Matching Items (13)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: art
- Creators: Button, Melissa
- Status: Published
Description
I saw a Dove ad called "Real Beauty Sketches" where a group of women described themselves to a sketch artist, and then a complete stranger described them to the same artist. By the end of the ad, it's apparent that the women, when describing themselves, were very critical of all their features. When total strangers described them the resulting portrait was more beautiful to the women. The take-away from the campaign was that others see more beauty in you than you do in yourself. I explored that idea through my thesis. My aim in this project was to learn to see the beauty in myself through personal artistic expression. I completed a series of self-portraits; for about four months straight I drew one portrait of myself every single day. I also recorded my thoughts in a diary entry as I drew my portrait, hoping to capture my emotions and moods during that day. The resulting outcome of my creative project is twofold. The physical outcome is about 100 self-portraits and daily diary entries that represent the creative thesis project I pursued. The second outcome cannot be physically seen. I have discovered more about myself in four months than I have in twenty years. I have begun to see myself differently, and positively. This thesis project turned into a journey of self-exploration, and I'm looking forward to what the future holds for me.
ContributorsRao, Rachana Sai (Author) / Hood, Mary (Thesis director) / Button, Melissa (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
How do we visualize environments outside our solar system? I have researched two very alien planets and their compositions with the goal of finding out how those differences would affect the way a planet appears on its surface. The first is a planet orbiting the nearby G type star Tau Ceti. This star has Mg/Si ratio of 1.78, compared to 1.2 found on the Earth. A planet formed around this star could have a very active surface, covered in volcanoes. The other planet is a hypothetical carbon planet that could orbit the star HD 144899. This star has a C/O ratio of 0.8, compared to 0.5 in the Sun. A planet formed here might be comprised mostly of carbides, with a hydrocarbon atmosphere. It would likely be geologically dead, the main forces shaping its surface being meteorites. Both planets, due to their extremes, would likely be barren and lifeless. The results of this project are two digital paintings showcasing my vision of these planets.
ContributorsGonzales, Joshua Michael (Author) / Young, Patrick (Thesis director) / Patience, Jennifer (Committee member) / Button, Melissa (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
My work focuses on the themes of grief, closure, and celebration of life. Life is a catalyst both celebration and grief. Feeling joy when a life is introduced is as common as feeling pain when a life is lost. When I lost my maternal grandmother nearly a year ago, I felt grief accompanied with guilt. I never got a chance to say goodbye since we lived so far apart, her residing in the Philippines and me residing in the United States. In order to get rid of these negative emotions, I sought closure. I attended her funeral, and now I want to celebrate her life through my artwork.
My work comes in two parts: an illustration book titled The Butanding and an illustration exhibition. The book will be published through lulu.com and made available to the public. The exhibition component will be held from March 2nd to March 6th in Gallery 100 as part of my senior exhibition Post Pre-Production with six other colleagues in the School of Art. The illustration book is a narration of a little girl and her growing friendship with a whale shark. The overarching theme of the creative project is closure with the passing away of loved ones.
The Butanding is a narrative illustration book about a young girl befriending the local menace of her village, the whale shark. Similar to my own experience, the main subject—the young girl—of my narrative is shown suffering from grief and guilt over her grandmother’s death. My work illustrates a progression of the young girl’s emotional state as she goes on a journey with the whale shark or locally known in the Philippines as the “butanding”. It provides the scenario of a grieving individual who gets the chance to reconnect with a deceased loved one and rebuild relationships that were lost.
My work comes in two parts: an illustration book titled The Butanding and an illustration exhibition. The book will be published through lulu.com and made available to the public. The exhibition component will be held from March 2nd to March 6th in Gallery 100 as part of my senior exhibition Post Pre-Production with six other colleagues in the School of Art. The illustration book is a narration of a little girl and her growing friendship with a whale shark. The overarching theme of the creative project is closure with the passing away of loved ones.
The Butanding is a narrative illustration book about a young girl befriending the local menace of her village, the whale shark. Similar to my own experience, the main subject—the young girl—of my narrative is shown suffering from grief and guilt over her grandmother’s death. My work illustrates a progression of the young girl’s emotional state as she goes on a journey with the whale shark or locally known in the Philippines as the “butanding”. It provides the scenario of a grieving individual who gets the chance to reconnect with a deceased loved one and rebuild relationships that were lost.
ContributorsSydiongco, Hannah Gloria (Author) / Solis, Forrest (Thesis director) / Drum, Meredith (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Curative arts and art therapy have been increasingly implicated in promoting health and well-being for patients, but little research has been done for the benefits of drawing therapy for stress management or individuals in a non-diseased state. College students and healthcare professionals are particularly susceptible to high levels of stress, as I experienced firsthand as a medical scribe in the Emergency Room during my undergraduate experience. For this reason, I wanted to focus on using curative arts as a mediator for high-stress situations. My creative project is therefore a portable framework for curative drawing. The framework is designed to help people process complex emotional states in a more effective way using mark-making and color. Specifically, the framework is designed for those who have limited experience with art making but can be used by anyone who feels a need for curative drawing. I used this framework in both individual and group settings, culminating in a final gallery show in which viewers were able to participate in the framework and take home a booklet with the framework printed inside. In conjunction with outside research, the help of my thesis committee, and the students of Drawing and Painting as Seeing and Thinking, the final project can be viewed as one part of the intersection between art and medicine in our ever-changing healthcare environment.
ContributorsCadigan, Megan Sierra (Author) / Button, Melissa (Thesis director) / Belgrave, Melita (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Human nature drives us to focus primarily on the present or near-future, instead of considering what consequences our actions may have many years from now. However, in a new era that is increasingly dominated by humans and their ambitions, this tendency has destructive repercussions on the very environment that once supported and nurtured humankind. Wild animals are highly susceptible to human activities that damage ecosystems, and a loss of animal diversity can have unforeseen consequences on future human populations. In the research, I examine the avoidable reasons for the severe decline in population of four animal species, and through my art, imagine the losses associated with their disappearance. The artwork created evokes an emotional response in the viewer through dramatic, contrasting imagery, making them reassess the relationship between humans, animals and the environment.
ContributorsJudge, Nicole (Author) / Button, Melissa (Thesis director) / Hogden, Heidi (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Anthropomorphic animal characters are common in animation, but there is limited data on the factors that contribute to such a trend. I studied how animated animals in popular movies look and behave like humans, and what that indicates about us that we prefer them that way. My study was conducted via literature review, film review, facial measurements, and the creation of my own character. I discovered the physical importance of eyes in proportion to the rest of the face and the emotional importance of those animals acting as metaphors for us as humans.
ContributorsEhuan, Ariana Jade (Author) / Adamson, Joni (Thesis director) / Drum, Meredith (Committee member) / Fisher, Rebecca (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
My creative project involved the creation of a short, abstract animation set to EDM music. It's meant to mimic the graphics displayed in the background of EDM concerts and was inspired by Beeple and the graphics he designed for EDM artist, Zedd. Under the guidance of my director, Meredith Drum, and with help from my second committee member, Muriel Magenta, I was able to use Audacity to edit the music, Autodesk Maya 2016 to model and animate the animation, the HIDA render farm to render the frames using Maya Software and mentalray, Adobe After Effects CC to assemble and edit the animation, and Adobe Media Encoder to export the end product. The final animation included 20,855 individual frames, totaling to 14 minutes and 28 seconds in length. The project takes the viewer through seven worlds to express the idea of feeling isolated in your home, exploring the world, and then returning home with a new perspective. Each world evokes a different emotion through the interaction of its visual and audio design to allow the viewer to experience the intended storyline without explicit characters or plot detail. Due to the importance of maintaining plot flow, I utilized beautiful, yet difficult, design elements including glass textures, ocean shaders, and paint effects to create drastically different world designs specific to each song. These songs were chosen from a variety of EDM artists and edited to flow together seamlessly through each world and evoke a different emotion. Throughout the thesis process, I gained more skills in animation and editing and greatly improved my ability to use each application. While there is plenty of room to grow, I have improved exponentially as an artist from when I began this project to the moment I completed it.
ContributorsMallik, Ajanta Angie (Author) / Drum, Meredith (Thesis director) / Magenta, Muriel (Committee member) / The Design School (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
DescriptionThrough artist book, printed photographs, paintings, writing, and web design, August Tang deconstructed their identity as a nonbinary person. Both educational and expressive, the creative project was a manifestation of a coming out journey, affirmation of gender identity, and experiences relating to gender with friends, family, and strangers.
ContributorsTang, August B (Author) / Button, Melissa (Thesis director) / Sanft, Alfred (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
To many, South Phoenix has a negative reputation of being an area full of crime, drugs and poverty. Throughout its foundation, South Phoenix has experienced many changes that have affected the quality of life of its people. The purpose of this creative project was to portray the history of South Phoenix through mural paintings. This thesis, explores a creative proposal to bring history-based murals on the streets of South Phoenix. Three large-scale paintings were created during this creative project, all corresponding with a segment of history of South Phoenix that has been forgotten by the community and the greater Phoenix area. Through this thesis, the author aims to instill a positive image of hope and determination that this community has demonstrated despite the many challenges they faced. Consequently, the author's intent is to one day carry out these projects on the streets of South Phoenix.
ContributorsTorres, Adrian (Author) / Pomilio, Mark (Thesis director) / Button, Melissa (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The aim of this creative project was to explore the ideas of impermanence and transience through the lens of different, largely non-western cultural backgrounds, and to incorporate what I learned into my own work as a painter. As part of this, I focused on the materials, techniques, visual strategies, and philosophies that guided the creation of these works. The project consisted of a discrete research phase, during which time I gathered information and materials related to my topic, and a creation phase, when I focused largely on the production of oil paintings and ink paintings whose technique and/or subject matter pertained to impermanence. Research for the most part was conducted by utilizing online and physical collections of work to analyze the formal elements of the work along with the cultural context in which it was created. Ultimately the creative project resulted in a product of three oil paintings and five ink paintings.
ContributorsLewis, Evan G (Author) / Button, Melissa (Thesis director) / Schoebel, Henry (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05