Keywords

studio art, masculinity, queer joy, painting, gender roles, queer

Abstract

I examine the contemporary norms of masculinity. My research wrestles with ultimately unresolvable stereotypes and imagery influencing current masculine behavior. I unearth queer potential through the physicality and behavior of the stereotypical “man’s man”. I infuse my own queer identity into my studio practice with an emphasis on humor and joy to subvert traditional models of male performance. This process drives self-exploration that allows me to personally respond, react, be directed, and redirected by the interactions between queerness and masculinity. Masculine and queer representations across various media, such as film, music, and television, historically and continuously inform restrictive cultural norms. My body of work embraces the incongruency of queerness and traditional masculinity to deconstruct patriarchal control of masculinity itself. I utilize humor and queer joy as critical tools to embrace vulnerability and undermine societal influence on manhood. I engage with material sensuality through painting media to embrace the dichotomy between the world of patriarchal masculinity I exist within, and the world of queer masculinity I desire to inhabit. Formal choices in my paintings such as color, luminosity, and surface texture, all explore unrestricted emergent expressions of masculinity. Through these material and formal qualities of painting, I build towards a joyful future where masculinity is no longer constrained by patriarchal values. But instead, encourage society to accept expressions outside of these narrow definitions and reframe masculinity.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

Lindsey, Shannon

Degree

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

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Identifier

DP0053175

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