Painting Masters Theses
The MFA program in Painting emphasizes critical and artistic growth through the evolution of a rigorous studio practice. While a shared passion for the history and craft of painting binds the department together, professors are committed to assisting each student in developing his or her own vision, supporting an enormous diversity of formal and conceptual approaches, painting styles and interests.
In the final semester, degree candidates focus on creating a comprehensive body of work under the guidance of a thesis committee. All MFA candidates produce a written thesis and participate in the RISD Graduate Thesis Exhibition, a large-scale public show held annually.
“We keep the graduate program in Painting open-ended as a reflection the department’s philosophy as a whole. The idea is to help students work better and develop practices that will serve them well for life—beyond their studio explorations here at RISD.”
Graduate Program Director: Kevin Zucker
These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Theses from 2023
Flores, Rigoberto Flores
margins (i nvr needed acceptance from all u outsiders), Jahi Lendor
cuando lloro, Melissa Medina
From John Street to Union, Andrew Shea
A body finding freedom within itself, Malda Smadi
Cultivar, Scott Vander Veen
Theses from 2022
Matingkad - Flamboyant, Bhen Alan
New revelations, Ineke Lynne Knudsen
Time enough at last, Scott Lerner
Baseball camp and other stories, Lucas Mockler
TOBETITLED, Dylan Riley
Pace/Place/Space/Tempo—The choreography of equity and expressions of Black Living, Vessna Scheff
Uncaring universe, Jingqi Wang Steinhiser
Can’t stop coyote, Tala Worrell
Paradigms of horror, Xingge Zhang
Theses from 2021
Records of (un)learning, Gregory Deddo
The Broken Thought Machine [broh-kuhn thawt muh-sheen], Michael Dispensa
Things that ignore, Sean Walker Hutton
The beauty of collision, Yixuan Pan
Dive, Aparna Sarkar
Hard work / soft work, Nicole Schonitzer
Blue loops, Rebecca Senn
In the muck and the mire, Orli Swergold
Like water taught by thirst, Emily Wilker
Everyone I have every crowed with 2021-, Hannah Lutz Winkler
Theses from 2020
Frankenstein, Ruins, & Twilight, Braden Bandel
Hain't, Jarrett Key
3, 2, 1, Omar Lalani
He Makes the Figs Our Mouths to Meet and Throws the Melons at Our Feet, Josh Meier
Smoke and mirrors, Kiernan Pazdar
This side of the air, Madeline Peckenpaugh
Slice of life : theater of the dinner table, Kate Pincus-Whitney
Father figures, Chris Regner
To protect the hell yeah and every hell yeah's variations, Lukey Walden
Theses from 2019
Addicts of nostalgia, Samuel Robert Campbell Drake
Personal analysis of the relationship of artist to the subject in figurative painting, Zuhal Feraidon
Spontaneous laughter, laughter without reason, Evan Gilbert
The line that splits, Zahra Jewanjee
The person-less portrait, Katelyn Ledford
Where we are : where we thought we were going, Nathan Prebonick
Icarus : how to survive the fall, Emile Stark-Menneg
Theses from 2018
Domestic disorientation, Marisa Adesman
To see again, Ada Goldfeld
Sky well, Molly Kaderka
Tightrope walking on the red lines, Arghavan Khosravi
Left hand stories, Saif Mhaisen
Pienso en ti, Gina Gwen Palacios
In a distant land, Ohad Sarfaty
Theses from 2017
The past is today, Afra Al Dhaheri
Surface, object, space, Susan Doe
Humor and allegory, Christopher Goodale
Art loser, Laura Jasek
The little girl (kinda), Hanna Kim
From Florine to flocking : observations of a painter - printmaker - embellisher, Elizabeth King
A theatrical life : negotiating biracial identity, Timothy Lai
The farce of the frame, Dominic Musa
Anthro/post/cene, Sofia Ortiz
Theses from 2016
Interior mountains & distant clouds, Ping Zheng
Theses from 2015
Make every day count: longing, vision, & painting, Sarah R. Pater