The Touching Rooms are a place of encounter between the living and the dead. We traverse the stages of grief through memory, dreams and magical realism, through language and music. In this work, I explore how paying attention, the art of seeing and describing, helps us through deep loss. Our daily rituals and everyday goodbyes are practice for the larger departures from our lives. In the series \"The Touching Rooms,\" there is a mysterious town in Denmark where we may meet our dead beloveds. In a café of many dark rooms, objects and art, books and conversations, spark memory and carve portals for connection and healing. There is no real closure, we simply grow new chambers in the heart to carry grief with us in meaningful ways.
","abstract_html":"<p>The Touching Rooms are a place of encounter between the living and the dead. We traverse the stages of grief through memory, dreams and magical realism, through language and music. In this work, I explore how paying attention, the art of seeing and describing, helps us through deep loss. Our daily rituals and everyday goodbyes are practice for the larger departures from our lives. In the series "The Touching Rooms," there is a mysterious town in Denmark where we may meet our dead beloveds. In a café of many dark rooms, objects and art, books and conversations, spark memory and carve portals for connection and healing. There is no real closure, we simply grow new chambers in the heart to carry grief with us in meaningful ways.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mattheussens, Kimberly"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts (MFA)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"English and Theatre","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:00Z","subjects":["Creative Writing"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2022 Kimberly Mattheussens"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/741","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mattheussens, Kimberly"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2052-08-08T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English and Theatre"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Creative Writing"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2022 Kimberly Mattheussens"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/741"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The Touching Rooms are a place of encounter between the living and the dead. We traverse the stages of grief through memory, dreams and magical realism, through language and music. In this work, I explore how paying attention, the art of seeing and describing, helps us through deep loss. Our daily rituals and everyday goodbyes are practice for the larger departures from our lives. In the series \"The Touching Rooms,\" there is a mysterious town in Denmark where we may meet our dead beloveds. In a café of many dark rooms, objects and art, books and conversations, spark memory and carve portals for connection and healing. There is no real closure, we simply grow new chambers in the heart to carry grief with us in meaningful ways.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/PDF"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Touching Rooms"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Mattheussens, Kimberly"],"dc:date.available":["2052-08-08T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The Touching Rooms are a place of encounter between the living and the dead. We traverse the stages of grief through memory, dreams and magical realism, through language and music. In this work, I explore how paying attention, the art of seeing and describing, helps us through deep loss. Our daily rituals and everyday goodbyes are practice for the larger departures from our lives. In the series \"The Touching Rooms,\" there is a mysterious town in Denmark where we may meet our dead beloveds. In a café of many dark rooms, objects and art, books and conversations, spark memory and carve portals for connection and healing. There is no real closure, we simply grow new chambers in the heart to carry grief with us in meaningful ways.
"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/741"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2022 Kimberly Mattheussens"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Creative Writing"],"dc:title":["The Touching Rooms"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English and Theatre"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:00Z"}