Date of Award
12-1-2024
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts
Department
Mass Communication and Media Arts
First Advisor
0'Brien-Takahashi, Heather
Abstract
This paper explores how memory and loss interact with a yearning for home in the installation, Oh, but if I Had the Stars from the Darkest Night. Through sound, moving image, photography, mark-making, and poetry this thesis work explores universal themes of exile and migration, alongside the impact the current high stakes political climate had on one LGBTQIA+ teen and their mother, as they leave a home and extended family in North Texas to find sanctuary in Carbondale, Illinois. The natural world of Southern Illinois, with a focus on the lives of local white-tailed deer, becomes a mirror and a refuge.
Access
This thesis is Open Access and may be downloaded by anyone.