ABSTRACT
Consciousness in Clay is an exhibition consisting of seven tall ceramic sculptures and nine smaller works. Clay is the ideal medium for these designs; the plasticity during the making phase yields to the stoniness of the finished work and traps the hand movement. As life is my metaphor, the ambiguous forms leave much to the imagination— to thoughts of the natural world, and to ideas about color, rhythm, and harmony. Strong lines, undulations, fecundity, dark openings, negative-spaces, the phallic-symbol, and budding new life may all come to mind; but nothing finitely specific emerges. Using my knowledge of biology and microbiology as fertile ground for shapes and patterns makes this living territory infinite. Truth and beauty reveal themselves through a search committed over time, and Consciousness in Clay is the repository of that revelation for me.
","abstract_html":"<p>ABSTRACT</p> <p><em>Consciousness in Clay</em> is an exhibition consisting of seven tall ceramic sculptures and nine smaller works. Clay is the ideal medium for these designs; the plasticity during the making phase yields to the stoniness of the finished work and traps the hand movement. As life is my metaphor, the ambiguous forms leave much to the imagination— to thoughts of the natural world, and to ideas about color, rhythm, and harmony. Strong lines, undulations, fecundity, dark openings, negative-spaces, the phallic-symbol, and budding new life may all come to mind; but nothing finitely specific emerges. Using my knowledge of biology and microbiology as fertile ground for shapes and patterns makes this living territory infinite. Truth and beauty reveal themselves through a search committed over time, and <em>Consciousness in Clay</em> is the repository of that revelation for me.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Robinson, Sharon"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Art","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Piero Fenci","David Lewis","Ron King"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:15Z","subjects":["ceramic","sculpture","clay","life","fecundity","living territory","plasticity"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/140","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Piero Fenci","David Lewis","Ron King"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Robinson, Sharon"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-11-27T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Art"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["ceramic","sculpture","clay","life","fecundity","living territory","plasticity"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/140"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["ABSTRACT
Consciousness in Clay is an exhibition consisting of seven tall ceramic sculptures and nine smaller works. Clay is the ideal medium for these designs; the plasticity during the making phase yields to the stoniness of the finished work and traps the hand movement. As life is my metaphor, the ambiguous forms leave much to the imagination— to thoughts of the natural world, and to ideas about color, rhythm, and harmony. Strong lines, undulations, fecundity, dark openings, negative-spaces, the phallic-symbol, and budding new life may all come to mind; but nothing finitely specific emerges. Using my knowledge of biology and microbiology as fertile ground for shapes and patterns makes this living territory infinite. Truth and beauty reveal themselves through a search committed over time, and Consciousness in Clay is the repository of that revelation for me.
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Consciousness in Clay is an exhibition consisting of seven tall ceramic sculptures and nine smaller works. Clay is the ideal medium for these designs; the plasticity during the making phase yields to the stoniness of the finished work and traps the hand movement. As life is my metaphor, the ambiguous forms leave much to the imagination— to thoughts of the natural world, and to ideas about color, rhythm, and harmony. Strong lines, undulations, fecundity, dark openings, negative-spaces, the phallic-symbol, and budding new life may all come to mind; but nothing finitely specific emerges. Using my knowledge of biology and microbiology as fertile ground for shapes and patterns makes this living territory infinite. Truth and beauty reveal themselves through a search committed over time, and Consciousness in Clay is the repository of that revelation for me.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/140"],"dc:subject":["ceramic","sculpture","clay","life","fecundity","living territory","plasticity"],"dc:title":["CONSCIOUSNESS IN CLAY"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Art"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:15Z"}