Nurture
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Authors
Kray, Emily
Issue Date
2020-05
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Interdisciplinary , Interactive works
Alternative Title
Abstract
As humans, we have the unique circumstance to understand our personal intricacies at a richly intimate level; my work aims to offer that same perspective to be applied to others. By utilizing our understanding of ourselves as social beings, those same attitudes can be projected onto others giving us infinite opportunities to find common, empathetic ground.
Nurture is an observation on the impressionability of children and the vulnerability that exists in childhood development. There is a linear path from birth to present to gain a better understanding of how an individual has physically developed, but as we begin to delve deeper into how an individual’s personal identity was formed, the path is obstructed with reflexive biological tools, and unmapped external influence. Collage, watercolor, and portraiture provide me with concrete methods to explore the fragmentary, fluid, and socially observable aspects of these developmental stages, but I uniquely position these elements to take on the form of toys to beckon the interaction of my audience.
You are invited to physically engage with the artworks in this space. The works are enhanced by your interaction. Each individual who alters the work is also taking the opportunity to alter a rich codified image, the human face. As the portrait is in a constant state of flux, responding to its external environment, audience members become catalysts of change, and Nurture becomes a stage for which the development of an individual is played out.