Portraiture in the Italian Renaissance is typically an easily identifiable genre of painting. It was not unusual for the nobility to have their likeness painted with carefully constructed physical characteristics, amongst objects of Christian piety, and with stylistic nuances alluding to their wealth and status. Occasionally, individuals even asked to be depicted with the attributes of a particular saint, in order to emphasize their devotion and Christian virtue. However, a painting by Pietro Perugino titled "Mary Magdalene”, which appears to be a devotional image of the saint, poses an unusual problem to the genre of portraiture. The woman depicted is rendered in the unmistakable style of a portrait, a genre reserved for human beings and not the divinity. Remarkably, the name "S. Maria Maddalena" has been painted across the front of her garment, but the woman herself is without any other attributes of Mary Magdalene. This poses a question of identity to the viewer: is one supposed to understand the figure as Saint Mary Magdalene herself, or as a mortal woman of nobility in the guise of the saint? In comparison, a painting of the Virgin Mary by Antonello da Messina also mimics the unique style of portraiture, and can be used to analyze Perugino’s mysterious image. In the same way a viewer would recognize a noblewoman by her painted attributes, these stylized portraits would have recalled the identities of Mary Magdalene and of the Virgin. Therefore, by examining their hagiography, the reason for their representation in such a specifically human genre may be understood: that the genre itself became a mode of expression for describing Mary Magdalene’s life as a reformed prostitute, and the Virgin’s assumption from the mortal realm to immortal divinity, thus illuminating a newfound ability in portraiture that has not been previously examined.

My research focuses on photographic reproductions of the Didarganj yakshi, an ancient Indian sculpture of a female nature spirit. Specifically, I examine how these reproductions, produced at various points in history from the early 20th century to the present, depict the sculpture differently in terms of lighting, location, and framing, and what kinds of effects these distinctions have. I use the concept of "aura," described by the German philosopher Walter Benjamin as the quality of an artwork that confirms its authenticity and uniqueness, to analyze these effects. While Benjamin theorizes that photography, in its ability to produce multiple copies of the same work, negates an object's aura and allows for more responsible alternatives in our relationship to art, I argue that this fails to happen in the case of the Didarganj yakshi. Moreover, I argue that this failure is a result of British colonialism in India and its need to cast Indian art as authentically exotic. I use the Didarganj yakshi in particular for my analysis because of how its meanings and conditions of display have been historically contested on colonial grounds, and because of the long history of its photographic reproductions. By tracing this history and closely examining the different photos in their respective contexts of display, I form a clear picture of how reproductions of the Didarganj yakshi have changed over time and what this implies about the status of the work as a colonial art object.

Throughout time historic records have been heavily influenced by the victorious and their self-promotions which can be likened to propaganda. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, propaganda is defined as “the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause or a person.” The goal of my project is to demonstrate how Euro-American depictions of early American landscapes, during the migration westward in the nineteenth century, were a form of propaganda used to shape American history. During my research I learned that artists were constructing compositions based on ideas that glorify the migration. Since the majority of the audience was unable to travel West the paintings being brought back from expeditions were seen as accurate depictions. This research analyzes works by painters Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Cole, two distinct examples of propagandized landscapes. Through the examination of primary and secondary sources I will show how Bierstadt uses fantasized landscapes as a way of engaging the audience and how Cole portrays the untamed nature of the West as uncivilized. These paintings were used to promote opportunities found in cultivating the new land and highlight the prosperity of those already settled. My research will conclude that our history has been shaped negatively due to images being accepted as true representation. I hope to have shown how images are one sided and should not always be taken as they initially appear.

The dominant values that were depicted in American and Japanese World War II poster propaganda helped to rally support from the respective countries’ populations. One chosen value, or objective, for the propaganda posters in America was found to be the unifying of the American people through promoting the desire to aid American soldiers, whereas a common objective of Japanese posters was to unify Asian people throughout the world. How these objectives were represented determined if the posters were successful at gaining support from each country’s population. The objectives of American and Japanese propaganda posters are found through a comparative analysis of a single poster from each country. The objective of the American poster is depicted through the representation of American people doing what they could on the home front to support their troops. The objective of the Japanese poster is represented by showing the coming together of Asian people throughout the world. The objectives depicted had a major impact on how each population viewed and thought about the war. Propaganda, the new weapon of the twentieth century, especially poster propaganda, unified the communicating function of art with the influential power of media to broadcast the dominant values of each nation through imagery to both the soldiers on the battlefield and the civilians in their home countries. These posters allowed the populations of each country to identify with the dominant objectives of their country. If the populations could not identify with the objectives they would not be able to rally under one cause and help their country during a time of war.

Black Maps: The American Landscape and the Apocalyptic Sublime, a recent show at the Western Gallery, brings together a wide variety of David Maisel's large scale aerial photography. Typically, the artist travels to isolated locals and flies over barren industrialized sites to document the grounds below. Rather than devastation however, Maisel produces breathtaking aesthetic images. For example in Lake Project 20, pulsating red veins run through seductive violet pools that punctuate the surface of the image. While a Greenbergian formalist, through and through, Maisel is also anti Greenbergian, clearly he has concerns for the environment. In my essay I will analyze Maisel's photography highlighting his formalist approach to abstraction. Simultaneously, I will consider the narrative content of his work - which runs counter to his professed aesthetic of formalism. My main point is that Maisel opens a dialogue between visual abstraction and environmental issues. In doing so, he fills viewers with delight and excitement suggesting there is some hope in regards to our recent environmental crisis.

David Maisel changes the terms of environmental art. Black Maps, his recent exhibition at the Western Gallery, demonstrates this shift. In his work, he shifts the syntax, changing the signification of nature within art photography. For example, in his large scale photographic series “Terminal Mirage,” the artist depicts aerial shots of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. These images, at first glance, appear aesthetic with vivid purples, blues, and reds swimming across the picture plane. Yet, upon closer look, a viewer is confronted with the apocalyptic sublime. Through iconography, I will concentrate on how Terminal Mirage 2 is a prime example of his capacity to elicit, initially, the feeling of apocalyptic sublime while the knowledge of context and meaning of the work create a dialogue. Instead, Maisel undermines our ability to understand through obstruction to reveal the themes of his work.

Art, and the process of creative expression, has been used for centuries to catalog unique cultural traditions within regions. Perspective, compostition, and style are present in unique combinations within artwork and serve to give a strong sense of trends and values within a community. By applying the study of geography to art, a richer understanding of place begins to emerge: history, inhabitants, nature, and social processes are all expressed together in the same space. I have utilized this method of analysis, by specifically examining use of materials within the art, in order to examine cultural trends within the Pacific Northwest (PNW). I began by cataloging artists of the PNW, beginning in the early 20th century, studying material use and application of such in order to build a background. Next, I observed the trends of current artists within the region in order to observe shifting trends in artistic materials and use. In the final step of my research, I used material of my choice to create a work of art: a physical manifestation of my experience as a native Washingtonian. This last step was taken as a full participant in order to connect with my research in a more significant light. The overall purpose of my research is two-fold: 1) to understand past and present regional memes within the PNW, and 2) to understand the presence of regional trends within choice of material. This type of geographic analysis, utilizing artistic expression, contributes to the current body of knowlege by examining material as the singe substance of cultural meaning. Artists within the PNW have focused their work to reflect the presence of Native Americanism, light, nature, and Asian influences, and analyzing the materials within these works will uncover yet another layer of understanding what ties the region of the PNW together.

In this paper, I consider Timothy Morton's idea of ecological thinking and Dipesh Chakrabarty's arguments about humans as geological agents. Both scholars argue for a new mindset in the face of the current climate crisis. For example, Morton attributes our present ecological predicament to the misunderstanding that nature is a separate entity — an object ready to be exploited. We can no longer afford to think this way because industrialization of natural resources has led detrimental effects, everything from climate chaos to species extinction. For Morton though there is hope. If we were able to think more broadly then we could perhaps understand that ecological thought is about coexistence. Similar to Morton, Chakrabarty emphasizes the complex interconnectedness of humans and nature. He maintains that humans can no longer differentiate between human history and natural history, especially since human activity and consumption turned us into geological agents. Guided by these theories, I turn to art — which as Morton states has “something to tell us about the environment.” Art, he suggests can “make us question reality.” To further his point, I compare Albert Bierstadt’s Mount Sir Donald, a late nineteenth century painting, to three contemporary works: Subhankar Banerjee’s Caribou Migration (2002) and Spencer Tunick’s Aletsch Glacier #4, Switzerland (2007), and Camille Seaman’s Grand Pinnacle Iceberg, East Greenland (2006). I use the comparison to question the extent to which our thinking about nature has become transformed — from a nineteenth century notion of the picturesque to a twenty-first century ecological awareness of the environment.