Fine Arts

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/9878

This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Fine Arts.

Research outputs are organized by type (eg. Master Thesis, Article, Conference Paper).

Waterloo faculty, students, and staff can contact us or visit the UWSpace guide to learn more about depositing their research.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 82

An Exhibition of Painting, Sculpture and Video
(University of Waterloo, 1997) Baker, Charles
This M. F. A. thesis exhibition consists of painting, sculpture, and video completed over the last five months. In support of the exhibition, an artist's statement outlines my exploration of the interaction between artist and audience, stylization and mass production of image.
ULTRA
(University of Waterloo, 2006) Blunt, Gregory
This thesis paper is meant to serve as a supporting document for a thesis exhibition that was held the University of Waterloo Art Gallery. The show consisted of paintings on Plexiglas and sculptural installations with fluorescent lights. The aesthetic style of my paintings makes a strong reference to the visual vocabulary of computer software. More specifically, it mimics architectural computer vector graphics from the 1980s. There is a visual metaphor created in my paintings where it blueprint drawing has 'evolved' into computer vector graphics, ultimately though, nothing has changed. The images are still hand drafted with pencils and then hand painted. The lexicon of digital software is appropriated, but by transferring the images from the virtual space of the screen to a literal three-dimensional space, the meaning is discarded. They become generalized abstract signs that retain their connotations, but not their meaning and function. The work thus makes a simple point in its refusal to 'get digital. ' There is a fetishization of technology, yet simultaneously a refusal of it. Other concerns that I deal with in my work and thesis paper, include notions of good and bad taste, kitsch and the Camp aesthetic, science-fiction, nostalgia, representations of the 'future,' Suprematist painting, Minimalism, Design, and the utopian ideals of Modernism.
Eternal Recurrence: String Theory
(University of Waterloo, 2007-05-15T20:36:00Z) Rizzo, Richard Joseph
The work in this exhibition is the result of philosophical contemplation and the concepts that followed from these moments. The moment that we find ourselves conscious, the moment in which we inhale or exhale is the focus of this work. Through the materiality and physicality of paint, I explore this moment. Paint thus acts as a metaphor for my body, having set parameters that dictate its cause and effect. The very nature of painting; its essence, is the moment of state change from a fluid material to a solid state. I use the method of process and tools that I invent to help express these concerns of eternal recurrence. I make paintings that make space visible and invisible.
BORDERLINES
(University of Waterloo, 2007-05-17T20:30:35Z) Skensved, Emmy
This thesis paper is the supporting document for an exhibition that was held at the University of Waterloo art Gallery. The show consisted of a series of large scale acrylic paintings on canvas. Through my paintings I deal with the current role that pattern, ornament and decoration play in our society today. My work is also concerned with the concept of the painting as a decorative object in and of itself. Our understanding of the terms ornament, embellishment and decoration have changed considerably throughout history, being defined and re-defined time and time again. Moreover, we have yet to come to a definitive explanation for the existence of ornament and decoration. The persistence of ornamental motifs throughout time, as well as their continued presence in contemporary visual culture, evidences the fact that this subject requires further investigation. As such, I have chosen to explore this through my paintings. I alter the palette, composition and medium of my source imagery in order to re-present these familiar motifs in a manner that encourages the viewer to regard them anew. In doing this, I explore ornament’s potential as a relevant visual language within contemporary western culture.
A Many Splendored Thing
(University of Waterloo, 2007-05-18T19:03:06Z) Bush, Stephanie
A Many Splendored Thing is a summation of my artistic production during my masters.
Tenderly and Fearfully Made
(University of Waterloo, 2007-05-23T13:01:47Z) Stafrace, Dawn M.
This paper is a reflection on my research into line in space, and how the contemporary Modernist white cube gallery operates as a inhabited space for this research.
Flat Places and Dynamic Spaces
(University of Waterloo, 2008-05-06T16:19:21Z) Olley, James
As found in modern art and architecture during the 1950’s and 1960’s, North Americans were conditioned through advertising and media to adopt modernism as a new and better way of life. Modernist styles such as Abstract Expressionism were promoted as leading edge ways to make art that defined American culture. In architecture, modernism infiltrated the development of suburbs and represented a way of life that promoted consumerism, leisure and the nuclear family. Much of the urban and suburban spaces we live in have been influenced by modernism. I am interested in exploring the vocabulary of modernist abstraction through the language of contemporary figuration. I am influenced by late modernist Formalism, colour field painting, gestural mark making and Abstract Expressionism.
The Trumpets
(University of Waterloo, 2008-05-07T14:51:31Z) McKnight-MacNeil, Cameron Damar
The work of my MFA thesis exhibition comes directly out of the physical processes that constitute my studio practice. It is work that embodies the labour of my hands and the decisions that guided them in their struggle with unfamiliar materials. Drawing inspiration from subjects as diverse as physics and fiction to create a sculptural arrangement, the work is intended to engage with its audience in an active way through acoustic appropriation and physical presence. As an artist, I set up an environment to be explored, establishing boundaries and also possibilities.
Fragmenting the Landscape
(University of Waterloo, 2008-05-09T13:25:09Z) Roznowski, Joanna
My paintings are done from my memory of nature experienced at different moments in time and place in Canada and Europe, discovered during my frequent travels. Colour, light, movement, smell and sound recalled in memory, lead to abstract formulations in which an expressive softness is mixed with harsh reality.
Word Birds
(University of Waterloo, 2008-05-14T19:12:45Z) Switzer, Amy Elizabeth
This paper is intended to serve as a supporting document for the exhibition Word Birds that was held at the Render Gallery at the University of Waterloo, April 22-27, 2008. The drawing and sculpture in this exhibition attempt to address the complex relationship humans have with animals and the ways we have charged them with symbolic and anthropomorphic characteristics. The work examines the human tendency to observe, name, and ascribe meaning to animals and speaks to the connection between natural history and human nature. The narrative element of the work is derived from a variety of sources including observation, philosophical speculation, and literary sources.
Drawing Lines
(University of Waterloo, 2008-05-22T20:04:01Z) Raciborski, Monika Julia
My work uses process as a course of action that marks the death of moments through a continuous stream of consciousness. I metaphorically link disparate pieces of information to the human condition in order to present multiple readings through juxtaposition. I assemble both abstract and figurative subject matter in a collage-like manner through methods of cropping and fragmentation to symbolize the disjuncture I feel is indicative of how we experience the world through short-lived thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Transitions
(University of Waterloo, 2008-05-23T14:37:23Z) Magas-Zamaria, Daria
Transitions is a three part series, examining themes which define our human condition. Utilizing traditional, digital, and interactive media, including sound, video, clay, paper, polyvoile material, and electronic devices, I create responsive installation environments that allow me to share my personal stories with those of the viewers. Collaboratively and co-creatively we examine issues of existence, self-awareness, and embodied spatiality within an arena that incorporates stories, memories and histories. As the viewer engages and participates in the work, they become the conduit between the brief moments of the present and the fragmented illusory images of the past.
Collective Case Studies
(University of Waterloo, 2009-02-20T16:27:17Z) Beniston, Susan
This paper is intended to serve as a supporting document for the exhibition Collective Case Studies that was held in The Gallery, at Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. In Collective Case Studies, the head sculptures act as blank slates for my expression of personality archetypes. They embody a longstanding interest in the psyche, character and identity that continues to influence my art-making practice. These sculptures introduce a particular personality trait or present a case study to make human idiosyncrasies manifest in visual terms, both individually and relationally. Collectively, the works are inspired by psycho-social aspects of personality, including archetypes and stereotypes, in the past and present time. The leading sources for my work are psychological, cross-cultural and empirical.
The Museum of Me (MoMe)
(University of Waterloo, 2009-04-27T13:49:25Z) Overhill, Heidi Ellis
In this project, Heidi Overhill explores her own home as a case study of the roles played by objects in the expression of self; as a microcosm of meaning in material culture. By examining her different kinds of collections through contemporary methodologies of museum collections management, she seeks to better understand herself, the collections, and the methodology of museum collecting in general. The exhibition focuses on the accessioning of the permanent collections, and provides a gift shop where visitors may purchase postcards and other souvenirs.
LOCATE/DISLOCATE: An Exhibition of Haiku Videos
(University of Waterloo, 2009-05-06T13:14:27Z) Carney, J. Colin
My work is concerned with perception and presentness. Using digital video I am employing a notion of “perceptualism” put forward by artist Jack Chambers. Acknowledging HD television and high speed internet, this work challenges the pace and expectations of a contemporary screen event. It ranges in focus from the domestic to the rural, the intimate and sublime. These works, structured in various conceptual configurations of the 5 - 7 - 5 haiku poem, form an immersive gallery installation. Seventeen haiku videos in this series stretch a primary perceptual impact of various circumstances using superimpositions and quick edits in order to reconsider an immediate present and evoke a sense of wonder.
No Peace - A Drawing Installation
(University of Waterloo, 2009-05-06T19:31:41Z) Samocha, Ram
This paper is intended to serve as a supporting document for the exhibition "No Peace" that was held at the Artery Gallery, 158 King St. W, Kitchener, ON, Canada, March 28 - April 18, 2009. This drawing installation presents the emotional restlessness of an immigrant who lives in a peaceful place but at the same time is tormented by the ongoing war in his homeland. The drawings make use of the vocabulary of abstraction while presenting the physical process of a repetitive line-based action. The work does not illustrate a political narrative but reflect on recent global issues by using the personal language of art. The No Peace installation combines drawing with video, animation, and performance in the hope of gaining a more communicative interaction with the viewer.
PERFORMATIVE GESTURES An Exhibition of Painting
(University of Waterloo, 2009-05-07T14:00:51Z) Urbanski, Miranda
My painted self-portraiture explores identity as changing social performance or masquerade and examines bodily flesh as the vital interface for reciprocal encounter on life’s stage. The larger-than-life sized images demand viewer attention and compel intersubjective engagement. The works also affirm artistic agency and subjective presence through gestural brushwork and the vivifying power of oil paint. Hybridity and ambiguity in the images suggest the dynamic and reflexive nature of identity. A theatrical colour palette further reinforces the notion of identity as social performance or masquerade. Conceptually the works are rooted in both post-modern feminism and phenomenology. Artistically they draw inspiration from contemporary figurative painters and portraitists who use this medium and genre to navigate the boundaries of self and society.
Based on a True Story
(University of Waterloo, 2009-05-19T15:28:38Z) Everingham, Scott
The paintings in Based on a True Story are at once illogical and concrete – implying both failure and the hope of figurative and architectural construction. Developed as a kind of psychological landscape, they suggest a depiction of contemporary societal / political, and environmental instability. Neither true nor false: the paintings are spaces in which one may become dislocated, anxious, and unsettled. Inclusion of architectural fenestration suggests one’s fractured location and continually shifting ground. Furthermore, literary and cinematic fiction plays an important role to the work in that they both suggest landscapes that may never exist literally. Fiction is also indicative of the close relationship between the utopia and dystopia as environments for escape. This sense of balance or lack thereof, becomes important to the development of the theatrically absurd, so that an audience may be implicated as the tragic and comic active participant. While investigating the work of Peter Doig, Stephen Bush, and Dana Schutz, for example, I suggest that the trail of the painter’s hand becomes a necessary mode of entrance into the work, offering a closer relationship to the act of painting as another form of escape. This gestural mark-making runs counter to current pushes toward technology, and suggests the re-emergence of painting as a primary approach in which to investigate the development of personal space and experience.
The Maturity Playground
(University of Waterloo, 2009-05-21T15:26:27Z) Quagliotto, Nathalie
Within the context of relational art, the ongoing series, Maturity Playground, incorporates pre-fabricated playground components used as sculptural material. The use of slides, swings, trampolines, and merry-go-rounds has been disrupted. These structures are manipulated through placement and colour to the point where they become socially tense or awkward situations for adults. Playground structures in the art gallery subvert conventional notions of art, the understanding of appropriate behavior in an art environment and the understanding of play as an aesthetic element. Such re-placement creates a disruption to the psychological associations attached to the activity of the object. In this new context, the works allow participation and promote the idea that play can be a model for co-operative behavior.
Is There No One In The World Who Can Fly
(University of Waterloo, 2010-05-06T21:01:56Z) Marie, Dyan
The exhibition Is There No One in the World Who Can Fly? consists of three connected bodies of works. Life On Earth is a series of photo-performances exhibited on digital screens. Some of the images are still others are animated; they all propose that the body is a transmitter that breaths in content and breaths it out as a visual shape in the form of extensions, armatures or expulsions. Mammal is a large-scale video projection of a multi-breasted female figure projected on a free-standing wall. The breasts are animated and stretch out to explore and search the surrounding space. Worknest is a series of videos about the act of working which are projected onto the floor and appear as a community of guarded openings into tunnels beneath the ground.

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