Terra Blissett
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4
2021
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1
2021
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7
2021
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9
2021
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6
2021
Statement
To speak a little bit about myself, I’ve always been attracted to the idea or practice of advocacy, studying and working with people to learn about how they navigate through different spaces in life. My work has always been primarily about people and human-centered issues. In my undergrad I studied political science and international relations. At MICA, I focus on ways to communicate different perspectives and truths through different forms of digital media and design.
I want to create art that provides and platform for communication that hopefully spurs empathy, civic action, and a different perspective.
Thesis abstract: When creating, I try to merge my political interests and my artistic interests to create persuasive work. I want to create art that provides a platform for education that hopefully spurs empathy, civic action, and a different perspective. As a result of my experiences, work that pertains to identity work and identity politics is very personal for me. I believe that all voices, experiences, and ignored history should be projected and amplified. In this paper, you will read about the reasons why media is important as a result of its influence, why identity work is important to me, and the pieces that I’ve made to follow my goal. The goal of the pieces including for my thesis is to elevate voices who have historically been left out of standard narratives and to provide the vocabulary and context of the incredibly loaded reality of systemic racism. The first piece and concept is called “See Me Project.” This project is a collection of interviews and portrait work put into a zine format. I interview people in my life and explore the stories of othered perspectives. My second piece for my thesis is called “ReMind.” This is a concept and prototype of a website. My goal for this concept is to educate people on history and current social realities that many people have never heard of or don’t completely understand. This website is not a one-stop-shop to get to know every topic but rather a destination for context and resources.
Photographic & Electronic Media (MFA) Students
Shan Zhou - not exhibiting