Kelly McGovern MFA Visual Studies Thesis 2015
I DISAPPEAR
I DISAPPEAR is a body of work consisting of a series of prints scanned from my sketchbook as well as performance involving sculpture and song. This essay analyzes my two-part body of work through the use of travel as a metaphor for both my fear of a failure to meet potential and my difficulty coping with loss. In addition, it dissects the conceptual groundwork for my making process and describes how my obsession with prolonged travel manifests itself in the artwork, I DISAPPEAR. Imbued by the language of existentialist literature, this work brings forth a specific emotional freedom and divorce from the world at large.
I DISAPPEAR focuses on the photography of Mike Brodie, the collecting process utilized by Gerhard Richter, and the effect of image and text used by Jim Goldberg. It centers on how these artists serve as visual and conceptual references for my making process.