Date of Award
Spring 5-30-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Jewelry and Metalsmithing
First Advisor
Tracy Steepy
Second Advisor
Lori Talcott
Third Advisor
Sheri Wills
Abstract
The structure of this thesis aligns directly with the ritual structure of the rites of passage as set forth by ethnographer Arnold van Gennep. I see myself as both a participant and purveyor of ritual, visualizing the liminal stages of my own life into tangible and intimate pieces of jewelry. According to Gennep, a participant progresses through a rite of passage in three stages: separation, liminality, and re-integration. 01 Each chapter is organized around these three categories, and on how the work and I pass in and out of the studio. Out/Separation describes the process of walking and the poetics of the moving body. In/Liminal details the specificity of the processes at my bench and how I transform material. Lastly, Out/Re-Integration investigates the mobile potential of jewelry and the effect it has on the wearer. I see this work as a neverending sentence — a continuous ritual of making in which process is content. This work is both a mark of my artistic labor and witness to my existence.
Recommended Citation
James, Valerie, "Instants // intervals" (2019). Masters Theses. 372.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/372
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