In the Pines A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Painting Department in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Fine Arts At Savannah College of Art and Design (original) (raw)

2021, Savannah College of Art and Design

This text explores the characteristics of the paintings that make up my thesis show, In the Pines, in which each image bristles with narrative aspects and hints of everyday magic. In this document, I discuss my obsession with storytelling while introducing the overarching themes that mark my work. Also, I illuminate the influences, both Contemporary and Historical, that have stirred my creative energies: forces that are both familiar and strange that drive the work’s subject matter, content, and materiality. For generations, my family has spun their stories in the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas. My paintings for In the Pines focus on these stories and the particular landscape that has nurtured them. I also touch upon developing my style, which I have dubbed ‘Magical Regionalism,’ in which Regionalism and Magical Realism entwine. Keywords: Magical Regionalism, Regionalism, Magical Realism, fairy tales, mythology, narrative paintings, storytelling, heritage, Arkansas, Ouachita National Forest https://scad.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/s/t6k6a7