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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Creatures: Series of Sculptural Costumes

Burris, Sarah Mittiga
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1227280056

Abstract Details

2008, MFA, Kent State University, College of the Arts / School of Art.
Creatures: Series of Sculptural Costumes displays costumed imaginary creatures through video, large-scale digital photography, and a mannequin display. The hyper-feminine exhibition is a fusion of sculpture, fashion, and performance. Five costumes were free formed from the head down to the waist. To make the work more creature-like, pillow structures were added to distort the proportions of the model. The lower half of the figure coyly reveals high heels and tights. Sewing techniques used to construct the costumes include embroidery, pleating, gathering, and smocking. Video and photographic footage ‘documented’ the creatures in their habitats. A mannequin display allowed the viewer to examine the intricate sewing details. Creatures: Series of Sculptural Costumes explores the playfulness of dress, as well as the history of beauty and female sexuality. The sculptural costumes physically display clothing’s role in transforming ones identity. Feminine artificial adornment is taken to an extreme level of excess. The vulnerable side of glamour is expressed in the work. The creatures are seductive and awkward in their stances, mirroring young women’s hybrid of self-confidence and insecurity. The work examines the humor behind socially constructed beauty ideals and the more serious subject of female vulnerability.
Paul O'Keeffe (Committee Chair)
Isabel Farnsworth (Committee Member)
Darice Polo (Committee Member)
Kathleen Browne (Committee Member)
Janice Lessman-Moss (Committee Member)
28 p.
Fine Arts
sculpture; performance; fabric; beauty; sewing; feminine

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Burris, S. M. (2008). Creatures: Series of Sculptural Costumes [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1227280056

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Burris, Sarah. Creatures: Series of Sculptural Costumes. 2008. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1227280056.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Burris, Sarah. "Creatures: Series of Sculptural Costumes." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1227280056

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1227280056
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© 2008, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.