Washington University in St. Louis
The Hidden Power of Images: An Allegory of Chaos and Performance in the Digital Age
Abstract
dc:description.abstract<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>
Degree
thesis:*- Name thesis:degree_name
- Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art
- Level thesis:degree_level
- Thesis
- Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
- Graduate School of Art
- Year dc:date.available
- 2022
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Xandersmith, Livia
- Contributors dc:contributor
-
- Cheryl Wassenaar
- Heidi Kolk
- Heather Bennett
Subjects
dc:subject × 17Rights
- Language dc:language
- English
Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:openscholarship.wustl.edu:mfa_visual_art-1004