Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Date

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Art

Committee Chair

Coe Lapossy

Committee Member

Hamlett Dobbins

Committee Member

Yangbin Park

Abstract

The Line Goes Up is about anxiety of the contemporary condition my generation and future one faces in America in the current moment. The work that I make is a direct response to the reality in which my generation and many others experience the contemporary condition of the United States of America. Creating exaggerated snapshots based on mundane real-world locations and twisting them into nightmarish and uncomfortable versions. Americans are still going about their lives like nothing is wrong despite incredibly overwhelming upheavals in our lives. Inflation has risen 37% on all food since 2017, while the federal minimum wage has not increased since 2009. All these things and more are taking place at alarming rates, and nothing is being done to stop it or make people's lives better. The line continues to go up, with temperature, cost of living and inflation, underemployment, and unemployment, etc. Painting is my vehicle to express the perspective of young Americans and the distorted reality that comes from experiencing overwhelming stress and hopelessness towards the present moment and the future.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.”

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest/Clarivate.

Notes

Open Access

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