Senior Thesis

Thesis exhibition for the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Wood. School of Art, Craft & Design at Tennessee Technological University.

My thesis exhibition “Metastasis” is inspired by my mother’s journey with cancer and the way that disease alters both the physical body and one’s sense of self. Through these pieces, health, decay, fragility, and strength are portrayed, also considering the subtle, sometimes invisible ways things change over time. In March 2024, my mother passed away after a four-year journey with cancer. She was someone I held extremely close to my heart and losing her when I was nineteen reshaped every aspect of my life. My mother was my greatest supporter, always encouraging me to pursue my passions and to trust myself, especially throughout my time in art school. She herself was an artist and saw art as a way of understanding the world. Her creativity, resilience, and optimism continue to influence the way that I approach my work.
My mother’s experience with illness and treatment significantly changed my work. I work with wood, an organic medium, as a metaphor for the human body. Similar to flesh, it carries its own history. Wood can be carved, damaged, repaired, and worn down, which signifies both fragility and strength. In this series, I use an amalgam of sawdust and glue, materials traditionally used for repair in damaged wood. Sawdust, though it comes from wood, is fragile. Its coarseness and tendency to crumble reflects the physical and emotional deterioration I witnessed in my mother’s illness. In contrast, the glue is representative of the effort to repair and hold together what is weak, just as treatment attempts to heal the body. By forming and layering this texture by hand, I am exploring grief, memory, and the lasting effect of loss, using process and material to honor her life while confronting the reality of her absence.