The purpose of this project was to develop a body of work in which the content has probable, if not definite, cross-cultural application. It was my intent to analyze images for their content and underlying themes. This collection of "image content" was to be used in the production of a body of work which hopefully would transcend cultural bias or limitations. I consulted art and anthropological texts, books, and periodicals (listed in bibliography) which contained images produced by different cultures.

The focus of this creative project was the production and presentation of electronic imagery generated by personal computers and peripherals. By it's nature, electronic imagery is dependent on light. I proposed that the exhibition project would include computer graphics images presented in a variety of formats, both static and moving.

This study is the first comprehensive analysis of the fatal woman motif in the writings and art of Edvard Munch from the early 1890s to 1909. It uses a background of the women in the artist's life as well as the literary and artistic worlds in which Munch participated. Following separate accounts of Munch's relationships with five women, the manner in which the artist characterizes each as a fatal woman in his writings and art is discussed and analyzed. Next, the study describes the fatal woman motif in late nineteenth century art and literature. It begins with a discussion of the origin of the Symbolist and Decadent Movements and an ideological examination of the fatal woman motif as it is manifested in the writing and art of these two groups. In addition, it compares Munch's visual manifestations of the femme fatale with the manner in which the artist's contemporaries depicted her. Finally, this study describes two groups of men with whom Munch was particularly close: the Christiania Bohéme and the Schwarzen Ferkel Circle. An examination of the literary works of these men helps to determine the way in which they affected Munch's pictorial perception of the fatal woman.