BFA Studio Art Thesis

Sign • Symbol • Signal

[Sex • Gender • Identity]

BFA Studio Art Thesis Exhibition

The University of Texas

Austin, Texas

1991–1996

There are various elements that constitute and effect the meaning of signs and symbols: the structure of the sign or symbol, its immediate background, the vicinity of other signs or symbols in relation to the original, its social and historical background, and the viewer’s own individual experiences.

Signs and symbols transcend shapes and schemata to include colors, concepts, constructs (both abstract and the physical), images, languages (both written texts and spoken words), objects, the senses, sounds, systems of mapping, ways and means of numbering and ordering, and anything so assigned.

Signs typically represent something as it is, and are easily recognized. Symbols, though, could be anything, and that generates infinite interpretations that elude attempts on the part of the intellect to establish a fix on one single meaning (signal). Signal is the directional information communicated by the sign or symbol.

My exploration of sign, symbol, and signal began with an eye towards life cycles and the elements that interrupt and restore the cycle. This quickly led to an investigation of the life cycle’s point of origins, specifically, the origins of male and female, the beginnings of the similarities and differences between the representation of the two, and the positive and negative connotations of sexual stereotypes and gender identities as communicated through material and visual culture.

Led Down the Primrose Path to the Garden Gate
Pencil rod steel, brass brazing, cheese cloth gauze, plaster, clay. 12' x 4' x 12', Fall 1993.

Beginning Sculpture with Professor Margo Sawyer

Private Collection of Stuart McDow

H.I.V.

Triptych. Oil on canvas panels, stretched on a triangular three-dimensional form, pencil rod steel, brass grommets, twine. Each panel 6' x 4', entire triangular circumfrence and area 6' x 12' x 4', Fall 1993.

Intermediate Painting with Professor Michael Mogavero

OK Cola: Pop Tuned and Crushed by the Wheels of Industry

Z-fold accordion book. Oil-based ink, sheets of recycled OK Cola stickers (found inserted into local newspapers and retrieved from campus grounds, campus trash cans, and campus dumpsters), Japanese silk paper, chip board, book cloth, adhesive. 12" x 18", Summer 1994

Monoprint and Relief Printmaking with Professor Ken Hale

Red Hot Blue Fury

Diptych, Monoprints, Water-based Ink, 100% Cotton Rag, 24” x 36", Summer 1994

Monoprint and Relief Printmaking with Professor Ken Hale

Private Collection, Dr. Donald Lovering

The Declaration Print Series

Chine-collé, New York Times Newsprint, Water-based Ink, Gold Vinyl Adhesive Lettering, 100% Cotton Rag, 24” x 36", Summer 1994

Monoprint and Relief Printmaking with Professor Ken Hale

Positive Image Negative Image [Blue Fury Red Hot]

Chine-collé Woodcuts, Water-based Ink, 100% Cotton Rag, 24” x 36", Summer 1994

Monoprint and Relief Printmaking with Professor Ken Hale

Blue Fury 68A-1A, Red Hot 6A-1A
Chine-collé, Paint Chip Samples, 100% Cotton Rag, 24” x 36", Summer 1994

Monoprint and Relief Printmaking with Professor Ken Hale

Johnny Blue 68A-1A, Demure Pink 6A-1A
Chine-collé, Paint Chip Samples, 100% Cotton Rag, 24” x 36", Summer 1994

Monoprint and Relief Printmaking with Professor Ken Hale

Positive Image Negative Image [Johnny Blue Demure Pink]
Chine-collé Woodcuts, Water-based Ink, 100% Cotton Rag, 24” x 36", Summer 1994

Monoprint and Relief Printmaking with Professor Ken Hale

In My Elementary and Secondary Education, I Learned New Words to Describe Myself

Chine-collé Monoprint, Color Laser Copy of School Photos (1st-12th Grades) , Vinyl Lettering, 100% Cotton Rag, 24” x 36”, Fall 1994.

Independent Study with Professor Margo Sawyer

Seperate But Equal?

Chine-collé Monoprint, Color laser copy of pages from "Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols" , 100% Cotton Rag, 24” x 36”, Fall 1994.

Independent Study with Professor Margo Sawyer