Stephan, Mariam

UNCG

There are 26 item/s.

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
Exploring the Succulent Wilderness of a Contemporary Mind through Encounters with Material 2008 1174 First, I discuss my role as an artist as twofold: as an observer and a creator. I then examine how abstraction in painting offers me a way to create that is complementary to the way I wish to view the world. The process of my work is explored further...
An Endeavor to Meet 2008 1559 This thesis is a reflection on how my thoughts about painting portraits have changed during my time at graduate school. It is arranged into three sections, which address my history as a painter, my studio practice, and my influences....
My relationship to paint 2007 1469 "This paper is organized into three topics. These topics are my history, influences, and criteria as a painter. In these topics, I will analyze the evolution of my thought process over the course of my two years in graduate school."--Abstract from au...
Open-ended storytelling and the written word 2007 1358 "The focus of my work has been to address the problem of using the written word within the context of visual art. Particular interest has placed on the reuse of two-dimensional writing surfaces to construct three-dimensional sculptural forms. The res...
Visual documents 2007 1418 "My paintings are derived from my fiancee in a manner that shows the importance of her to me. The focus of the paintings is lighting, facial characteristics, and the use of mark making."--Abstract from author supplied metadata....
Realities of perception 2009 1710 This thesis is an exploration of my ideas oncerning the physical deformities my body. It contains thoughts about how disfigured people are perceived through the lens created by our society....
Improbable beauty 2009 1683 My art allows a space for the questions and struggles about my upbringing and the taboos embedded in it to be fully explicated. My memories, identity, views on the roles of women in American society, and religious upbringing come together in my work ...
Knowing the unknown (unknowing the known) 2009 2064 This thesis addresses the ways my work questions how painting is experiential both for the artist and the viewer. The paintings are based on the space where there is no distinction between states of matter and energy....
From the backyard to Berlin: a study of the overlooked everyday 2013 1705 My work seeks to celebrate common institutional and domestic architecture by focusing on and utilizing often overlooked details. I am particularly interested in the domestic interior decorating strategies of suburban homeowners and I incorporate item...
Weaving weave 2015 1889 As an artist I frequently disclose memories shared with my mother, aunts and friends to explore the identities of African American women; specifically their relationship to their hair and skin complexion post slavery. My videos, sculptures, and photo...
Southeastern suburban. 2010 160 The purpose of this thesis paper is to describe the photographic series Southeastern Suburban. My interest in the project was sparked by my move to this particular region. This series of images, which portrays people and places particular to the dem...
Making and re-making. 2010 1467 Above my grandmother’s desk hung a picture of a bunch of flowers in a vase. At the age of twelve, I became aware that sunflowers were in the vase. At some point, I was told that a well-known artist named Van Gogh made the picture. When I was i...
Prolonged encounters 2018 637 This thesis chronicles my journey as an observational landscape painter exploring how to contend with the constant change that fascinates me as an observer, but previously frustrated me as a painter. Investigating my subjects through series and repet...
Object lessons 2018 454 This thesis is written to accompany and support my ideas behind the final thesis show, Object Lessons, and my remaining work to date. The collection of paintings, sculptures, and drawings together with the way they are displayed are strongly connecte...
Holding spaces 2019 371 This written thesis serves as a companion to the work developed in my studio practice while completing my MFA at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. My series Holding Spaces contends with themes of sanctuary, quietness, sacredness, longing, ...
In the act of playing you forget where you are 2020 502 This written thesis serves as a companion to the body of work I developed while pursuing my MFA at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. It traces the trajectory of my graduate school experience and culminates with my series, In the Act of Pla...
All jokes aside 2023 309 This thesis explores my work over the past two years, with most of my energy being put toward building a bridge between drawing and painting. Spanning many different themes and ideas most of what I have become concerned with during the last few month...
Little pieces: quotidian and quixotic 2013 1062 I paint to learn something visually about the world, and to experience life more deeply and thoughtfully. Using acrylic paints, I paint scenes from my everyday life, exploring the humble and the overlooked. I leave my brushstrokes unblended and visib...
For the time being 2014 1623 This paper is a reflection on my journey away from painting and my recent effort to broaden my understanding of internal and external experience by exploring language and the material world. This journey has led me a few steps closer to finding my vo...
Unstretched : wants, palms, and pits 2019 339 This thesis explores my final series of paintings. In the writing, I consider unfulfilled wanting channeled through the surrogate, female self-portrait. Here, I assert the power of yearning as related to female desire (and subsequent agency) and ulti...
Haunted by waters 2017 860 My thesis work is a culmination of the experiences I’ve had and how they have shaped the person and artist I am. My work acts as short stories about majors impacts on my life such as, my grandfather’s death, growing up in the Mississippi River valley...
Composite of consciousness 2017 756 This written thesis stands adjacent to and in support of my painting practice. The body of water color drawings, oil paintings, and collages comprising Composite of Consciousness seeks to mine imagery from my subconscious in order to closely consider...
Home base 2014 626 Through collage and three dimensional model sculptures, my work seeks to visually navigate domestic interior and exterior spaces tied to specific childhood memories. I am interested in the visual investigation and recreation of my childhood home and ...
Drawings 2014 925 I am a perceptual painter. My work is about looking intently. Based upon my immediate physical surroundings, my paintings and drawings do not attempt to translate a single instantaneous moment of seeing, but instead are orchestrated amalgamations of ...
Material adaptations 2016 788 I started the MFA Program thinking a lot about my experiences in America. As a newcomer from Serbia, I have been pondering about the changes that I went through while being here. My cultural, social, and psychological foundations have been shifted ev...
Resonant spaces 2018 442 My work is concerned with memory and the aspects of a significant place or experience that impress themselves upon the mind of an individual. Pulling my imagery from places significant to my own personal history, I use abstraction and distortion to p...