Date of Award
5-1-2026
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Mass Communication and Media Arts
First Advisor
Berry, Karla
Abstract
This thesis explores the changing landscapes of intimacy in contemporary life, shaped by digital technologies, migration, and shifting cultural norms. Through a multidisciplinary practice spanning social practice, participatory installations, performance, printmaking, and shadow puppetry, the work investigates how love, longing, rest, secrecy, and vulnerability are experienced and expressed today. Grounded in community engagement, the projects create spaces for collective reflection through shared acts such as writing letters, cooking, storytelling, and gathering. The culminating exhibition, With Love, Shruti, brings together interactive installations and a live shadow puppetry performance to examine tensions between private and public intimacy, inherited romantic ideals and contemporary dating cultures, and the impact of digital overstimulation on emotional life. Emphasizing participation, access, and collective authorship, this body of work positions art as a site for connection, care, and shared emotional experience.
Access
This thesis is only available for download to the SIUC community. Current SIUC affiliates may also access this paper off campus by searching Dissertations & Theses @ Southern Illinois University Carbondale from ProQuest. Others should contact the interlibrary loan department of your local library or contact ProQuest's Dissertation Express service.