http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/41237 http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/retrieve/210760 http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/41237 Search the Channel search http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/simple-search http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/64059 Title: Femmes: Front and Center<br/><br/>Authors: Kurzawa, Kristin<br/><br/>Abstract: Kurzawa, 2AbstractFemmes Front and Center is a visual and textual inquiry into the dynamics of queer femmeperformers within the queer community. Visually, Femmes: Front and Center brings the viewerface to face with queer femme performers through large scale, color photographs framed inclassic, exhibition style. The exhibit reveals the intersections of gender identity, queerness, bodysize, race, and dis/ability. Femmes Front and Center, the written work, explores the history ofqueer performance culture from gay men and drag queens to drag kings to queer femme dragqueens. It theorizes that queer femme performers and dis/abled queer femmes are disruptingexisting paradigms of drag performance, gender identity, and body acceptance. http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/64058 Title: Relish the Lick<br/><br/>Authors: Stern, Lindsay Anne<br/><br/>Abstract: Relish the Lick is a series of collages of human and animal bodies that explorethe emotional frictions of interpersonal relationships that begin around the kitchentable. The images’ ambiguous narratives are revealed within the composition of thefigures themselves, which are predominantly constructed of food imagery. Thiswork calls into question how people physically and emotionally feed off each other.Archetypal relationships, hierarchies of power and vulnerability, beauty and thegrotesque, as well as dinner and dessert play parts in this visual theater. Organizedin nearly empty environments, providing the most minimal of contexts, these storiesare anywhere and everywhere. This MFA thesis document discusses the imagescreated for Relish the Lick and reflects on the artistic, cultural, and textual influencesfor this body of work. http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/64057 Title: Articulating Things Into Existence<br/><br/>Authors: Stewart, Ann<br/><br/>Abstract: Through the act of drawing, the researcher explores the process of making sense ofmaking sense as well as the relationship between seeing and knowing. Pulling fromthe disciplines of art, cognitive science, philosophy, and architecture, this thesislooks at how the artist observes, constructs, and analyzes her surroundings as wellas the artwork she creates from her investigation. A meticulous mark makingand process driven working practice is the foundation for her work, which aims togive permanence to the fleeting process of perception. http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/64056 Title: The Distance of Horizon<br/><br/>Authors: Meier, Catherine<br/><br/>Abstract: “Open Space” is a phrase that describes both an idea and a particular juxtapositionof earth and sky, a state of mind and a state of being. This work addresses severalquestions about this idea. How is open space experienced, particularly in landscapes suchas The Great Plains or the Mongolian steppe? How can the distance between the external,physical landscape of the earth and the internal, intricate landscape of the human mind beunderstood? How can this understanding be expressed in visual artistic form? How canthe personal experience of the artist that is implicitly tied to space, time, place, and scalebe recreated and extended so that others can experience it?Personal experiences and memories of growing up in Nebraska, working as atruck driver on The Great Plains, and a journey to the Mongolian steppe are all exploredin this work. The reaction to both interior and exterior open space and landscape areinvestigated with these personal narratives as the starting point. It is shown how theopenness of landscapes can cause one to travel to the smallest and most segmented ofplaces, and then journey back out again. This work also presents other artist’s responsesto openness and vastness. It addresses how the simplicity and complexity of openness asexperienced in landscape can be expressed visually and extended from the personal to theuniversal.