unrest which reached a boiling point after over 400 years of systemic racism. I spent much of the summer researching the Black Lives Matter movement and watching the protests that marched across every single state in the nation. As a member of the LGBT community, I quickly learned and became fascinated by the intersectionality of the modern gay rights movement and the fight for racial justice. The Stonewall Riots, which sparked the modern Gay Pride movement, were led by black transgender members of the gay community. Although both the modern gay rights movement and Black Lives Matter were “created by queer folks, [cisgender] privilege has taken precedent over gay and transgender people.” Black Lives Matter was founded by three Black women: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, two of whom are LGBTQ+.
As part of my effort to explore the intersectionality of the two movements, I want to look at my own story. What was it like growing up gay in the South in the 1980s? How did my parents react when I came out to them? Who were the first LGBT people I came to know? How did I explore my own queerness? How did my lived experience influence my commitment to social justice? I will explore what it was like being bullied, finding the friends that would become part of my family, participating in gay pride marches such as the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in Washington, D.C., confronting my own prejudices and insecurities and being part of history. By telling my own story, I also want to highlight the ongoing struggle for equality and highlight the contributions to both movements by black trans Americans.
Drag Queen
F****t
https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=IRR&to=USD
Behnoush Tavasolinia
Do you check your country currency value everyday?
1IRR = 0.0000237955USD
Iranian Currency
GRAPHIC DESIGN | MFA Candidate
FROM THE ARTIST The Iranian secular monarchy government was replaced by the Islamic Republic after the 1979 revolution. The new constitution based on Ayatollah Khomeini’s vision for the future of Iran, formed a religious government which gave unlimited powers to the supreme leader. The tension between Iran and US dates back to a few months after the Islamic revolution in 1979 when the militants seized the US embassy in Tehran and the Americans were held hostage for 444 days. They wanted the Shah, the former Iranian ruler, to be returned to Iran. He needed medical treatment that his aides claimed was available only in the United States. The Americans saw the hostage-taking as an egregious violation of the principles of international law. The crisis had dramatic effects on domestic politics in the United States and poisoned US-Iran relations for decades to this day. I was born after the revolution in Iran. I believe that the most effective way to diminish human suffering and the massive economic costs of conflicts and their aftermath is to prevent conflicts in the first place. Peacekeeping has proven to be one of the most effective tools available to assist countries navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace. As a young person with a keen interest in politics I believe that the political decisions have a direct impact on people’s daily lives.
With a series of works, I would like to give voice to the voiceless Iranian people who are silenced by their own government – people who are suffering from the harmful lack of access to goods essential to life, including medicines and food. By telling the story of these people, I wanted to communicate that we are all human beings with the same needs, emotions and concerns regardless of our race and nationality. I care about my surroundings and incidents related to human beings all over the world. When a topic of racism, power, war, poverty and many more topics which impacts innocent people’s lives, it drives me to bring in my visual communication method and put the narration of my thoughts around that topic towards graphics. Therefore, I designed a series of graphic posters that respond to contemporary news stories, and as designer used current events to develop an awareness of the present through the combination of photo manipulation, typography and illustration. The posters are my response to events that occurred between Iran and the US after I came to this country, for example: the Muslim Ban, tightening sanctions on Iran, negotiation between Iran and the US and Covide-19 vaccine.
Valentine’s Day from a distance
WE NEED CHANGE
“Iran Repeats Demand US Sanctions Be Lifted Before Nuclear Talks Resume.” Voice of America. Accessed March 4, 2021. https://www.voanews.co m/middle-east/voa-newsiran/iran-repeats-demand -us-sanctions-be-lifted-n uclear-talks-resume.
Sanctions
LAUREN NGUYEN
The Cardiovascular System
GRAPHIC DESIGN | MFA Candidate
FROM THE ARTIST As a child of Vietnamese immigrants, pressure from my parents led me to begin my college career in premedicine. During school, I found that even though I didn’t want a career in healthcare, I loved learning about the processes that occur within the body, and I was always fascinated by the mechanisms in which diseases disrupt the physiology in bodily systems. Working as a graphic designer for my Vietnamese Student Association, I began my career transition and used the design skills gained from my organization and art elective classes to merge biology and design through research posters and animated video projects. I struggled to express my knowledge of scientific material on exams, but design allowed me to visualize it in a way that helped me and my peers understand the material better. I continue this concept of education and the integration of design with science in my current work. I create pieces that not only educate, but serve as artworks that are a more modern take on the traditional learning materials. Due to biological illustrations being the standard in textbooks and traditional learning materials, I want to pay homage to those roots, but also add motion graphics and interactive web design to make the material more engaging and memorable. I have recently completed a series of posters that act as a journey into the body. These posters illustrate
each body system with colorful and graphic illustrations, and use typography to label the anatomy in an organized way. They also contain interactive elements so that students can scan a code with their phones in order to access a designed website that educates them on the physiological processes in relation to their anatomy. The work becomes an expanded learning resource through careful design. Moving forward to thesis, I plan to continue creating the posters for each body system (nervous, skeletal, cardiovascular/circulatory, integumentary, urinary, reproductive, digestive, respiratory, endocrine, lymphatic, and muscular). I will be working on the still images during the summer. During thesis year, I am also planning to work with Adobe After Effects to animate the posters to bring them to life while working on the website that will teach the physiology of the body systems. I will be exploring the integration of design (graphic and UIUX) and biology for effective communication of information. In addition, I will be exploring illustration styles to bring medical illustration to a contemporary space, as I believe that it will be more engaging for students to learn. By creating educational resources that are visually impactful and interactive, I believe that it will make a difference in the education of students and teachers.
The Respiratory System
The Digestive System
DARIAN MCGEHEE
Field Guide 16
GRAPHIC DESIGN | MFA Candidate
FROM THE ARTIST For the first time in my lifetime, people are experiencing the same thing all over the world simultaneously. While the COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating, it has also brought the world together through this shared experience and we can all relate to each other in a way from now on. It is because of this that I wanted my work this semester to be about the pandemic so that there would be something that everyone could relate to in some way no matter their background or where they are from. My project this semester is to design and create a field guide that would lay out the details and events of COVID-19 while also having bits of real-life comments and experiences to give insight rather than just statistics. I will be binding this publication myself using the wire-o technique, as well as incorporating traditional printing techniques such as silk screen and letterpress for some of the elements within the publication. There are multiple pages in spread with fold outs to keep the reader interacting with the book, as well as a poster that is folded up and bound within the book that is meant to serve as a takeaway for the reader. Making a physical publication for this
project is very important to me as the production process is what I personally find the most joy and excitement in and is something I want to continue exploring and perfecting as I work carry this work on through next semester to fully flesh out the design. Overall, this project has pushed me to learn a new printing technique, letterpress, while also learning new ways to improve my silk screen techniques as well. I also explored a new style of illustration that I have never used in my work before. The biggest challenge was gathering the information and sifting through it to find what is relevant and what can be left out because there is obviously an overload of information out there right now about this current situation. As I continue to work on this through next semester, my goals are to tailor the information to be more U.S. specific by going into more detail about how the U.S. is directly effected because that is what I am experiencing personally, and also nail down the production design of the publication by learning new techniques and practicing the ones I learned throughout this semester.
Field Guide 7
Field Guide 18
KATHLEEN MCVEA FROM THE ARTIST Bringing awareness to sexual abuse and trafficking of children and underage teens has become purposeful to me due to being incredibly close with my nephews and niece. I frequently think about the people I care about, like my nieces and nephews, being in this situation, and decided to focus my research this semester on the subject. My curiosity blossomed years ago when I became interested in True Crime and Psychology. What I previously believed to be a rare occurrence is substantially more prevalent than the public is aware of in the U.S. I have since felt compelled to educate others after gaining more knowledge of the subject. Departing from how difficult it is to comprehend the challenges and the damage one goes through after such a traumatic experience, I decided to concentrate my research around the challenge of creating a dialogue about child abuse with the public. Talk about it poster campaign 24˝ x 36˝
I have attempted to initiate conversations, and in my experience, when the topic arises, people want to change the subject immediately. I understand that it is a very troublesome topic, but we must find a way to inform and educate the public. The media does not cover it simply because most stations have a policy that protects minors’ identities. Unfortunately, when there is no victim and no face, there is no story. People change the channel when the subject comes, so frankly, it’s bad for business.
GRAPHIC DESIGN | MFA Candidate
After studying both the perpetrators and their victims, I realized there is a division or double life they both lead. Over the last couple of months, I have explored various methods and mediums to show this division creatively. Here, I will begin with the child predator. The troubling truth is that child predators do not look like predators at all, and there is no particular way you can spot a predator. They are likely friendly, person‑ able, disarming, and seem trustworthy. Likely, the predator is a lot closer to home like a family member, close family friend, a neighbor you trust, the soccer coach, etc. A child predator will show you what they want you to see and hide that they are an abuser, es‑ sentially living a double life. I selected photographs of average-looking individuals that would not alarm you in any way with this in mind. One way I demonstrat‑ ed the division was by printing out the images and physically tearing them in half. After tearing, I scanned them and manipulated the imagery a bit further by inverting half of the face. My second creative exploration again visually shows the victim being divided or “torn in two.” My observa‑ tion of the division within a victim is that victims do not express that they are being hurt or openly show signs that something is wrong. Victims may not disclose for many reasons. Their lives or their family’s lives are often threatened. They may feel shame or guilt as victims commonly feel complicit or responsible for the abuse in some way. Sadly enough, for some children, this abuse is all they have ever known, so it is nor‑ malized. Additionally, victims are rarely believed and
must face considerable trauma to get justice. Due to this, many victims never report the abuse. The world often sees a smiling, normal-looking child, but that same child is actually living a very differ‑ ent life. As you will see in my presentation, one commonality is that I have explored this division that happens to a victim in a very similar way as I have with the perpetrator, by tearing the images in half. The difference being that I taped the victim’s images back together before scanning them in. Victims, unlike predators, can recover to a certain extent with the right resources. The scar will never go away, but they can heal over time. I have begun and plan to continue to create a graphic design campaign to bring awareness to this issue and entice others to talk more openly about the exploitation of minors. We need to understand the magnitude of the problem, notice the warning signs, and act when we know something is off. I want to help others recognize the gravity of the issue and empower them with knowledge. The question that haunts me and that I continue to ask is, “WHY ARE WE NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS?” These are our children, our neighborhoods, and our responsibility. Where is the rage? Despite many efforts to bring awareness to this issue, I have yet to see a REAL CHANGE. When will America wake up and say, “enough, this abuse is not okay.” I plan to continue to explore creative ways to educate and encourage others to talk about child vsexual abuse.
Neighbor/Pedophile 24˝ x 36˝
Prostitute/Minor 24˝ x 36˝
miles kinney
I Need Space 2021, Oil on canvas, 66˝ x 50˝
PAINTING & DRAWING | MFA Candidate
FROM THE ARTIST The reason I make art is to explain things I don’t think I can convey with words. When I’m making a picture, I inevitably ask myself, “well… why painting?” The answer varies, but the sentiment remains the same; paintings keep me looking, often long after I’ve left them. I have begun thinking about it as a residual effect of cave-dwelling, where we can’t take the image with us, so it hums in our mind as we leave to forage. I, for one, cling to experiences, sometimes until the memory of a thing is more glorious than the item was. When I think of the paintings that first caught my interest as a kid, I don’t think about the lighting, the color of the wall or the floor, or the wrinkles on the docent; I think about the image and how it glows brighter each time I think about it.
This recent suite of paintings attempts to capture that feeling with its vivid surfaces and bizarre, quasisci-fi ’80s-’90s video game-inspired scenarios. The earliest memories I have from my childhood are the flickering platforms of Super Mario and Battletoads Double Dragon in the smoke-filled basements of the neighbors and babysitters that raised me. Though those 18˝ tube televisions weren’t painting, my mind has clung to them like the first Jerome Witkin tryptic I saw, Division Street, or Andy Warhol’s massive screenprint Big Electric Chair (two of the first paintings I can remember seeing at MWPAI in Utica, NY). I wanted the scale of these paintings to mirror those works, and I wanted the images to feel as contemporary and poster-like as my brain remembers those paintings to be.
Ducks, Bullets and the New Nimbus. 2021, Oil on canvas, 68˝ x 58˝
Ghosted in the Occultatum 2021, Oil on canvas, 72˝ x 60˝
rachel york
Untitled Charcoal powder on paper, 38˝ x 100˝
PAINTING & DRAWING | MFA Candidate
FROM THE ARTIST I am drawn to old photographs as objects that are both worthless and sacred. They have no inherent value, yet they cannot be reproduced. As I reference these photographs in mixed media paintings and drawings, I alter the original scenes, exploring the ethical implications of memory, fabrication, and how we should endeavor to hold the past in the present.
Untitled Ink on tracing paper, 8˝ x 10˝
Untitled Oil paint on canvas, 4’ x 3’
Paul Acevedo Gomez
PRINTMAKING | MFA Candidate
FROM THE ARTIST While sitting in my apartment listening to the song “Huapango de Moncayo”, I tremble to the merging sound of trumpets and violins of the mariachi band. This sensation of excitement sparks a memory of a party in my grandmother’s house in Mexico, eating pozole while drinking a glass of tequila and Coke. Kids run around waiting for a piñata to burst open and bring out its exquisite bounty. If I could visually represent this combination of objects and sounds, it would be an explosion of rich colors flying around in space like a loud firework bursting into a thousand fireball specks in the air. I’ve always been drawn to the aesthetic of bringing unexpected objects together. This reminds me of the way grafting is used as mechanical propagation for plants, merging two different species on top of each other to create a unique individual entity. The fascination for grafting goes back to my early childhood, through the constant exposure of growing cacti and grafting techniques by my father and grandmother. The shared love of plants becomes a bridge between the relationship that I have with my father, and how I can understand myself better through my projection of him. Grafting cacti has become an obsession for me. Looking at their existing forms and the ones being created, I begin to understand their pairing and
why some cacti work better than others for grafting. This allows me to question the pairings that I’m creating through the use of ordinary objects and their relation as they become grafted with one another. I reference their surreal aesthetic in my work as I develop new forms with familiar and more recognizable objects. The specificity of the objects come to light as I interact with them on a daily basis sometimes referencing particular family members and relationships, or associations from childhood. My current body of prints, drawings and sculptures, graft or combine objects that might not otherwise be seen together, purposely altering their expected function as a way to reference elements that are both playful and painful. The images suggest a celebration of cultural identity, vitality, but also inflicted pain—like a finger cut, knee scratch, or bruises—as the viewer questions the combination of objects and the potential danger behind their function. Through the creation of new forms, I question my identity while embodying myself in the entities I create. As I look to be passed on to thesis next semester, I reflect on my time here and the amount of experimentation that I’ve accomplished. Now I find myself with a clearer path and strong intentions about where to take my work over the next year.
NORMA COLBY
Immaculate Fatigue
PRINTMAKING | MFA Candidate
FROM THE ARTIST Private spaces are where we are most ourselves. As an artist and a woman, I think about the various interactions we have, both physically and emotionally, in these spaces and how that shapes us as individuals throughout our lives. Using relatable patterns and textures that correlate closely with the domestic space, my work aims to create an empathetic environment for the viewer. Inspired by the feminist works that came from the Pattern and Decoration Movement of the 1970s whose art focused on pleasure, optimism, and joy, the decorative and aesthetically pleasing elements of my work suggest similar reflections. Using traditionally female-dominated mediums such as
crochet, embroidery, and sewing, coupled with various printmaking mediums, I create large textile works that address my personal experience with femininity and a spectrum of emotions and experiences. The work is a representation of my physical and emotional self with personal context clues, small narratives, and soft ambiguous forms throughout. The viewer gets a sense of these experiences and encounters we each have with domestic life through my use of repetition, multiplicity, and form. Individually, the pieces are intimate in size and texture, however as a whole, create a larger work that speak to these opposing and complex narratives of femininity.
Red
Blue Lace
AUTUMN JOHNSON
Alligator Gar 2020, Hard ground, soft ground, and aquatint on copper, 24˝ x 36˝
PRINTMAKING | MFA Candidate
FROM THE ARTIST Just as Darwinism influenced surrealist art which relies heavily on unexpected juxtapositions and sexuality, research within the study of animal behavior and anthrozoology influences my artistic decisions to utilize similar elements in my work. Through intaglio printmaking processes I depict species that have behavioral or evolutionary characteristics related to my research and experiences. Printmaking holds a longstanding relationship with biological research and the distribution of scientific images; I am contributing to this relationship by utilizing biological illustration to convey my understanding of animal behavior as a reflection of human behavior.
Each living organism has core basic needs in order to survive such as food, water, and shelter; but what about our emotional needs? Acceptance, affection, empathy, validation, and security all are vital to the mental well-being of an individual. The wide variation in the ways that living beings obtain these certain requirements for life and happiness is fascinating. By combining things that we understand as strictly part of the human experience with that of animals expressing these same needs, I am exploring my personal relationships and what it means to exist. Finding examples in nature similar to human behaviors towards sickness, companionship, reproduction, preservation, and death that exist allows me to understand and process my own experiences and development.
Lonesome George and the Invasive Goats 2021, Hard ground and aquatint on hand cut copper, 24˝ x 36˝
Deprivation 2020, Hard ground and soft ground on copper, 8˝ X 11˝
Thrasyvoulos Kalaitzidis
SCULPTURE | MFA Candidate
FROM THE ARTIST Looking at my sculptural work so far, I notice that the objects I am making resemble toys, tools, and weapons. Looking for the middle ground between these three elements, I was directed to the concept of games, where weapons, fights, deaths, mortgages, bankruptcies, investigations, and other actions are represented and simulated in such a way that renders them harmless. They even become motivations for the people playing. They boost excitement based on the assumption that nobody wants to lose or die—in real life or in a game. Then, I had an idea: what if I made a life-size game, using the objects I enjoy creating? From that moment, I am particularly drawn to this concept and I am exploring the ways my work can be integrated to the format of a game. I realized that most games utilize icons and symbols as a form of visualized guidance; however, I saw an opportunity for the easily recog‑ nizable but enigmatic symbols that I create (a bell, a gigantic key, a foam chain) to be turned into the main elements of a game. The objects depicted in my work are linked to a specific functionality, which could be transported–successfully or unsuccessfully, but still funnily–in the context of a life-size game. Always using foam as my main medium, I want to keep my pieces soft and inviting to touch, suggesting tangible human interaction. In the next few months, I aim to add other objects in this “symbol inventory” (a gear,
a button, a soap, a paint brush, etc.), while at the same time processing the ideas about how the game will be played. However, starting from the position of the artist, I will first focus on the visual components, since I believe that the excitement about a game can also start from visually compelling elements. I remember that as a kid, in games like Clue or Hotel, it was very often the illustration of the board, the snap-together 3D pieces, or the tiny cast tools that had an impact on me and attracted my interest in finally immersing myself to the game experience. Guided by this memory, I decided to first create a series of scaled maquettes of the pieces in order to experiment with the ideas in a manageable size. Although my starting point is the visual impression, I still need narrative and strategy as elements that will engage the viewers-players. Right now, I am interest‑ ed in the different components that make up a game: the story, the rules, the motivation, how you lose or win. In a life-size game, other things can be import‑ ant, too, like physical activity and silliness, so I plan to conduct a series of experimental trials to see how the game works. The life-size is my primary focus, because I am visually interested in the concept of people interacting with enlarged everyday objects. Nevertheless, I am not rejecting a tabletop version of this game.
GILLIAN HARPER
Pressed Azaleas (detail)
SCULPTURE | MFA Candidate
FROM THE ARTIST Constructing found-object configurations to explore color, form, and materiality led to incorporating my interest in nature. Examining the ephemerality of plants as a material influenced my engagement with preservation through pressing and drying organic material. My interest in researching environmental issues, ecology, and biology has shaped my vehicles for observation and how I generate data. I aim to focus on my kinship within the natural world, much of which begins with the sea. Although I’ve parted ways to explore the land, I’ve been pulled
back to the study of water like the tide pulls the sand. Much of my identity has been constructed by a childhood on the Florida coast. In the Atlantic Ocean, freshwater springs, and brackish waterways I learned to plan my days around the tides, identify currents, and read the wind. This connection is what first established my interest in the environment. My studio practice thus far has been my way of exploring the parameters for the conversation I want to have.
Configuration 3 dimensions vary
Pressed Azaleas 3´ x 3´
THESIS
MICHAEL CERV
Blooming Cup
CERAMICS | Thesis
FROM THE ARTIST Universal historic pottery traditions and fleeting moments inspire my studio decisions. I am in search of an unplaceable, novel surface that reminisces the endless rabbit hole of ceramics. In the same way Willow ware, Wedgewood, or diner mugs make me think of the thing Pottery, I want my work to feel strongly tied to ceramics history as a whole—but without a pinpointable culture. Growing up I’d always known my brothers and I were adopted, all from different places. “Where did I come from” often paced through my mind. This feeling of discordance with my surroundings, prompted me to explore the world through active observation of moments; sprawled lines of light through the blinds, a dim morning fog, or when the sky is aflame with glowing, muted colors at twilight. Often witnessing such events shifted me into a mindset of timelessness and deep thought. I hope to offer a window for my audience to enjoy the same introspective sights through my work, especially when they feel a little out of place. Using a mixture of textures, slips, and glaze patterning each surface strives to have nearly endless explorative depth. The stunning surfaces of Nabeshima ware and Soviet Russian propaganda plates hold pace as unattainable goals of surface quality. Some of my recipes have been formulated to
emit their own haze which offers the opportunity to take advantage of fuming as an ornamental element like that of Persian Lusterware. The fluxing of one base allows for heavy volatilization of Chrome, so any Tin opacified portion captures a lovely gradient of vibrant pink or red. Wonderfully, these pink and red tones mix with other standard heavy metal colorants like paint, producing colors as if mixing pigment. Infatuated with the colors historic potters encapsulated in glaze, I challenge myself to fire bright colors using non-calcined colorants (I’ll get you one day, yellow). As I finish bisqued wares, my thoughts and memories are transposed onto the surface with personally symbolic placeholders that live atop a matrix of clouds and twilight tones. I distort amalgamations of historical references in an attempt to generate a distilled form that feels unplaced in history but fully a part of it. Whether ancient or modern, I stretch and filter each profile through a lens of floral inspired curvature to unify it. In crafting each vessel, the marks of construction retain a dictionary of textures that speaks to how the clay took form. Be that pinch, score, stretch, or tear, each mark celebrates the vanguard craftspeople who have discovered, developed and passed down endless techniques and traditions.
katherine robbins
CERAMICS | Thesis
FROM THE ARTIST Katharine Lee Robbins is an artist currently working towards earning her Masters in Fine Art in the ceramics area at Louisiana State University. Originally from outside Chicago, she moved to Colorado to pursue her BFA in Studio Art and BA in Psychology at the University of Colorado Boulder, graduating in 2016. She went on to spend a year as a post-baccalaureate student at Colorado State University before moving to Baton Rouge to attend LSU. She has exhibited work regionally across
Colorado and Louisiana. She has been awarded numerous scholarships including a work-exchange position to be a summer artist-in-residence at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine in 2019. Katharine is currently the co-president of LSU’s Ceramic Arts Student Association and was a manager of the Ceramics Factory’s most recent project—a collaboration with Ann Connolly Fine Art.
nHU NGOC qUYNH DAO
FROM THE ARTIST A significant vessel of a culture is folklore, including fairy tales, fables, myths, legends and proverbs, which carry both tangible and intangible heritages that have aged hundreds to thousands of years. It’s an embodiment of a set of values that uniquely characterized a culture. These stories, passed from generation to generation, were infused with the richness of historical events and characterized by the thoughts and hopes of the people. Understanding folklore, we can mentally travel through time and space, into an imaginative world that is connected to the minds of the people, where we see things through the eyes of our parents’, grandparents’, and ancestors’. That is where we enrich ourselves with culture. Inspired by this exposure, I want to direct my thesis project to be honoring the fantastic world of Vietnamese folklore. As a graphic designer & visual communicator, I hope to lead others to experience the mental adventure that I have been through and hopefully will influence the audience to love Vietnamese culture, as much as I do. I want my exhibition to reflect the way I see Vietnamese folklore, how I perceive them as a native Vietnamese born in Vietnam; and Giao Long 2021, Papertoy
GRAPHIC DESIGN | Thesis
by combining these ideas with my exposure to American culture, I can create a compelling visual bridge and guide the audience into the cultural world that nurtures the minds of Vietnamese people. In my previous semesters, I have experienced various techniques to create graphics & styles, using both digital & traditional methods, from wood cut to screen printing, and I want to utilize all these experiences into making the visuals for my thesis. My exhibition is a series of 3D paper dolls that embody the material & spiritual life of ancient Vietnamese people. Richly infused with folklores and carrying with themselves the art inspirations from ‘Dong Son’’s artifacts, each of the dolls represents from legendary figures to philosophical beliefs, acting as a messenger to guide the audience into the past, into the mind of the ancient Vietnamese, to see life from their perspective and to experience the values, thoughts, and beliefs that altogether created a unique soul of the Vietnamese. I experimented with non-traditional designs to study the impact of how creatively reconstructing graphics in 3-dimensional space with interactive elements can significantly improve the experience
and provoke strong emotional responses from the audience. By having the audience interact with the doll, I want them to actively explore and create their own experience into the imaginary realm that is connected to the mind of the people from another time and space. I personify the abstract concepts and give them characters as making them human or non-human creatures in order to create a warm reception and humane connection between the audience and concepts. The audience will, at a certain point, imagine themselves as the dolls, and naturally become one with the mind manifested by the dolls. My goal was to create a portal, a means of communication that spreads the beautiful spirit of ancient Vietnamese, which I greatly adore and appreciate. The messengers will carry the stories, and that’s how the Vietnamese spirits will live on, and continue to empower us.
Left: Side Design from “Au Co”, Right: Side Design from “Lac Long Quan” 2021, Print, 32˝ x 72˝ (each)
Vietnamese Dong Son Culture Inspired Characters (All Designs) 2021, Story-telling Paper Toy
LAUREN VERRET
Mixed (Fixed) Messages 2021
GRAPHIC DESIGN | Thesis
FROM THE ARTIST Anxiety comes in many forms, but the simplest way to describe it is feeling worried or nervous about the future or uncertain situations. The American Psycho‑ logical Association reports that “12% of millennials have officially been diagnosed with an anxiety disor‑ der, which is almost twice the percentage of boom‑ ers who have been similarly diagnosed.” The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association also released a report in 2018 that stated, “diagnoses of mental illness had risen dramatically by 33 percent since 2013, and millennials make up 47% of that figure.” It’s not all doom and gloom however, mental health has been increasingly conversed about in shared communities. The higher rates of reported mental issues such as anxiety is directly correlated with newer generation’s willingness to discuss the topic without compromis‑ ing integrity. When it comes to specific mental health issues, adult gen z’s are more likely than some other generations to report they have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder (18%) and more likely than all other generations to report they have been diag‑ nosed with depression (23%). In a generalized manner these associations are suggesting that a large factor of clinical and gener‑ alized anxiety, besides environmental and economic, are due to the desire for excellence (which is often measured in terms of money and recognition). This mentality drives a lot of young people to try anything and everything in an effort to become wealthy or suc‑ cessful. These recognitions and accomplishments can vary from the previously mentioned wealth and
status, to the attainment of the standard nuclear family. This works for some but can also feel terrible for many. Because of this, several generations have been driven into anxiety about fulfilling their expec‑ tations, as well as the perceived expectations of their parents, and the world at large. A summated word for this definition is the term of “The Arrival Fallacy”. This Fallacy includes high expectations and the pressures to succeed. With early standard‑ ized testing, the societal need to marry and have children, and our culture of achievement, today’s pressures of early adulthood can feel like an un‑ achievable, hetero-normative nightmare. The pressure to get married is especially strong for women in their 20s and 30s. Family often have expectations of when loved ones should get married and who they should get married to. Since timelines never work out as planned, it leads to stress, disappointment, or even unhappiness and a lack of self-confidence when things don’t happen like you (or others) anticipated. Some couples bring forth children, not for themselves, but for other people. In trying to win approval and acceptance, many husbands and wives become parents before they are emotionally ready. The Journal of Family Issues, which complies data online through qualitative analysis, investigated the communications parents were having in regard to their regrets having children. Some fundamental categories of regret were identified as timing, sacrifice, partner, and the external world. Conversations in online forums prove that regret is a common emotion of parenthood, which defy the social norms of motherhood and fatherhood roles.
Mixed (Fixed) Messages 2021
Mixed (Fixed) Messages 2021
luke atkinson
Summer Solstice MMXX 2021, Oil on canvas, 24˝ x 24˝
PAINTING & DRAWING | Thesis
FROM THE ARTIST Luke Alex Atkinson grew up on Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, Canada. He earned his BFA at Winthrop University and continued his training at the New York Academy of Art, Art Students League of New York, Grand Central Atelier, and Russian Academy of Arts. Recently, he held a solo show at Rat Trap in Bogotá, Colombia, and his work was featured in New American Paintings. Atkinson makes paintings that engage with specific memories, dreams, and lived experience—always inspired by the potential for discovery found in form, space, and surface. He synthesizes art historical references and contemporary technique to create a visual language that speaks to today and describes a complete unified vision.
We Could All Be So Lucky 2021, Oil on canvas, 22˝ × 18˝
Memphis Flash 2021, Oil on canvas, 60˝ × 48˝
STEPHANIE COBB
Brianna 2021, Oil on canvas, 36˝ x 36˝
PAINTING & DRAWING | Thesis
FROM THE ARTIST Biography: Stephanie Cobb (b. 1992, Bowling Green, Kentucky) is an M.F.A Candidate in painting at LSU College of Art + Design. Cobb received her B.F.A. in painting from Savannah College of Art and Design. After graduation from SCAD, she focused her professional experience in museums and for nonprofit organizations in the art and science fields. Cobb’s work has been exhibited in Masur Museum of Art in Monroe; Baton Rouge Gallery in Baton Rouge; Intersect Arts Center in St. Louis; Giles Gallery in Richmond; Crane Arts in Philadelphia; 859 Gallery in Louisville; Sulfur Studios in Savannah; and SCAD’s Open Studio event in Lacoste, France, among others. She has had a solo exhibition at the Arts Council Gallery in College Station, Texas. Cobb has attended residencies at the Burren College of Art in Ireland, Kentucky Foundation for Women in Louisville, HOME in Philadelphia, and with the Arts Council of Brazos Valley in Texas. Her work has been published in the 23rd issue of Create! Magazine and will be included in the upcoming 154th issue of New American Paintings. Currently, Cobb is working as an Instructor of Record at LSU College of Art + Design in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Statement: My work is a private moment made public. My interest in image making has always been predominately figurative, selecting subjects that are closely tied to personal experiences. Only closeness between artist and sitter will allow for intimacy in a portrait. My hope is to evoke with clarity our closeness, or our distance.
The Gargen 2021, Oil on canvas, 78˝ x 64˝
Emma 2021, Oil on canvas, 62˝ x 46˝
SAMANTHA ROSADO
Angels tickle my toes at night Oil on canvas
PAINTING & DRAWING | Thesis
FROM THE ARTIST My work is about identity, family culture and relationships. Storytelling is my motivation. Though subject matter demands careful consideration, I create imagery using comic relief. Humor lives within an intentional use of color, form and repetition. Painted figures lock eyes with onlooking viewers, pulling them into these staged dreamscapes. The audience gains understanding, while reconsidering their own state of affairs. I continuously work to become more comfortable with my body, my mind, and my sexuality. I practice normalizing my same-sex relationship within myself and my immediate family. As I do so, I must also intertwine these realities on the canvas. My work acts as a journal, giving honest descriptions of the intersections of sexuality and religion, children and parents, siblings and in-laws, and Puerto Rican culture. Stories of self-esteem, body image, family, and love are told within the imagery. I use animals, characters, and symbols to create visual hierarchy. Perspective is given through the eyes of the central figure(s). This directional gaze pulls the viewer into the scene, connecting them emotionally with both
character and artist. My partner and our animals dominate the picture plane, not only acting as main characters in the narrative, but also creating dynamic shape and pattern. Color brings light, humor, and emphasis into each dream-like world. Before painting I stage photographs then create digital collage (using manipulated photos, drawn elements, and at times elements from different stages of the paintings) to develop composition, color, and light. These collages are edited while painting to further develop content and visual aesthetic. I also sketch, watercolor, write, and collect images before and during painting. Getting into character is an important part of my process—I pose as the main characters and photograph myself in position to further understand form and light. I then paint from life, drawings, collages, and collected images. Having conversation with peers, storytelling, and sitting with the work independently allows me to investigate, revise, and redirect. Content often shifts throughout my paintings as I reflect on current events that bring depth or new meaning into the developing narrative scene.
la sala, no sale. Oil on canvas
Uncle Sam Oil on canvas
john swincinski
Healing Trees (detail) 2021, Oil on canvas, 82˝ x 75˝
PAINTING & DRAWING | Thesis
FROM THE ARTIST Sulfur and Sage is a body of abstract paintings created out of memories of time spent immersed in the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains and the Yellowstone Caldera during the summer of 2020. The paintings reflect specific places, experiences, and insights, which occurred as I sought solitude by returning to the one place where I feel most at peace with the universe—the woods. Each painting is augmented by a written vignette, describing the occurrence it is based on. Should the viewer choose to include these short stories as they encounter the artwork, they can provide the jumping off point and lend context to the pieces through the eyes of the artist. However, the paintings themselves are intended to communicate the portion of the wilderness experience that I cannot write words to describe. They are the embodiment of intense emotional content, derived from the memories of what I have witnessed and how I responded to the often-sublime phenomenon.
The paintings are created using an artistic process planned to mimic many of the forces I observe in nature. The oil binder’s long drying time forces the painting to rest between the subsequent layers creating a passage of time and a shifting surface that emulates the ever-changing wilderness landscape. The cycle of life and death is embodied in the process of adding, scraping, dissolving and redistributing the oil paint over and over again. The final aesthetic is intended to convey a distressed or weathered sensation, communicating a parallel with the effects of powerful natural forces. The careful crafting of the paint’s surface, supported by the overall composition, is intended to visually excite the viewer from the macro to the micro, just as one can find beauty in the texture of a single leaf laying in a larger forest.
Healing Waters 2021, Oil on canvas, 72˝ x 54˝
Weathered 2021, Oil on canvas, 54˝ x 54˝
diana patin
Persimmons 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY | Thesis
FROM THE ARTIST These photographs are a set of offerings, collected as part of an intensive examination of myself and my contentious relationship with self-image. Through images of both my physical self and my surroundings, I reframe my own narrative to reflect the ebbs and flows along the path towards self-acceptance. I adopt the eyes of both a lover and a critic when making this work. It is my hope that through these radically soft and sometimes confrontational photographs, I can communicate that while the journey is long and hard, it is one that is universal.
Cheeks 2021
Stepped Away 2019
VICTORIA VONTZ
Stand Below
PHOTOGRAPHY | Thesis
FROM THE ARTIST In-between the Wind is a compilation of photographs, lumen prints, and drawings that reveal my relationship and connection with nature. The work aims to capture and elongate special transitory moments spent in nature in order to transform them into an extended experience. The work is primarily observing, noticing, and questioning. The act of watching and witnessing, of waiting and of making has become a quiet meditation of myself and of my connection to my natural surroundings.
Look Up, Look Down
Tracing the Stars
diana abouchara
Hello Again (detail 1)
PRINTMAKING | Thesis
FROM THE ARTIST Art making is an intuitive exploration for me that helps to process emotions where other approaches tend to fail. It is a safe space where I can delve into the depths of my wounds—to witness, understand, reflect, and perhaps find resolve. Themes that revolve around my artwork include grief, vulnerability, ephemerality, multiplicity, and transformation. I am interested in moments of interaction between people and how fleeting and transient they are. Questions I ask myself are: Can forms of interaction be translated tangibly? How can material act as memory? Do process and method bring forth altered and expanded meaning? Shifts in perception intrigue me, they can encourage new mental connections and a possibility for expanded growth. I am particularly enthralled with the link between our emotions and memories of a departed loved one. They are constantly shifting in relation to one another and take on different forms of meaning.
My work often takes the form of installations. I am drawn to creating immersive environments that incorporate components that activate the senses of the viewer. Sound, specifically, fascinates me in its capability of triggering memory and feelings of nostalgia. Additionally, sounds when created and linked together in a rhythmic pattern can create meditative and calming environments. Repetition and layering are also formal elements that are present in my work and can further add therapeutic and meditative experiences in the installations. My aim for the spaces I create is to envelope the viewer, allowing them, if only for a moment, to transcend into my constructed world. With this body of work, I share my story and present the viewer a lens into my coping strategies with grief.
Material as Rediscovered Memory III 2020, Intaglio. 11˝ x 15˝
Material as Rediscovered Memory II 2020, Intaglio. 15˝ x 22˝
MICHAeL WHITEHEAD
PRINTMAKING | Thesis
FROM THE ARTIST In my final year I plan to adapt the integrated practice I have developed this semester to create a body of prints and drawings about “Power Structures.” The oil and gas industries touch every aspect of modern life. Hundreds of milesof overland piping, complex networks of transformers andwirescarry their products across the state and into our homes for consumption. We take these power structures for granted. For my thesis, I plan to research the 85-mile-long stretch ofpower stations, oil refineries and petrochemical plants along the Mississippi River, known as “Cancer Alley.” I encountered this horrific stretch of highway for the first time this semester. The experience was truly surreal. Theworn steel surfaces of the power stations were caked in black dust from their massive coal yards. Their barge unloading bucket elevators and water intake pipes resembled a thousand interconnected arms that jutted across the highway and pierced the levee. The structures loomed over the small communities built in their shadow. The ever-burning fires of these unfathomable machines warm the
hearths of a thousand homes. The oil refineries resemble glowing city skylines, constantly omitting opaque clouds of vapor. This carbon laced fog settles as a fine mist over everything surrounding them. Seeing the clusters of infinitely connected industrial plants filled me with awe and horror. They are a necessity which simultaneously sustains and threatens life as we know it. People living in the shadows of these looming structures are 50% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than average Americans. The communities surrounding the refineries are dilapidated. Rows of modular homes are flanked by clusters fenced in neon‑yellow piles of extracted uranium. The oil and gas industries hold considerable influence over the political power structures of Louisiana, opposing environmental regulation in the name of profit while the state slowly sinks into the Gulf. For me, the industrial parks of “Cancer Alley” are a microcosm of the wealth disparity and environmental destruction created by the petroleum industry.
mary ratcliff
SCULPTURE | Thesis