{"id":{"repo_id":"mississippi","oai_identifier":"oai:egrove.olemiss.edu:etd-1285"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mississippi/oai:egrove.olemiss.edu:etd-1285","repository":{"repo_id":"mississippi","name":"University of Mississippi","base_url":"https://egrove.olemiss.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Liminal Space","abstract":"Liminal Space is an installation that records time between my son's removal from my life and present day. These pieces are the manifestation of hope and loss; they tell the story of my experience of motherhood. They track time through the repetition of form and have become a physical expression of the days that have elapsed in my life since I last saw my son. Liminal space is defined as the space in-between a boundary or a threshold. In this work, I pose the questions: Can liminal space be crossed? How large can this space become? In anthropology, liminality is often considered a rite of passage or a middle ground between two events. I am infinitely stuck in a state of liminality because of my son's absence in my life; I cannot cross the threshold to see him. I am investigating time through multiple slip castings in clay. The repetition and use of clay as a material allows me to physically mark my memory in space. I am using children's toy trains as a symbol for this memory in order to provide a direct connection between childhood and adulthood, child and parent, as well as the past and the present. The use of clay is rooted in my background as a potter. I came into graduate school expecting and anticipating to be exploring pottery, however, as I progressed through the program, I found that using pots as vehicle for my evolving narrative was not working. The experiences of loss in my life became so overwhelming that I needed a therapeutic way to digest them. At first, making tiny plates that I could throw quickly and repetitively became a release for me. After processing those forms as wall pieces, I felt the need for the object itself to become the vehicle. This change led me to installation, which has opened up a more direct avenue for expressing my ideas. Ultimately, these choices have produced this thesis as the most honest and paired down version of itself. It is a materialization of the liminal space that continues to expand in my life.","abstract_html":"Liminal Space is an installation that records time between my son's removal from my life and present day. These pieces are the manifestation of hope and loss; they tell the story of my experience of motherhood. They track time through the repetition of form and have become a physical expression of the days that have elapsed in my life since I last saw my son. Liminal space is defined as the space in-between a boundary or a threshold. In this work, I pose the questions: Can liminal space be crossed? How large can this space become? In anthropology, liminality is often considered a rite of passage or a middle ground between two events. I am infinitely stuck in a state of liminality because of my son's absence in my life; I cannot cross the threshold to see him. I am investigating time through multiple slip castings in clay. The repetition and use of clay as a material allows me to physically mark my memory in space. I am using children's toy trains as a symbol for this memory in order to provide a direct connection between childhood and adulthood, child and parent, as well as the past and the present. The use of clay is rooted in my background as a potter. I came into graduate school expecting and anticipating to be exploring pottery, however, as I progressed through the program, I found that using pots as vehicle for my evolving narrative was not working. The experiences of loss in my life became so overwhelming that I needed a therapeutic way to digest them. At first, making tiny plates that I could throw quickly and repetitively became a release for me. After processing those forms as wall pieces, I felt the need for the object itself to become the vehicle. This change led me to installation, which has opened up a more direct avenue for expressing my ideas. Ultimately, these choices have produced this thesis as the most honest and paired down version of itself. It is a materialization of the liminal space that continues to expand in my life.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Truman, Sara Beth"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.F.A. in Art","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Matt Long","Lou Haney","Katherine Fields"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:05:22Z","subjects":["Ceramics","Fine Arts"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/286","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Matt Long","Lou Haney","Katherine Fields"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Truman, Sara Beth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.F.A. in Art"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Ceramics","Fine Arts"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/286"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Liminal Space is an installation that records time between my son's removal from my life and present day. These pieces are the manifestation of hope and loss; they tell the story of my experience of motherhood. They track time through the repetition of form and have become a physical expression of the days that have elapsed in my life since I last saw my son. Liminal space is defined as the space in-between a boundary or a threshold. In this work, I pose the questions: Can liminal space be crossed? How large can this space become? In anthropology, liminality is often considered a rite of passage or a middle ground between two events. I am infinitely stuck in a state of liminality because of my son's absence in my life; I cannot cross the threshold to see him. I am investigating time through multiple slip castings in clay. The repetition and use of clay as a material allows me to physically mark my memory in space. I am using children's toy trains as a symbol for this memory in order to provide a direct connection between childhood and adulthood, child and parent, as well as the past and the present. The use of clay is rooted in my background as a potter. I came into graduate school expecting and anticipating to be exploring pottery, however, as I progressed through the program, I found that using pots as vehicle for my evolving narrative was not working. The experiences of loss in my life became so overwhelming that I needed a therapeutic way to digest them. At first, making tiny plates that I could throw quickly and repetitively became a release for me. After processing those forms as wall pieces, I felt the need for the object itself to become the vehicle. This change led me to installation, which has opened up a more direct avenue for expressing my ideas. Ultimately, these choices have produced this thesis as the most honest and paired down version of itself. It is a materialization of the liminal space that continues to expand in my life."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Liminal Space"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Matt Long","Lou Haney","Katherine Fields"],"dc:creator":["Truman, Sara Beth"],"dc:date.available":["2019-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Liminal Space is an installation that records time between my son's removal from my life and present day. These pieces are the manifestation of hope and loss; they tell the story of my experience of motherhood. They track time through the repetition of form and have become a physical expression of the days that have elapsed in my life since I last saw my son. Liminal space is defined as the space in-between a boundary or a threshold. In this work, I pose the questions: Can liminal space be crossed? How large can this space become? In anthropology, liminality is often considered a rite of passage or a middle ground between two events. I am infinitely stuck in a state of liminality because of my son's absence in my life; I cannot cross the threshold to see him. I am investigating time through multiple slip castings in clay. The repetition and use of clay as a material allows me to physically mark my memory in space. I am using children's toy trains as a symbol for this memory in order to provide a direct connection between childhood and adulthood, child and parent, as well as the past and the present. The use of clay is rooted in my background as a potter. I came into graduate school expecting and anticipating to be exploring pottery, however, as I progressed through the program, I found that using pots as vehicle for my evolving narrative was not working. The experiences of loss in my life became so overwhelming that I needed a therapeutic way to digest them. At first, making tiny plates that I could throw quickly and repetitively became a release for me. After processing those forms as wall pieces, I felt the need for the object itself to become the vehicle. This change led me to installation, which has opened up a more direct avenue for expressing my ideas. Ultimately, these choices have produced this thesis as the most honest and paired down version of itself. It is a materialization of the liminal space that continues to expand in my life."],"dc:identifier":["https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/286"],"dc:subject":["Ceramics","Fine Arts"],"dc:title":["Liminal Space"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.F.A. in Art"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:05:22Z"}