Keywords

studio art, identity, the South, photography, textiles, digital culture

Abstract

My studio practice acts as a personal anthropological investigation into my upbringing in the rural South. I utilize photographic, textile, print, and virtual mediums that have a unique historical and/or modern connection with the South. Almost a decade after deciding to leave my Southern Baptist religion behind and even longer after covering up my Southern accent, I find myself in a place of tension-ridden nostalgia for the place I grew up.

The community of artists in the Southeast region of the United States continues to grow and create a more cohesive picture of the South and Southern identity through their work and writing, but there is still a noticeable lack of visibility outside of the South compared to exposure within it.

These various approaches to artmaking lean on each other to convey notions regarding family history, degradation of memory, escape from isolation, and dissonance in nostalgic experiences. By repurposing relics of my past as autobiographical sources, I display my experience of Southernness and aspects of it which I support embracing or combating. My goal with this work is to engage with cultural representation that helps individuals from backgrounds like mine feel seen, enabled, and heard. I’ve also created these artworks to serve as a starting point of understanding and relatability for an audience beyond communities like the one that raised me.

Completion Date

2025

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

Dierdorff, Brooks

Degree

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

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

School of Visual Arts and Design

Identifier

DP0029274

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

Download

Share

COinS