Master's Theses

Department

Art

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Abstract

My sculptural practice is rooted in the belief that humans and nature are not separate, but deeply interwoven. I create immersive installations that embody cycles of life, death, and transformation; spaces where spiritual and material realities coexist in tension and harmony. Through cast metal, organic materials, and fabricated forms, I channel archetypal symbols from mythology, ritual, and the collective unconscious to create environments that speak to both personal and universal experience.

During my time at Fort Hays State University, I developed a body of work grounded in installation and cast metal. I forged branches, flowers, and leaves from steel, and cast human hearts, skulls, birds, butterflies, and serpents - each form contributing to a mythological ecology that unfolds across the gallery. These sculptural environments serve as maps of transformation, guiding viewers through grief, rebirth, and spiritual awakening. Throughout Creatura, fragmented human forms such as hands and arms, skulls, feet, and hearts merge with wings, vines, antlers, and flowers, evoking metamorphosis and the threshold between worlds.

Creatura, a term from Carl Jung’s Seven Sermons to the Dead, represents the realm of duality, imperfection, and embodied consciousness; the soul bound to Earth, the universe experiencing itself. My work resides in this liminal space where life and death, memory and presence, spirit and body coexist.

The exhibition unfolds across two rooms: one filled with natural light and the expansive energy of life, the other a dimly lit sanctuary for grief and remembrance. In the light-filled space, Bird’s Eye View, a central spiral staircase with forged branches, flowers, and leaves, offers a vantage point over the mythological ecology below. A cast hand appears to drag a moss and dirt covered blanket into the wall (Earthbound and Elsewhere), beginning a spiral path of transformation. Along this path, hollow cast feet filled with real flowers and rooted with forged metal (Grounded) walk inwards, anchoring the viewer to the Earth while inviting reflection on the spiritual journey.

In the darker room, works like Grandma’s Hands installation and a cast iron guitar surrounded by monarchs (See You Next Lifetime) become offerings of memory and love. The hanger installation honors my grandmother’s hand-knitted hangers, some recreated in metal and suspended with cast butterfly silhouettes, as personal relics and sacred objects. I inherited the guitar from my cousin Nick after he passed away.

This body of work is both deeply personal and mythologically universal. It speaks to the brokenness and beauty of being human; our longing to root, to bloom, to fly, and to remember. My practice is not just about what is seen, but what is felt: the weight of memory, the pulse of the Earth, and the flicker of something beyond.

Keywords

metal casting, cast iron art, nature, sculpture, art

Advisor

Tobias Flores

Date of Award

Spring 2025

Document Type

MFA Portfolio

Rights

© The Author

Download


Share

COinS