Symbolism in art

As an MFA candidate at the Florida Atlantic University, I began in figurative
painting and ended with abstract ink and pencil drawings in my thesis work. In between
was a progression of artistic experimentation in theme, technique and medium to explore
issues of female identity and childhood sexual abuse. From a girl trapped in a dark
fairytale to a pregnant woman followed by a pedophile to a new mother frustrated that
her own ambitions have been usurped, the final transformation of female identity into
fierce protector came after confronting memories of child abuse. Using India ink and pencil drawings, my thesis work recreates scenes of a struggle between the same attacker and a powerful mother. She spins her own hair into a delicate, but powerful, barrier that keeps her daughter safe.

The Cotzumalguapa Nuclear Zone is located on the Pacific slope of Guatemala. A portion of the carved stone monuments associated with this zone exhibits a unique combination of botanical symbols as a concomitant to central portrait figuration. This botanical style, found elsewhere in Mesoamerica, includes leaf, flower, fruit, and complex tabbed speech scroll/vine motifs intertwined with other non-botanical symbols. The resulting style can be interpreted as an "envisioned form" of symbolic communication. This thesis examines, isolates and quantifies the botanical elements, their placement and suggests comparisons with plant species known to facilitate altered state spiritual communication.

Flotsam is a collection of writing. Flotsam examines divisions of the self. Flotsam is made of fiction, nonfiction, and visual representations of both. Flotsam is made of the truth. Flotsam is made of lies. Flotsam is pretty. Flotsam is a beast.

As a woman of Moroccan descent, I have been brought up surrounded by a rich culture that places great emphasis on the importance of hospitality and family traditions. This exhibit represents an exploration of porcelain ceramics vessels that have been produced over the past year. The work incorporates tagine forms, plates, tea cups and tea pots that are commonly used while entertaining guests in a Moroccan home. Moroccans welcome the opportunity to show their generosity and hospitality by welcoming guests into their homes to visit and share meals. The vessels are ornately painted and decorated so that meals served will feast the eyes as well as the palate. The porcelain is decorated with ornate finials, underglazes and china painting. The subject of the imagery is a combination of visual anthropology in which random images of people from today's society are contrasted with my own interpretation of ancient geometric design details that are found in North African Zillij cut mosaic tiles. This infuses the work with an imagined sense of time and place. The attempt to harmonize seemingly incongruent elements results in vessels that feel both familiar and eccentric. The layers of color areused to symbolize nature, purity, depth of life and spiritual abundance. The colors are placed randomly in contrast to the symmetry of the geometric designs. The work is displayed in a dining room setting where guests are always welcome to enter. My work as an artist enhances the experience I bring to my students in the classroom.