O'Toole, HelenSchoening, Krista M2015-09-292015-09-292015Schoening_washington_0250O_14606.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/1773/33888Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2015Over the past two years, my painting practice has centered on botanical subject matter, particularly in relation to art historical precedents and the contemporary world. I have researched plant biology, which has given me new insight into the function of botanical forms. Seventeenth-century flower painting has been important to my practice, but other early forms of Baroque European still life have also become an important reference for my work. Inspired by contemporary artists, including Catherine Murphy, Vija Celmins, and Daniel Spoerri, my practice has moved away from the place it was when I entered graduate school, and embarked upon a distinct conceptual and formal road. This new direction introduces multiple concerns to my work, including but not limited to: scale, materiality, the duality between unity and diversity, organic geometry, vastness, and a dash of humor.application/pdfen-USCopyright is held by the individual authors.Fine artsfine artsThesis