Abstract

I create experimental films and installations that challenge the belief system I inherited from well-intended people who believed they furnished me with the "right" answers, behaviors, and expectations for a good and proper life. Applying the theory of cognitive dissonance as a philosophical framework to this formative and enforced messaging helps me appreciate why it is so difficult to accept new information incongruent with one's previously held beliefs. Through parallel efforts of self-reflection, research, and creative practice, I have begun to reexamine my upbringing and the ensuing insecurities, contradictions, and feelings of hypocrisy they engendered. My work aspires to transform my fears, anxieties, and mistakes into meaningful digital and tangible visual expressions; informed by and in response to, reflective work by contemporary artists and my personal reflexive experiences with relationships, death, and grief. Fueled by the practice of forgiveness, both of myself and others, I believe the creative process is helping me become a more compassionate person who is willing to reconsider, release, and accept my past and welcome new internal and external perspectives. Likewise, I hope presenting my artwork allows viewers to consider my struggle; and whether, and why, we may have common or divergent life experiences and perspectives.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2021

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Clercx, Byron

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

School of Visual Arts and Design

Degree Program

Emerging Media; Studio Art and Design

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008520; DP0024196

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0024196

Language

English

Release Date

May 2021

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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