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.

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Theses from 2024

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Sweet Relief, Aaron Feltman

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An Abundance of Caution, Gonçalo Preto Jorge

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A Delicate Balance, Lily Taylor

Theses from 2023

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Flores, Rigoberto Flores

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margins (i nvr needed acceptance from all u outsiders), Jahi Lendor

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cuando lloro, Melissa Medina

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From John Street to Union, Andrew Shea

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A body finding freedom within itself, Malda Smadi

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Cultivar, Scott Vander Veen

Theses from 2022

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Matingkad - Flamboyant, Bhen Alan

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New revelations, Ineke Lynne Knudsen

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Time enough at last, Scott Lerner

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Baseball camp and other stories, Lucas Mockler

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TOBETITLED, Dylan Riley

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Pace/Place/Space/Tempo—The choreography of equity and expressions of Black Living, Vessna Scheff

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Uncaring universe, Jingqi Wang Steinhiser

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Can’t stop coyote, Tala Worrell

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Paradigms of horror, Xingge Zhang

Theses from 2021

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Records of (un)learning, Gregory Deddo

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The Broken Thought Machine [broh-kuhn thawt muh-sheen], Michael Dispensa

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Things that ignore, Sean Walker Hutton

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The beauty of collision, Yixuan Pan

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Dive, Aparna Sarkar

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Hard work / soft work, Nicole Schonitzer

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Blue loops, Rebecca Senn

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In the muck and the mire, Orli Swergold

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Like water taught by thirst, Emily Wilker

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Everyone I have every crowed with 2021-, Hannah Lutz Winkler

Theses from 2020

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Frankenstein, Ruins, & Twilight, Braden Bandel

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Hain't, Jarrett Key

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3, 2, 1, Omar Lalani

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He Makes the Figs Our Mouths to Meet and Throws the Melons at Our Feet, Josh Meier

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Smoke and mirrors, Kiernan Pazdar

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This side of the air, Madeline Peckenpaugh

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Slice of life : theater of the dinner table, Kate Pincus-Whitney

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Father figures, Chris Regner

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To protect the hell yeah and every hell yeah's variations, Lukey Walden

Theses from 2019

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Addicts of nostalgia, Samuel Robert Campbell Drake

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Personal analysis of the relationship of artist to the subject in figurative painting, Zuhal Feraidon

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Spontaneous laughter, laughter without reason, Evan Gilbert

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The line that splits, Zahra Jewanjee

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The person-less portrait, Katelyn Ledford

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Where we are : where we thought we were going, Nathan Prebonick

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Icarus : how to survive the fall, Emile Stark-Menneg

Theses from 2018

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Domestic disorientation, Marisa Adesman

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To see again, Ada Goldfeld

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Sky well, Molly Kaderka

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Tightrope walking on the red lines, Arghavan Khosravi

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Left hand stories, Saif Mhaisen

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Pienso en ti, Gina Gwen Palacios

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In a distant land, Ohad Sarfaty

Theses from 2017

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The past is today, Afra Al Dhaheri

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Surface, object, space, Susan Doe

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Humor and allegory, Christopher Goodale

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Art loser, Laura Jasek

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The little girl (kinda), Hanna Kim

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From Florine to flocking : observations of a painter - printmaker - embellisher, Elizabeth King

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A theatrical life : negotiating biracial identity, Timothy Lai

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The farce of the frame, Dominic Musa

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Anthro/post/cene, Sofia Ortiz

Theses from 2016

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Interior mountains & distant clouds, Ping Zheng

Theses from 2015

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Make every day count: longing, vision, & painting, Sarah R. Pater