Within this text, I explore the hidden power of images in American visual culture through painting-based installations. I investigate images of the past and present juxtaposed in a surrealist landscape. Through the use of images in the news, entertainment, advertising, and images within the home, I depict how the problems of the past bleed into our perceptions of the present. I find that this cycle of problem inheritance connects us as humans regardless of time, generation, and place. In my work, I explore the complexity of image culture and its shifting presence within the digital age. Using surrealist collage, I place unexpected images from different time periods next to each other in a simultaneous representation of time. Through themes of theater, I illude to the performativity of life. Large wall paintings and wooden prop pieces create an inhabitable space or stage where viewers can step into the work. The viewers’ physical image and identity collides with the images that give our lives, experiences, and perceptions context. I aim to emphasize the power of images by centering viewership as its catalyst.
","abstract_html":"<p>Within this text, I explore the hidden power of images in American visual culture through painting-based installations. I investigate images of the past and present juxtaposed in a surrealist landscape. Through the use of images in the news, entertainment, advertising, and images within the home, I depict how the problems of the past bleed into our perceptions of the present. I find that this cycle of problem inheritance connects us as humans regardless of time, generation, and place. In my work, I explore the complexity of image culture and its shifting presence within the digital age. Using surrealist collage, I place unexpected images from different time periods next to each other in a simultaneous representation of time. Through themes of theater, I illude to the performativity of life. Large wall paintings and wooden prop pieces create an inhabitable space or stage where viewers can step into the work. The viewers’ physical image and identity collides with the images that give our lives, experiences, and perceptions context. I aim to emphasize the power of images by centering viewership as its catalyst.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Xandersmith, Livia"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Graduate School of Art","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Cheryl Wassenaar","Heidi Kolk","Heather Bennett"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-05-19T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-05-19T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:12:17Z","subjects":["surrealism","culture","history","painting","performance","chaos","simultaneousness","American","memory","overstimulation","Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture","Art and Design","Psychology","Sculpture","Sociology","Theatre and Performance Studies","United States History"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7936/km90-sf27"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://doi.org/10.7936/km90-sf27","href":"https://doi.org/10.7936/km90-sf27","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_visual_art/4","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Cheryl Wassenaar","Heidi Kolk","Heather Bennett"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Xandersmith, Livia"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-05-10T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Graduate School of Art"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["surrealism","culture","history","painting","performance","chaos","simultaneousness","American","memory","overstimulation","Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture","Art and Design","Psychology","Sculpture","Sociology","Theatre and Performance Studies","United States History"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_visual_art/4"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7936/km90-sf27"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Within this text, I explore the hidden power of images in American visual culture through painting-based installations. I investigate images of the past and present juxtaposed in a surrealist landscape. Through the use of images in the news, entertainment, advertising, and images within the home, I depict how the problems of the past bleed into our perceptions of the present. I find that this cycle of problem inheritance connects us as humans regardless of time, generation, and place. In my work, I explore the complexity of image culture and its shifting presence within the digital age. Using surrealist collage, I place unexpected images from different time periods next to each other in a simultaneous representation of time. Through themes of theater, I illude to the performativity of life. Large wall paintings and wooden prop pieces create an inhabitable space or stage where viewers can step into the work. The viewers’ physical image and identity collides with the images that give our lives, experiences, and perceptions context. I aim to emphasize the power of images by centering viewership as its catalyst.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Hidden Power of Images: An Allegory of Chaos and Performance in the Digital Age"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Cheryl Wassenaar","Heidi Kolk","Heather Bennett"],"dc:creator":["Xandersmith, Livia"],"dc:date.available":["2022-05-10T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Within this text, I explore the hidden power of images in American visual culture through painting-based installations. I investigate images of the past and present juxtaposed in a surrealist landscape. Through the use of images in the news, entertainment, advertising, and images within the home, I depict how the problems of the past bleed into our perceptions of the present. I find that this cycle of problem inheritance connects us as humans regardless of time, generation, and place. In my work, I explore the complexity of image culture and its shifting presence within the digital age. Using surrealist collage, I place unexpected images from different time periods next to each other in a simultaneous representation of time. Through themes of theater, I illude to the performativity of life. Large wall paintings and wooden prop pieces create an inhabitable space or stage where viewers can step into the work. The viewers’ physical image and identity collides with the images that give our lives, experiences, and perceptions context. I aim to emphasize the power of images by centering viewership as its catalyst.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_visual_art/4"],"dc:identifier.doi":["https://doi.org/10.7936/km90-sf27"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["surrealism","culture","history","painting","performance","chaos","simultaneousness","American","memory","overstimulation","Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture","Art and Design","Psychology","Sculpture","Sociology","Theatre and Performance Studies","United States History"],"dc:title":["The Hidden Power of Images: An Allegory of Chaos and Performance in the Digital Age"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Graduate School of Art"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:12:17Z"}