Preferred Name
Michelle A. Smith
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Date of Graduation
5-15-2025
Semester of Graduation
Spring
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
School of Art, Design, and Art History
First Advisor
Dymphna De Wild
Second Advisor
Greg Stewart
Third Advisor
William Wightman
Abstract
Grief as Slip (how little I show) implies that even as we acknowledge our mortality and the fleeting nature of life, we still only reveal a fraction of our true selves or our deeper realities. The ceramic artwork in this exhibition carries and conveys a journey through the present and remembered emotions of the artists’ personal narrative. By juxtaposing the tactile nature of clay with the ethereal quality of human experience, Smith contemplates the profound interplay between material transformation and emotional resilience. The exhibition’s intent is to translate the essence of complex emotional states into abstracted forms so they can be experienced and understood in new ways. These artworks serve as a foundation for fostering deeper human connections, as well as bridging the divide between what is visible and what is not (specifically internal emotional states). This exploration in clay is a glimmer of hope for those who struggle to articulate their everyday feelings or traumatic life events. You are not alone.
Included in
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