Year of Award
2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Degree Name
Art
Other Degree Name/Area of Focus
Ceramics
Department or School/College
College of Visual and Media Arts
Committee Chair
Trey Hill
Commitee Members
James Bailey, Debra Earling
Keywords
memory, object, place, identity, autobiography
Publisher
University of Montana
Subject Categories
Art and Design | Ceramic Arts | Sculpture
Abstract
The objects that surround us tell a story of our past, and act as physical stand ins for a person, place, or experience no longer present. My work explores the significance of objects and how we use them to preserve our memories and make them tangible. Memory is ephemeral and changes over time, simultaneously growing weaker and stronger. I use clay to accentuate this relationship, visually depicting both preservation and decay.
Inspired by my personal narrative, I recreate specific objects of significance by hand. This results in subtle variations of the original, much like the changes in our memory over time. Each piece becomes a fabrication of an original object, just as our memories are a fabrication of the original experience.
Themes of storage, disintegration, alteration, and addition reflect the processes involved in memory formation and the effect of time on our recall. Through this process, I am exploring how much our identity is reliant on our memories, how we preserve our past in order to inform our present, and the ways in which our objects serve as characters in our narrative of self.
Recommended Citation
Rivera, Molly V., "Fabrications" (2020). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 11546.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11546
Included in
© Copyright 2020 Molly V. Rivera