Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Honors College at WKU Projects Spring 2019 Perception: Exploring Cognition and Consciousness Through Visual Art Summer Shepherd Western Kentucky University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses Part of the Art and Design Commons, Philosophy Commons, and the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Shepherd, Summer, "Perception: Exploring Cognition and Consciousness Through Visual Art" (2019). Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. Paper 819. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/819 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors College Capstone Experience/ Thesis Projects by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PERCEPTION: EXPLORING COGNITION AND CONSCIOUSNESS THROUGH VISUAL ART A written companion to the Metamorphosis art exhibition ​ ​ A Capstone Project Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honors College Graduate Distinction at Western Kentucky University By Summer “Sunny” Shepherd May 2019 ***** CE/T Committee: Professor Yvonne Petkus, Chair Professor Kristina Arnold Doctor Christopher Keller Copyright by Summer Shepherd 2019 1 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Metamorphosis was not the result of one year or one person’s efforts. The body of work ​ and this companion essay could not have come together without the support of loved ones. I would like to thank those who have helped me grow both as a person and an artist. Thank you to the friends and family who have given me their time, labor, resources, and feedback over the past several months. The work would be nothing without someone to share it with. It is through community that I am able to realize my visions. And for my time spent among wonderful, creative, and kind people, I would like to thank the professors and students of the Art Department of WKU. Thank you for raising me and showing me that I have what it takes. 3 ABSTRACT The concept of consciousness has perplexed humankind for thousands of years. Countless scientists, philosophers, and artists have devoted their lifetimes to solving humanity’s questions about our relationship with the world we live within. The creative arts, such as music, theater, and visual art, can facilitate critical thinking and meaningful interpersonal communication. This paper explores the visual artwork of the author, Sunny Shepherd, through examination of historical and contemporary artistic influences on the work, as well as the psychological and philosophical concepts that fuel it. Months of research, planning, and creating went into the manifestation of the final exhibition, Metamorphosis, which was open in Western Kentucky University’s Fine Arts ​ ​ Center Cube Gallery April 29-May 3, 2019. Keywords: visual art, psychology, philosophy, art history, dreaming, consciousness 4 VITA EDUCATION Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green KY May 2019 ​ B.F.A. in Visual Art - Mahurin Honors College Graduate Summa Cum Laude Honors Thesis: Perception: Exploring Cognition and ​ Consciousness Through Visual Art Studied Abroad in Venice, Italy (2017) Member of Painting Critique and Discussion Group (2018-2019) AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS 1906 Founders Scholarship, university-level merit-based scholarship, 2015-2019 Western Kentucky University Potter College Award for Outstanding Student in Visual Arts, BFA, 2019 merit-based departmental award, Western Kentucky University Scholar of the College, college-level academic award, Potter College of Arts and Letters, Western Kentucky University Best Relief Print in Impressions, juried printmaking exhibition, Spencer’s Coffee 2018 Best Painting in 2018 Student Juried Exhibition, Western Kentucky University S. G. Rinehart Art Scholarship, merit-based scholarship, Western Kentucky University ​​ 1st Place in Professional Weaving in US Bank Celebration of the Arts Exhibition, 2017 ​ ​ Kentucky Museum Work selected for the front cover of "Zephyrus," a Western Kentucky University English Department publication Ruth Hines Temple Award recipient, Western Kentucky University Study Abroad World Topper Scholarship recipient, Western Kentucky University 2016 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Lead Instructor, one-day Children’s Buon Fresco Painting Workshop. Jul. 2018 Art Matters Community Studio and Gallery. Bowling Green, KY Assistant Instructor, one-week Children’s Art Camp. Jul. 2018 Art Matters Community Studio and Gallery. Bowling Green, KY Assistant Instructor, one-day Buon Fresco Painting Workshop. Apr. 2018 University of Louisville. Louisville, KY Teacher’s Assistant, After-School Art Program. Spring 2018 Art Matters Community Studio and Gallery. Bowling Green, KY Painting Studio Technician. Western Kentucky University. Aug. 2017-Dec. 2018 Bowling Green, KY Assistant Instructor, one-day Buon Fresco Painting Workshop. Nov. 2017 University of Louisville. Louisville, KY Assistant Instructor, one-day Buon Fresco Painting Workshop. Apr. 2017 University of Southern Indiana. Evansville, IN 5 ART EXHIBITIONS (*SOLO EXHIBITION) *Metamorphosis, Fine Arts Center Cube Gallery, Western Kentucky University. ​ Bowling Green, KY. April 29-May 3, 2019 Spring 2019 Seniors Exhibition, Fine Arts Center Main Gallery, Western Kentucky University. ​ Bowling Green, KY. April 22- May 11, 2019 Women in the Arts, open art exhibition, The Medical Center. Bowling Green, KY. ​ April 11-14, 2019 A Celebration of Women, invitational group exhibition, Art Matters Community Studio ​ and Gallery. Bowling Green, KY. March 15-March 29, 2019 US Bank Celebration of the Arts, open art exhibition, the Kentucky Museum. ​ Bowling Green, KY. March 2-April 5, 2019 High Strung, group exhibition, Love Art Gallery. Bowling Green, KY. February 17-22, 2019 ​ Impressions, juried group printmaking exhibition, Spencer’s Coffee. Bowling Green, KY. ​ December 7, 2018-February 28, 2019 State of Fine Art, juried group exhibition, Georgetown College. Georgetown, KY. ​ November 15- December 29, 2018 *because, Fine Arts Center Cube Gallery, Western Kentucky University. Bowling Green, KY. ​ November 5-9, 2018 2018 Student Juried Show, Fine Arts Center Main Gallery, Western Kentucky University. ​ Bowling Green, KY. October 15-November 7, 2018 *In Somnis, Fine Arts Center Corridor Gallery, Western Kentucky University. ​ Bowling Green, KY. October 1-5, 2018 US Bank Celebration of the Arts, open art exhibition, the Kentucky Museum. ​ Bowling Green, KY. March 3-April 6, 2018 Untitled student group exhibition, Baker Arboretum and Downing Museum. Bowling Green, KY. April 2018 2017 Juried Student Show, Fine Arts Center Main Gallery, Western Kentucky University. ​ Bowling Green, KY. October 2017 Processing Place/Processing Memory, group exhibition, Fine Arts Center Cube Gallery, ​ Western Kentucky University. Bowling Green, KY. November 2017 US Bank Celebration of the Arts, open art exhibition, the Kentucky Museum. ​ Bowling Green, KY. March 4-April 7, 2017 6 CONTENTS Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………….. 3 ​ Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………... 4 ​ Vita…………………………………………………………………………………………. 5 ​ List of Figures………………………………………………………………………………. 8 ​ Artist Statement…………………………………………………………………………….. 10 ​ Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………. 11 ​ Surrealism and the Authority of the Subconscious…………………………………………. 13 ​ Perception and Consciousness……………………………………………………………… 19 ​ Surreal Encounters………………………………………………………………………….. 27 ​ Time, History, and Memory……………………………………………………………….... 35 ​ Viewer Attention, Manipulation, and Interaction…………………………………………... 39 ​ Installation Art and Painting: Bridging the Gap……………………………………………. 42 ​ Mundane Monuments: A World of Symbolism……………………………………………. 44 ​ Creation of the Final Exhibition……………………………………………………………. 48 ​ Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………... 53 ​ ​ 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Rene Magritte, The Happy Donor, 1966………………………………………… 13 ​ ​ Figure 2. M.C. Escher, The Waterfall, 1961……………………………………………….. 14 ​ ​ Figure 3. John Frederick Peto, The Poor Man’s Store, 1885………………………………. 17 ​ ​ Figure 4. Claude Monet, from the Rouen Cathedral series, 1892-93……………………… 18 ​ ​ Figure 5. A section of Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night, ​ ​ processed through Google’s DeepDream program……………………………… 21 Figure 6. Sunny Shepherd, Imposter, 2018………………………………………………… 25 ​ ​ Figure 7. Sunny Shepherd, Cocoon (installation view), 2019……………………………… 32 ​ ​ Figure 8. Hiroshi Sugimoto, Fifth Avenue Theater, Seattle, 1997…………………………. 35 ​ ​ Figure 9. Anselm Kiefer, Land of Two Rivers, 1985-89…………………………………… 36 ​ ​ Figure 10. Katrin Sigurdardottir, Metamorphic, (installation view), 2015………………… 38 ​ ​ Figure 11. Kai Althoff, and then leave me to the common swifts (installation view), 2016. 41 ​ ​ Figure 12. Kai Althoff, and then leave me to the common swifts (installation view), 2016. 41 ​ ​ Figure 13. Sunny Shepherd, The Bridge (diptych), 2018…………………………………. 44 ​ ​ Figure 14. Sunny Shepherd, Fissure (detail), 2019……………………………………….. 45 ​ ​ Figure 15. Sunny Shepherd, Lenses (Meditating Blues), 2019…………………………… 48 ​ ​ 8 9 ARTIST STATEMENT Through a multi-disciplinary approach, I use my studio practice to question reality, memory, and the passing of time. Although I work from a painting framework, I use a wide variety of materials that often branch into installation and sculpture to search for connections between what we experience