Master's Theses

Department

Art

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Abstract

The work of the artist presented in this abstract is a result of much personal involvement with thoughts and ideas, and their development and expression. The work was directly and indirectly influenced by the artist's public and private environment, as well as by processes and materials. The results are based not only on immediate reactions but also on some from the artist's past relationships with life. The immediate problem which the artist finds necessary to struggle with involves a continuing development which is evident in her work. The early work presented is deeply ingrained in emotional content. Although it is also involved in the design elements, specifically formed, it stresses this emotional content and is biased toward it. Each piece of the earlier work is developed from an idea about some aspect of life, spiritual, inspirational, or secular; but all with a statement which has precedence over the thought of form or formal design elements. The human figure is involved in all of these works. Therefore, the emotional quality evolved from each would influence the viewer previous to his judgment of the form as an entity in itself. In solving the problem of developing a stronger concept of form which would be equal to the content of the piece of sculpture, the artist next shows a stage of divorcement from the human figure and a concentration on form itself. Although some subject matter is still used, the absence of the human figure helps the artist to concentrate on stronger form. These forms show an evolution which the artist feels will reinforce her creative work past the completion of this thesis. The final piece shown demonstrates basically how the artist begins to reincorporate the human figure in her work with a more developed continuity between content and form. The preliminary sketches are shown in evidence of a continuation of the necessity to combine the two elements. The techniques used in this thesis are all variations of the cire-perdue method. Some of the pieces were first modeled in clay and converted by means of a mold into wax while others were modeled directly in wax. The artist found the most freedom in the lost-styrofoam process which is similar to the direct wax cire-perdue method. All pieces were cast in metal; either bronze, brass, or silver. The standard investment was used in most cases while the newly-developed ceramic shell mold was used on others. Although the technical involvement is only secondary to the creative process, cast metal was found to be the best mode of expression for the artist. The development of a stronger consistency between content and form in the artist's work is a continuous process. It will not always be the conscious struggle that is presented here, but will develop into a freer, more unconscious act. This in itself will reinforce both elements and the continuity reached for in this thesis will be attained.

Keywords

Bronze castings, Brass, Silver, Sculpture, Handicraft, Creative ability, Fort Hays State University, Precision casting, Busts

Advisor

Dr. Joel C. Moss

Date of Award

Summer 1966

Document Type

Thesis - campus only access

Rights

© The Author(s)

Comments

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