Date of Graduation

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MFA

College

College of Creative Arts

Department

Art History

Committee Chair

Dylan Collins

Committee Co-Chair

Allison Helm

Committee Member

Jason Lee

Committee Member

Joseph Lupo

Abstract

This paper explores the research, artwork and processes that culminated in the "Oversized Load" Master Of Fine Arts thesis exhibition. I am examining the similarities between fear and perception of fictionalized monsters and how we label each other as humans. The fundamental question being, at what point does someone become the "other"? I look at both otherness and the grotesque in the context of body image. Both ostracization and cultural stigma are initiated by social shame. I see monsters as the physical manifestation of that shame. These feelings are closely tied to socially constructed gender norms and standards of beauty. This thesis discusses the analogy between monster mythology and contemporary body politics. It's those ideas that thread together the conceptual underpinnings and research of the "Oversized Load" exhibition.

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