MFA Thesis Work

The MFA prepares students for professional careers as practicing artists and designers, for positions as studio art professors in higher education, or for work in other Arts-related fields requiring advanced study in studio arts. Georgia Southern’s MFA degree program guides graduate students toward competence in specific art media while addressing that in contemporary art the boundaries of various disciplines often consciously cross when relevant to student conceptual and production goals.

The MFA degree program at Georgia Southern offers concentrations in Studio Art or Graphic Design. Each degree consists of graduate-level courses in studio, art history, and theoretical disciplines. The full-time, residential program requires a maximum of three years for completion. The program culminates with an MFA thesis exhibition, demonstrating professional-level competency, accompanied by a written support thesis reviewed by a graduate thesis committee. Formal faculty reviews of student work are conducted throughout the semester to guide students forward in completing their degree requirements.

MFA students are offered studio space to create and develop their artwork. The BFSDoArt also offers many graduate assistantships and graduate teaching positions to help cover tuition, fees, and supply costs. These assistantships also provide valuable work experience which gives the Department’s graduates a valuable edge in their career goals.

THESIS WORK

MASTER OF FINE ARTS ALUMNI

ALUMNI	DISCIPLINE	THESIS TITLE	THESIS
Amoda, Olu	Sculpture	Seeds of Passage
Aslam, Affaf	Graphic Design	Empowering Women of Pakistan
Ballentine, Suzanne	Mixed Media	Miss Conception, and Missed Directions (Assemblage and Feminist Images)
Barksdale, Elizabeth	Sculpture	Rhythm
Bobinger, Linda	Ceramics	Living Marks in Clay
Briere, Colette	Painting	Stations
Brooks, Jennifer	Sculpture	A Figurative Artist’s Move Toward Formalism
Brown, Brenda	Studio Art	Zen and the Art of the Journey
Burch, Charles	Sculpture	Captured Artifacts
Burkhalter, William	Printmaking	A Formalist’s Move
Carroll, David	Painting/Drawing	And the Word Became Flesh: Visual Thoughts on the Book of John
Clark, Eric	3D	Some Assembly Required
Clark, Gayle Shaw	Ceramics	Tripping the Beauty Queen
Conger, Meredith	Studio Art	Plot
Cook, Marcus	Graphic Design	Understanding User Interface and User Experience
Davis, Jolanta	Painting	Sublime States of Agony
Dawson, Herman	Graphic Design	Altering Perceptions
Depetris, Mariana	Printmaking	The Magician’s Assistant Artist Book and the Interrelations Between Texts and Images
Dent, Kenneth	Painting	Aesthetics of Violence
Durrence, Barney	Ceramics	Agrarian Impressions
Duncan, Ellyn E.	Graphic Design	A Study of the Visual and Verbal Languages of Typography
Eckmann, Dorothy	Sculpture	A Search for Center
Epps, Cynthia	Studio Art	Considering Perspectives
Faris, Anthony	3D Studio	Risen Land
Farley, Dontay	Graphic Design	Happy
Farmoudehyamcheh, Parisa	Graphic Design	A Systems Approach to Graphic Design Practice
Felzien, Kate	Painting	In Context
Finch, Roger	Sculpture
Fix, Amy	Painting	Skin Deep: The Elusive Aphrodite
Fosterwelsh, Wendy	Painting	Soul Evolution
Foxx, Scott	2D Studio	Infrastructure
Frantz, Lyndsey	Studio Art	Present in Presence
Fremeau, Brooke	Graphic Design	Zoetic Fitness
Furlow, Claudia	2D Studio	The Anatomy of Disgust and the Sublime in Metamodern Painting
Galdizadeh, Zohreh	Studio Art	Ex-tensions: Material Entanglement and Intensities
Galusha, Jenn	Ceramics	Invasive Interactions
Gibbs, Susan	Ceramics	Creatress: A Woman’s Hand
Giles, Merritt	2D	Minimizing Chaos
Hachempour, Naghmeh	Studio Art	Surface, Depth, and the Ephemeral Experience
Hall, Kristina B.	Painting	Change Does Not Wait
Harmon, Susan	Painting/Drawing	Poiesis
Hickey, Patrick	Printmaking	Biomorphic Improvisation as an Image Making Strategy
Hooten, Kyle	Studio Art	Deconstructing Abject Complacency of Ascribed Gender
Horne, Angela	Graphic Design	Perception and Reality: An Examination of American Print Advertising
James, Nicole D.	Studio Art	[P]lace: Reinterpreting the Feminine
James, Nikolaus D.	Studio Art	Plausible Expositions with Possible Expeditions
Keats, Kim	Sculpture	Arboreal Alphabet
Kelley, Zachary	Studio Art	Neo_Fluxus & Dragons
Kyzer, Kristin	Painting	The Last Word
Lakhani, Ruth P.	3D Studio	Confabulation
LaDrig, Jacqueline	Ceramics	From Pandemonium to Creative Production
Lawson, Charles	Painting	Anxiety in Progress
Lesh, Michael	3D Studio	Aggro Duality
Liu, Yousha	Painting	Eastern Mind/ Western Eyes: An Asian Artist’s Search for Personal Imagery While Living in a Western Culture
Mann, Anthony	Sculpture	Geometric Portraits: Anthropomorphic, Zoomorphic and Inanimate Forms in Bark, Cellulose and Lignin
McCoy, Jason	Sculpture	Rough Hewn
McGlaughlin, Jennifer	Graphic Design	The Hapathetic Generation
McKee, Garry	Sculpture	Chronicle: A Visual Diary
McManus, Jessamy	Studio Art	Neon Nature
Militano, Glenda	Studio Art	Resilience
Miller, B. D.	Sculpture	Playground for the Imagination
Mixon, Emily	Photography	The Lightness of Being and the Burden of Gravity
Moore, Dixie	Drawing	Toward a Deeper Resemblance
Morrison, Kathryn	Sculpture	14,000 and 18
Mortensen, Hans	Graphic Design	Using Graphic Design to Enhance The Visitor Experience at The Center for Wildlife Education at Georgia Southern University
Murphy, Christopher	Painting	Reconstructing Paradigms of Expression
Neal, Stephanie Arends	Graphic Design	Colaboratory: Design Collaboration for the Greater Good
Nelson, Nicholas	Mixed Media	Between Order and Chaos
Oladeinde, Usman	Studio Art	In Search of Communication
Osako, Mary	Painting	Hunger, Madness, and Crime
Oursler, Duke	Sculpture	3+1 Dimensions
Parker, Michelle	Small Metals	Damaged Goods
Parsons, Alla	Painting	If I Could Have Opened my Heart
Perez, Alicia	2D	La Sangra Llama (“The Blood Beckons”)
Phillips, Tameka	Studio Art	Patterns of Identity
Purcell, Desmal	Photography	Imperfect Balance
Quagliano, Michael	Painting	Paintings, Windows and Voyeurism
Quilichini, Patricia	Photography	Between Morality & Myth: A Parodic Visual Manifesto
Randolph, Robert	Ceramics	Natural Forces, Natural Forms
Rebel, Max	2D Studio	Fragmented
Rene, Sarah	Ceramics	The Ties that Bind
Reynolds, Janann	Sculpture
Riner, Kimberly	3D Studio	Shadowlands
Rodday, Cynthia	Printmaking	Portals: Past and Present
Romero, Wendy	Sculpture	Half a Second: Mundane to Beautiful
Russell, Virginia	3D	Earthbound: Celebrating the Natural World Enjoying Good Food and Good Company
Rosa, Ferdinand	Painting/Ceramics	Soulful Art-Making and The Unconscious Mind
Ryan, Courtney	Studio Art	Irrational Aggregates
Sayer, Cherie	Painting	The Body in Pain
Smith, Collin	Graphic Design	Feral: Forming an (Aggressive) Identity through the Use of Visual Narrative
Smith, Linda	Ceramics	Crystalline Glazes: Study of Colouring Oxides/Carbonates
Stewart, Jennifer	Ceramics	Objects of Attraction
Stewart, Wesley	3D	Drawing in Space
Strayhorn II, Julian	Graphic Design	Narrowing the Margin: The Role of the Black Superhero
Suarez, Janet	2D	Reflections on Our Time
Sullivan, Lindsey	2D Graphic Design	The Project Shop
Taylor, Makaili J.	Studio Art	Visual Feast
Thomas, Cody A.	Studio Art	Myelination: A Plastic Religion
Tyson, Lindsay B.	Graphic Design	Colaboratory: Design Collaboration for The Greater Good
Leuven, Heidi Van	Painting	Exploring Contexts of Ubiquitous Sculptures
Wallace, Cindy	Photography	Doppelgangers: A Photographer’s Journey into Light and Shadow
Walker, Jason	Graphic Design	Eleven Bullets: A Counter Assault on Subjectivity and the Creation of Meaning
Weathers, Kench	Studio Art	Mindful Escapism
Williams, Brent	Jewelry	Thinking Through Objects
Winsemius, Ian	Ceramics	Catching Fire
Yancey, John	Painting
Zhou, Jing	Graphic Design	Ch’An Mind, Zen Mind: Visual Meditations on the Ultimate Reality and Absolute Calmness