Repository logo

Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/100332

Browse

Browsing Theses and Dissertations by Subject "Art -- Psychology"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    A search for spiritual integration
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 1997) Keyton, Lisa M., author; Yust, Dave, 1939-, advisor; Dietemann, David L., committee member; Gill, Ann M., committee member; Erskine, Nancy, committee member
    My paintings are about a spiritual journey. They act as a visual description as well as a vehicle for the journey itself. For me this journey has included an exploration of utopian visions and a spiritual ideal, as well as the struggle to integrate spirituality into my life. I consider contextual issues and the process of painting as being equally important and integral aspects of these paintings. Contextually this body of work represents an exploration into a "sense of place" and "ambiguous organic forms". This sense of place or environment is not physical, it is a phenomena I perceive while I am in a meditative state. The ambiguous organic forms in my paintings act as metaphors representing myself. Introducing these forms into a sense of place allows me to explore the relationship I have with my spiritual issues and my environment. For me the processes involved with painting helps facilitate the retrieval of memories, emotions and sensations, it soothes, stimulates and mesmerizes, creating a haven for expressing the inner recesses of my soul.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Experience and the reality of illusion
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2008) Velazquez, Cassidy Garhart, author; Yust, Dave, 1939-, advisor; Sullivan, Patrice M., advisor; Dicesare, Catherine R., committee member; Malpezzi Price, Paola, 1948-, committee member
    In my paintings I strive to reconcile ambivalent illusions in search of the reality in my own experience. My paintings are narratives about perception and how perception is the product of synchronized inner imaginings and physical experiences. Paint is the perfect medium for this investigation as it allows me to move fluidly between trompe l'oeil and abstract renderings. Both painting approaches are ambivalent in that they represent only themselves and at the same time, in my work, are symbols for something else. In my paintings, trompe l'oeil imagery symbolizes the physical experience and emphasizes how easily perception can be deceived while elements of abstraction attempt to give substance to the inner experience. In between these poles of extreme illusion and non-illusion, I explore the endless realm of referential representation. It is my intention to craft images that function, ambivalently, as both windows and mirrors. As windows, my work offers me, and hopefully others, an ulterior understanding of reality. As mirrors, I endeavor to create, for me and my audience, compositions that echo, literally and metaphorically, the hard and soft edges that also compose a thought-filled life.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Houses of transition
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 1993) McMurtry, Amy J., author; Yust, Dave, 1939-, advisor; Kwiatkowski, Ronald W., committee member; Dietemann, David L., committee member; Lehman, Jean P., committee member
    The body of work entitled "Houses of Transition" was the result of having undergone a profound personal change in my life; namely the birth of my daughter. These houses were created over a period of approximately a year and a half. At the time when all of these pieces were being created, My husband and I were experiencing either the emotional roller coaster known as pregnancy, or the first wonder-filled year of our daughter's life. For me, both events proved to be exhausting, exciting, and unfortunately somewhat disappointing. Throughout my life, I lived with the belief that once I was to become a mother, I would step back from my own life for a bit and take care of another full time. The realization that this was not possible left me initially angry, bitterly disappointed, but eventually lead to resolution of a significant life transition and acceptance of it. The house form became a metaphor bridging the gap between home which was where I wanted to be and the reality necessitated by my life. Color and shape process and textural composition are used to express the emotions of each stage of this transition. The result is a body of work which mirrors the emotional stages of this significant life change. It is immensely personal while at the same time is somehow universal in nature. All who have had a child understand the biological and spiritual longing to be with that other little person. And all who have been unable to fulfill this longing understand the pain of that separation. These houses of transition helped me to cope with and understand my own situation.