Publication Date

Summer 2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Art

First Advisor

Leanne McClurg Cambric, M.F.A.

Second Advisor

Gretchen Jankowski, M.F.A.

Third Advisor

Jeffrey Stevenson, M.F.A.

Abstract

Throwing clay on the potter·s wheel, I feel a wave of calm, like I am finally in control of something. Carving and creating texture on clay after a piece is thrown, is the ultimate release. Carving is obsessive, compulsive, and even ritualistic. Each mark that I make has a purpose or thought behind it. This is something that is definitely different from my daily cycle of panic and unease. Anxiety. I worry too much, I can't tum this off. Clay has been the only outlet I found to help me hush these racing thoughts. By creating ceramic sculptural works my anxious thoughts are released. Living with anxiety is the hardest thing I do every day. Panic hits me when I first wake up, planning the day in my head; what obstacles am I going to face today? Who can I possibly run into? Getting out of the house is an ordeal in itself; going to get gasoline for the car, getting groceries for the fridge. Facing people is the worst. What if I can't articulate my thoughts to another person? What if I can't even get a word out? What if ... what if ... what if ... The body of work that I have created for my Masters of Art Thesis Exhibition is my anxiety in ceramic form. I make art to cope with my anxiety, and the amount of stress and anxiety I went through is depicted in my first solo exhibit. Through my work, I want to get the viewers to feel my anxiety walking among the sculptures. I want the viewers to make the connection that these sculptures are actually a representation of me, in everyday life, uneasy, precarious, and anxious.

Comments

The author's last name is spelled incorrectly on the title page, it is Wraczewska.

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