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| author | Allison Haley McMahon |
| title | Deep in the Forest of Space: Phenomenological Philosophies, Transforming Worldviews, and Analysis in Painting |
| abstract | Artists make choices or have urges instinctively to make things look, hear, or sound a particular a way. To some degree
every artist takes into consideration perceptual experiences and the sensitivity and expression that exists in the way we experience the world with our bodies.
We are artists because we have a need communicate visually. In this project, I have investigated what my interactions with the world mean to me as a painter.
Phenomenological texts and particularly philosophical assertions made by David Abram in the Spell of the Sensuous have helped to articulate a kind of an
instinctual approach I have had to painting and more importantly, have transformed and clarified worldviews that promote a sense of connectedness with our planet
and our surroundings. Phenomenology and painting as recognition of direct experience are also explored as an opposition to the millennial generation's
dependence on near-constant interaction with smartphones and computers. I also investigate the power of visual experiences, as something embedded in
almost all experiences, to bring significant memories to the surface with deeper investigation. Reflecting, with phenomenological philosophies of Edmund
Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty in mind, has involved a growth in my appreciation for what sensual experiences of the entire body mean for my experience
of the world. These philosophies are also looked at in relation to how a way of thinking rooted in direct experience has the potential to make us as humans
feel more connected to the "natural" world. As a result of the research, I have a greater sense of awareness of the interdependence between us and our
physical and natural surroundings and that connection can come through as a theme in my work. |
| school | The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University |
| degree | B.A. (2017) |
| advisor | Michael Peglau |
| committee | Rebecca Soderholm
Lisa Jordan |
| full text | AHMcMahon.pdf |
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