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Colorado State University. Libraries

Garden of the mind

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Life is an ongoing process. My philosophy of life is based on a feeling of temporary presence. I don't seek immortality; instead, I desire a life of rural simplicity. For the past three years, I have experienced the unique life situation of living far away from my motherland of Taiwan. Exploring the American continent and recalling my past memories and experiences have formed the reality of my existence here. I am interested in presenting feelings and thoughts in a metaphorical way. Garden of the Mind, a metaphorical environment, is filled with carefully composed objects. The idea of creating these objects comes from the emotional aspects of my life experiences, such as my hopes and fears. In this garden, nothing is perfect. Objects here were created and arranged to reveal the reality of my life experiences as a whole. In order to convey the concept of modifying natural resources into cultural objects, I combined organic and human-made materials. Branch and root came from the physical context of nature, and were engaged with human-made objects such as light bulb, cardboard, and cloth. The choice of materials allows me to examine how I feel about the surroundings. For example, I use cardboard as a medium to express a feeling of temporary presence. On the other hand, the choice of colors represents my awareness of some specific colors. For instance, I use blue in my light bulb piece, Blue, to convey my perception of the universe. As a result, the ongoing process of life's struggles and changes allows me to examine myself. The choice of life's struggles and changes, and the choice of materials and colors have become the most important aspects of my creation. To keep an eye on the wonders of life, I don't seek immortality but a life of rural simplicity.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)
Level thesis:degree_level
Masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Art
Grantor dc:publisher
Colorado State University. Libraries
Year dc:date.issued
1998

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Authors dc:creator
  • Wang, Yaw-Jun, author
  • Voss, Gary Wayne, advisor
  • Lundberg, Thomas R., committee member
  • Frickman, Linda, committee member
  • Bowman, James P., committee member

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
Language dc:language.iso
eng, English

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:mountainscholar.org:10217/171877

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Colorado State University
Base URL
api.mountainscholar.org/server/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-27
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Wang, Yaw-Jun, author; Voss, Gary Wayne, advisor; Lundberg, Thomas R., committee member; Frickman, Linda, committee member; Bowman, James P., committee member. Garden of the mind. Masters thesis, Colorado State University. Libraries, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10217/171877