Nude Study
Abstract
Nude Study seeks to interrogate the representation of the female nude in Western art. The speaker seeks to understand the purpose and meaning behind the postured representation of nude women in Western art, with special attention given to power, trauma, and personhood. Many of the poems are traditionally ekphrastic and are in conversation with a specific art piece. Some are notionally ekphrastic and respond to an image or self-image of the speaker’s creation, influenced by a life-long exposure to images of women such as the female nude in art. The poems seek to understand how centuries of treatment and representation of the female nude on canvas directly influences our perception of and actions toward women in daily life. Nude Study looks to the conversation surrounding the art as well as the art itself to shed light on how a world filled with uninterrogated images may influence our perception of people.
Description
This thesis has been embargoed for 10 years and will not be available until April 2029 at the earliest.
Keywords
Feminism, Visual art, Poetry, The nude