Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MFA

College

College of Creative Arts

Department

Painting

Committee Chair

Naijun Zhang

Committee Co-Chair

Hannah Freeman

Committee Member

Eve Faulkes

Committee Member

Dylan Collins

Abstract

This written document is the accompanying thesis for my Master of Fine Arts exhibition - Disquiet Depictions. Presented within the exhibition was a collection of paintings, ranging from acrylic to mixed media. As someone living with both anxiety and panic disorder the symptoms that I have experienced, as well as the coping mechanisms that I have practiced, all influenced the paintings displayed within this exhibition. Imagery included self-portraiture across a variety of emotional expressions felt during moments of sporadic fear and happiness, vibrant geometric patterns serving therapeutic purposes, and subtle medication symbolism. Collectively, these paintings provide a visual journey into the realm of mental health by creating a chronicle of the internal and external disturbances experienced by an individual, only to be alleviated by the act of artmaking. Through observing these works the audience can begin to consider how academic art and therapeutic art co-function in order to convey a personal message across all environments that harbor creative expression, therefore extinguishing the stigma that may come from the public display of distress; if compassion or rejection is projected at the individual on a basis of normality, and if their coping mechanism valid.

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