THICKET

A thesis submitted to the College of the Arts of Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

Master of Fine Arts

By

Katlyn Baird

May 2021

Thesis written by

Katlyn Baird

B.F.A., Kent State University, 2015

M.F.A., Kent State University, 2021

Approved by

______Isabel Farnsworth, M.F.A., Professor, Advisor

______Marie Bukowski, M.F.A., Director, School of Art

______John R. Crawford-Spinelli, Ed.D., Dean, College of the Arts

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………………. ..iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...... v

INTRODUCTION...…………………………………………………………….………….…….1

INSTALLATION AND MATERIALS …………………………………………………...…….3

ART AND ARTISTS INSPIRATION ……………………………………………………….....5

CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………….6

APPENDIX A: FIGURES………………………………………………………………………8

BIBLIOGRAPHGY……………………………………………………………………………..15

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1. Vinyl detail from installation ...... 8

2. Image of Bernini’s’ Sculpture ...... 9

3. External View of Installation ...………………………………………………………….10

4. Image of Carved Figure of Daphne ...……………………...…………………………....11

5. Image of Plaster Animal from within the Installation .……..…………………………...12

6. Image of Vessel/Hive from within the Installation ...…………………………………....13

7. Image of 1 of the 4 Vitrines …………………………………………………………...... 14

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ACKNOWLEGMENTS

Where to begin? I thank my circle of friends and family for all the love, support, and for never giving up on me or my art, no matter how strange it gets. A special thanks my mom and dad, they may not understand everything I make but they always find ways to help with and love my art. The biggest thank you to my friends/models that let me do the craziest things and never shy away from helping me however they can, even when the projects keep getting bigger and weirder. Thank you to my advisor Professor Isabel Farnsworth for her constant understanding and assistance throughout my years in undergrad and now graduate school. I could never have driven myself to make the things I do without her guidance. I give thanks to my other committee members, Eli Kessler and Gianna Commito, they helped me to get out of my own head and to think of my work differently. I am so grateful for all of their input and understanding during this turbulent time in the world. As I look back at my time in the Studio Arts here at Kent State, I think of all the people I’ve met whether they be professors, peers, or students, I have learned so much from all of you. Even with the world as it is, we did not give up, we still found ways to create so I thank you all for that.

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INTRODUCTION

Thicket, presented in the Crawford Gallery at Center for Visual Arts is an installation inspired by the story of Daphne from . Myths and folklore from around the world have been the narrative inspiration and springboard for my sculptural work. I make the stories my own by looking at them from perspectives other than that of the main characters or original authors. Through a feminist perspective, I revision and re-interpret the narratives from the women in the stories’ perspective, most of their original writers were men and there is a very masculine tilt to almost every Greek myth. The story of Daphne for example is the story of a young nymph that was pursued by . As the god most associated with music, divination, healing, youth, and beauty, Apollo is very well known even in modern day culture. His name and his symbols are still used to this day by companies, artists, and events all over the world. In comparison, Daphne is barely a blip on the radar to most modern people though her story is how one of the most well known and most used symbols of Apollo came to be.

As the story goes that upon seeing Daphne, Apollo became obsessed, and he pursued her.

Now, in most Greek myths when the gods choose to go after a woman, they are either successful in their pursuit by finding a willing woman or the woman refuses and is then assaulted to satiate the gods’ lust. Daphne chose to run, she “fled like a hunted deer.”1 When Apollo chased her, she ran and when she was about to be captured, she was transfigured into a laurel tree to escape him.

Depending on which version of the story you research, she was either changed with the last of her own power and energy or she begged for help from her father, Peneus who was a river god.

1 Berens, “Mythology: Who's Who in Greek and Roman Mythology,” (2015) 75

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“Help me Peneus! Open the earth to enclose me, or change my form, which has brought me into this danger -Daphne”2 I included this quote in the exhibition as a wall text in vinyl as a way to clue to viewer into the narrative. [Fig 1]

Now, you would think that becoming a literal tree would stop the attentions of a man or god, not Apollo. Instead of leaving Daphne (who again is now a tree) alone, he still obsessed over her and he took a branch and “crowned his head with its leaves.”3 This symbol is still very well-known and it is associated with Apollo to this day. It has always struck me how disturbing it is that even with her transformation Daphne was still perverted by Apollo, he still managed to claim a part of her, he even demanded that the laurel tree be a sacred symbol of his. I want to make the story about Daphne. This installation is a comment on her predicament, is she imprisoned or protected? Is her end state a sanctuary or a cage? She can never leave but she is protected from the sexual attentions of Apollo or any other man. With this piece and all of the elements within, I want the viewers to feel and question that contradiction. Are the vines entangling the plaster representation of Daphne in the installation there to protect or to keep her and the other small figures within trapped or conquered? Are the sculpted grapevine vessels’ coffins or cocoons? Are the vitrines’ scenes of doom or do they hint toward another emotion? I wanted the viewers to be conflicted with the emotions they might feel toward this piece.

2 Lai, Steven. “Important Quotations - Myths and Legends.” 3 Berens, (2015) 75

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INSTALLATION AND MATERIALS

The use of naturally found materials and materials made from or altered by natural materials was paramount for this installation. I used to always let the objects around me inform me on what story I would like to portray instead of trying to make the materials fit into the story.

I was able to find one specific vine in the woods one day and that vine was the seed that brought the story of Daphne to my mind. I wanted to let these materials take the reins for this piece, to use me as a conduit to form them into the story. Since most of my materials are naturally found vines, bones, and preserved remains I had almost no control in how these materials came to be. I was able to manipulate them to a point but the vines could snap and break down over time and the remains had to be handled delicately or they would become unusable. The fact that I could not control everything in the creation of the installation made me realize that metaphysically and organically the materials directed the work and added a visceral energy.

The majority of the installation is made from natural materials and materials found and harvested from the landscape. The vines were collected from various properties that are well known to me, most came from my own family’s property and others from the local parks I keep and tend to as a part of my job with the City of Kent Parks Service. The cotton cord and silk were dyed with walnut dye that I harvested and made myself, this dye was also used to tint and color the plaster forms. The plaster figurative elements were constructed from chicken wire, burlap, and molding plaster, and then formed and carved by hand. The small vitrines are custom cut acrylic boxes that hold different types of remains preserved in resin, which were also found and collected on my property. The harvesting and collecting many of the materials took a bulk of time for my thesis. Many of the materials had to be treated and manipulated after collection, the vines dry out very quickly after they are cut, so they had to be steamed in order to reshape and

4 use them in weavings. The walnut dye was made from gathered black walnuts. In order to make the dye, they were cracked and boiled to pull the dye from the pulp of the nut. The cotton and silk were soaked with this dye before they were added to the vessels, and then sprayed again with the dye once completed.

The actual vine enclosure can be read as a contrasted structure, is it the prison or sanctuary for Daphne and the faunal figures within? [Fig 3] The vines themselves are an invasive species of Wild Grape that climb, choke out, and eventually kill the trees they over take in order to survive. After they over take an area, they can provide excellent hiding places and homes for animals in the wild. The contradiction, as both something destruction and something nurturing could inform the viewers feelings toward seeing how they are reused for the purpose of the installation.

The figure of Daphne was formed from wire, covered in burlap, and then layers and shapes were built up of plaster to make her form. [Fig 4] I used carving tools and plaster rasps to enhance the shapes of her body, sculpting her to appear worn away as though her identity is slowly falling away as she becomes one with the tree more and more. She is wrapped in vines to further obscure and confine her. The animal figures were sculpted and made the same way as

Daphne with plaster and burlap. [Fig 5] The animals were shaped to mock the poses of death and/or birth as a reference to the dispute of whether or not this thicket is a protected place for growth or a safe place for the final moments of life. These creatures could appear to be resting or to be dead. They were also left without much detail to aid in their ambivalent appearance. All the figures were constructed additively and then carved so as to leave the imperfections, giving them a sense of past energy. After the figures and forms reached their end pose, I dyed them with several concoctions of walnut dye, red iron oxide, and black iron oxide. The tone I achieve with

5 this method allowed me to alter each of the figures slightly, they are all uniform in the shade of color but they each have their own individual surface that gives some variation.

The five woven vessels of differing sizes are made from bending and weaving vines into the main form, then the additional materials of dyed silk and cotton cord were woven into the form as well. [Fig 6] They are reminiscent of nests, hives, or cocoons in form but what are they exactly? Are they coffins for the dead or are there figures inside waiting to be born or transformed? The use of the cord adds an almost snakeskin like texture and alongside the silk, together they add a softness and density to the vessels, obscuring the viewers’ ability to see inside of them. The physical tasks of steaming, dyeing, bending, and weaving the vessels give them the appearance of wear and natural conditioning.

The four acrylic vitrines of varying sizes are a kind of prelude to the main installation.

[Fig 7] Thinking of them as a trailer to the main event helped me to consider the idea of micro to macro; these small hermetically sealed containers become mini-installations in themselves that when seen compared to the large installation, create a context for the viewers go through with the installation. They helped me to understand that something small like them could be explored differently, but could evoke a similar feeling to that of the larger piece.

ART AND ARTISTS, INSPIRATION

Making work inspired by mythology and folklore has always helped to fulfill my personal love of storytelling. Now when we think of Greek art, the first thought is Classical

Greek sculptures. The most well-known sculpture that relates to my installation would have to be the marble sculpture of Apollo and Daphne, which was sculpted by the Italian artist, Gian

Lorenzo Bernini [Fig 2]. It was carved to be life size and in the style during the years

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1622 to 1625. The Bernini sculpture has been a piece that “Myth-tellers have often used to illustrate the opposition between chastity and the pleasures of the flesh.”4 While I adore the skill and processes that went into these types of sculptures, and draw some inspiration from them and the stories they tell, that is where any similarities tend to end and where I depart to make my work.

When I first started making works based off myths and folklore, I of course looked to

Kiki Smith for information and inspiration. She is inspired by death, mythology, the body, and nature, all things I use to inspire my own work. She tells her stories differently than I do but her work and ethics have always pushed me to do the work that I want to do. Matthew Barney has also been a big influence on my art, while I will continue to dream of being able to produce performative works at the scale and quality of his. His larger sculptural pieces are somewhat figurative, but still very ambiguous, lending to the investigation of his complex narratives. The scale and materials make such vast statements and leave his viewers in awe. The sculptures and installations of Louise Bourgeois were the biggest pool of inspiration in contemporary art that I found myself pulling from. Her use of organic and abstract shapes and forms coupled with the figurative aspects of her sculptures aided in allowing myself some freedom. I did not have to become hyper focused on any singular detail or perfection in order to feel as if I accomplished my piece, like Bourgeois I could probe at the emotions that the installation would draw out in the viewers. She also never shied away from the strange and abnormal, allowing for a variation of content in her art.

4 Thames and Hudson “The Complete World of Greek Mythology” (2004) 191

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CONCLUSION

I have made pieces in the past that were not salvageable and therefore had to be disposed of, and I strongly dislike adding materials needlessly to landfills, especially remnants of my own work. With this installation, I was able to keep in my mind that even after this installation was completed that the bulk of the materials would be able to return to nature to decompose or even re-root. First, I wanted this to be installed in a gallery so it would allow me to bring the viewers into an environment and to remove them from the outside world if only for a moment as they viewed the installation, so finding a way to view it in its initial glory out in the world could be my next step along with a performative element. Adding in a live theatrical component is something I have always been drawn to for my installations and if I were to reinstall this piece in another gallery or public area, I would really strive to bring that feature to reality. In reality, I will take the majority of the surviving remnants of the installation and reset it in nature, they will be staged in the vine and briar thicket on my family’s property. By setting up a basic structure for the vines to climb around the figures and allowing the piece to grow and form as it wishes, would be a very fitting final form to this piece.

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APPENDIX A

IMAGES AND FIGURES

Fig 1: Vinyl displayed in gallery of Thicket.

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Fig 2: Apollo and Daphne, marble sculpture by Bernini. Image taken in Borghese Gallery,

Rome.5

5 Britannica.com

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Fig 3: External view of the installation structure.

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Fig 4: Carved figure of Daphne.

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Fig 5: Plaster animal figure from within the installation.

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Fig 6: Woven vessel/hive from within the installation.

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Fig 7: 1 of the 4 vitrines viewed from outside of the gallery.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Berens, E. M. “The Loves of Apollo.” Mythology: Who's Who in Greek and Roman Mythology, Crestline, an Imprint of The Quarto Group, 2015, pp. 74–75.

Buxton R G A., The Complete World of Greek Mythology, Thames & Hudson, 2016, p. 191.

Lai, Steven. “Important Quotations - Myths and Legends.” Google Sites, sites.google.com/site/mythsandlegendsnotes/apollo-daphne/important-quotations.

Lorenzo Bernini: Apollo and Daphne. New York. https://www.britannica.com/ SCALA/Art Resource, New York