Term of Award

Spring 2015

Degree Name

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

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Art

Committee Chair

Jessica Burke

Committee Member 1

Julie McGuire

Committee Member 2

Marc Moulton

Abstract

The works in this series explore the application of Platonic binary oppositions of life/death and attraction/repulsion using Renaissance painting techniques that include the application of solvent and linseed oil glazes, as well as Galkyd Lite and MSA Gel, to assist in the realistic replication of the flesh of animals that meet death at the hand of humans, by attack of other animals, or through mishaps with motor vehicles. Informed by the work of Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger, Jan Fyt, Rembrandt van Rijn, Théodore Géricault, Francis Bacon, Joel-Peter Witkin, Walton Ford, Jenny Saville, and Victoria Reynolds, this study documents the evolution of the series from inspiration drawn from an analogy of human and animal suffering to a mature narrative based on formal aesthetics. Made poignant by the subtext of death, these paintings juxtapose the corrupt and vulnerable material body against the aesthetic rendering of nuanced values, patterns, and textures of viscera. The painting invites appreciation for the architecture of the animal body as well as Renaissance techniques employed in the creation of contemporary paintings.

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