This paper is an experiment using digital video to locate and identify the abstract in everyday life and nature. The abstract moment occurs when the image that is captured by video loses its connection with the original context, allowing the images to be viewed in an entirely new way. The abstract moment is initiated by a transformative instant, that instant in which perception is altered and the viewer sees the intended content of composition of light and sound. The project contains four digital videos that record the artist's progress and interests.

I look at the world as a sculptor, examining physical constructs and implied meanings. My current research developed from my earlier studies of “containment” or, more specifically, “encapsulation,” creating visual, often physical, boundaries around selected content. Encapsulation confers a more active role than “containment”, a process rather than a result. This idea speaks to the issues of form, and asks the viewer to question the outside “shape of the form” in relation to the inside shape and content. My work focuses on exposed interior spaces and forms, allowing the viewer to enter the space physically as well as mentally and psychologically. Built in a large enough scale, the viewer could actually become the content. The sculpture’s interpretation revolves around the seen as well as the unseen. I built this duality into my work by using transparent and opaque materials. I also implemented small diameter stainless steel rod along with the transparent and opaque vinyl to reduce forms to their respective shapes and volumes. This approach allowed me to clean the “slate” of an object’s collective meaning and context, adapting it to the intent of my work.

Artist Statement from the MFA Exhibition: "Through my art I strive to raise awareness towards the protection of the ocean. Plastic pollution, over-fishing, species extinction, and nuclear waste are some of the problems I symbolize in order to create conversations around the issues and do my part in starting a wave of change. The ocean is one interconnected circulatory system for our plane,t so anywhere that humans are abusing the oceans, it affects us all. I hope to remind people of the sacredness of the sea in order to help renew our reverence and respect for it."

Works of art on image transfer onto hand-formed bricks by artist Kaitlin West as part of a 2022 MFA exhibition, entitled Constructed Self in the Cora Stafford Gallery South, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX 76201, from April 6 to 9, 2022.

Work of art in illustrated maps, inkjet prints by artist Maria Villanueva as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Legend Systems: An Escape to a Hidden Land, ” in the Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building Atrium on the campus of the University of North Texas on March 1-5, 2021. MFA Exhibition, view from the stairs in the atrium.

Work of art in Journal entries, printed maps by artist Maria Villanueva as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Legend Systems: An Escape to a Hidden Land, ” in the Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building Atrium on the campus of the University of North Texas on March 1-5, 2021. MFA Exhibition, view from the stairs in the atrium.

My artwork dialogues with three topics: climate change’s economic and societal impact, plant genetic engineering advances, and art’s influence on scientific creativity and innovation. These intersect in my focus on the mystery and promise of plant genetic research and the creative innovation needed to advance this research. I manipulate, massage, and mix contemporary mediums and traditional sculpture, fiber and painting mediums. My sculptures often have translucent elements that interact vividly with visible and UV light spectrums. Undulation and emergence figure prominently in my artwork as metaphors of the active living organism coming forth from the genetically altered primordial soup.

Work of art in red stoneware, plastic, wool, wood by Jacob Phillips as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Unicorn Magic” in the Cora Stafford Gallery on the campus of the University of North Texas on April 12-22, 2021.

Work of art in Cardboard, Diamond Dust, Plastic, Acrylic Paint by Jacob Phillips as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Unicorn Magic” in the Cora Stafford Gallery on the campus of the University of North Texas on April 12-22, 2021.

Constructed Self is an exhibition of life-size forms that blur the line between photography and sculpture while being both stable and on the verge of collapse. These damaged concrete columns, slabs, and hand-formed bricks used to create walls are inspired by architecture's support structures to convey my internal psychic framework. Photographs are transferred on the surface of these forms that depict environments where I have processed and experienced my struggles with mental health. This work explores how to communicate and convey the interior and exterior of my emotional self in visible terms while bringing me healing emotionally through the process of making these sculptures.

Works of art on Image transfer onto concrete, ratchet straps by artist Kaitlin West as part of a 2022 MFA exhibition, entitled Constructed Self in the Cora Stafford Gallery South, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX 76201, from April 6 to 9, 2022.

Work of art in Tree branches and sticks, twine, by artist Maria Villanueva as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Legend Systems: An Escape to a Hidden Land, ” in the Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building Atrium on the campus of the University of North Texas on March 1-5, 2021. MFA Exhibition, view from the stairs in the atrium.

The following paper reveals some aspects of my thoughts about art. The works discussed are featured in my M.F.A. exhibition. All works are mainly based on the ideas of absence, self-reference and utilization in art practice, even though each piece approaches the subject from differing angles. My dissatisfaction with preconceived notions in the contemporary art, rooted in art history, has shifted my focus from concerns of the direct, physical presence of artworks to the indirect or indecisive elements of their context. From this position I have felt free to explore the paradox of self-reference that is involved in performance. In addition, by transferring art works to functional objects, I have found a way to infuse everyday life with my art, and vice-versa. The ambiguity of interpreting artworks with language means that I present this paper with photographic documentation of my artwork. Combined, this will give a clear indication of the thrust of my graduate studies and the current theatrical direction of my art.

Brief Artist Statement by Kyung Hee “Kate” Im as part of a 2021 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Entanglement” in the Union Art Gallery on the campus of the University of North Texas on April 5-22, 2021.

After generating work for many years in an intuitive, “truth to materials” mindset my intent was to explore the interior possibilities of my sculptural forms and relate these if possible, to the exterior. Alongside this exploration of the interior I introduced surface texture and color onto both interior/exterior surfaces. In some cases the work had undergone a change, which lent new meaning and provided new relationships to exist between the interior/exterior of my sculpture. Not all of the work was satisfactory to me, though I feel there were many positive results from work that may not have been successful. I found that the integration of the interior/exterior dialogue into my existing work provided new meaning allowing new relationships within the work that had not existed previously.

The challenge of this project was to present subject matter in a way that did not seem common to the viewer. With this goal in mind, I aimed to switch the traditional roles of material and form in order to aesthetically elevate the commonplace. For my proposed project I combined traditional sculptural materials and processes with commonplace subject matter. I took a chance at the beginning of this project by making something that I had been joking about until I realized that this might be an interesting piece. From this point on I made a conscious effort to make whatever popped in my head. Although I am not a literary person, it seems that with this body of work I backed into what I might call "ironical metaphor."

The problem I choose dealt with a new material to use in conceptual art. Since the nature of my work deals with ribbed sculptural forms that explore conceptual abstractions of recorded observations, I investigated a new material called composites. A composite is defined as two or more materials that are combined to share the best qualities of both. Laminated foam core, nylon fabric weave, vinyl, and resin composites may introduce an aesthetic and structural advantage to traditional material such as wood and metal. Innovations in laminated composites and methods of joining unfamiliar materials could offer an advantage for these new sculptures. A series of six ribbed sculptural forms were constructed, which consist of laminated composite material relating to personal observations expressed in my journal in the last quarter of the year 2000. The material was introduced in the desire for a cohesive formal relationship between the concepts and the forms. Patron, 2001 Mixed Media, 19"x 8"x 4"; PDQ, 2001 Mixed Media, 10"x 8"x 2"; PDQ2, 2001 Mixed Media, 21"x27"x3"; Bishop, 2001 Mixed Media, 23"x11"x5"; Coaster, 2001 Mixed Media, 14"x12"x9" and Putsch, 2001 Mixed Media, 69"x48"x24".

Work of art of gallery detail by artist Amy Wachal as part of a 2019 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Angelfish Prayers".

Working to unravel my sense of the world and challenge the narratives and beliefs I hold as truths; I have created a reimagined and surreal bathroom that offers a private and vulnerable space filled with hidden horrors. The animated, imperfect, decayed, and cracked bathroom forms bridge the gap between the impermanent fragility of memory and the ongoing beliefs of a personal narrative. I worked to overcome the assumption that, to heal, something must be completely resolved within itself. Instead, I offer that healing is an undescribed area, that is unmeasurable, and it is forever evolving and never finished.

Work of art on porcelain and epoxy by artist Emily Potts as part of a 2022 MFA exhibition, entitled "Healing & Reassembling" in the the Cora Stafford Gallery South, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX 76201, from March 2 to March 5, 2022.

Work of art of Paper, fibers, paint, ink by artist Heather Hoskins, as part of a 2020 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Visceral Reflections". Recordings of daily setbacks or successes with Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

Work of art of Paper, fibers, paint, ink by artist Heather Hoskins, as part of a 2020 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Visceral Reflections". Recordings of daily setbacks or successes with Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

Work of art of Glass, paper, fibers, crochet, resin, ink, paint by artist Heather Hoskins, as part of a 2020 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Visceral Reflections".

Work of art of Mixed Media Immersive Installation by artist Heather Hoskins, as part of a 2020 MFA Exhibition, entitled "Visceral Reflections".