The Right Creature

Abstract

This thesis is a written accompaniment to a series of 5 paintings that were created in partial fulfillment for my degree of Master of Fine Arts. The paintings depict a fictional creature in the midst of an episode of self-defeat. This writing serves as a historical record of the formal steps taken in drawing that lead to the creation of this creature, who serves as a stand in for myself in his world. I discuss the cultural use of the monster as a receptacle for the unknown, cartoon as a filter for the unsettling and image as a container that gives materiality to the intangible. I review criticism around the aesthetic category of “cute” and analyze the function of the archetypical “cute monster”. The writing ends with a personal anecdote about the role drawing has played in my life in keeping idle hands at bay and compulsion as an over-arching theme of the work.