Abstract

Migration of the Spirit examines interior transition through sustained painting practice. While migration is often understood as geographic displacement, this thesis reframes it as an interior reorientation shaped by halted time, disciplined solitude, and the act of reclaiming one’s own narrative. Grounded in lived experience within institutional systems and sustained decades of teaching and studio practice, the work reflects a movement from externally imposed narratives toward self-authored clarity. The paintings are marked by architectural compression, repeated motifs, and restrained palettes dominated by sienna, umber, and muted blues. Figures emerge within densely structured spatial fields shaped by assertive linear frameworks that both contain and stabilize the surface. Circular forms, watchful eyes, clenched hands, and layered drips recur throughout the work, reinforcing vigilance and repetition as formal strategies. Rather than presenting migration as physical departure, these paintings hold tension within controlled environments, emphasizing endurance, containment, and disciplined attention. Surface accumulation functions both conceptually and materially: layering, scumbling, and measured gesture embed time within the work, mirroring experiences of halted forward motion in which interior growth intensifies while external mobility pauses. The studio operates as a deliberate counter-architecture—a space where compression becomes chosen structure and tension becomes regulated form. Grounded in Black intellectual traditions concerned with psychological liberation, double-consciousness, and self-definition , Migration of the Spirit positions painting as an act of authorship. Through repetition, restraint, and sustained attention, the work reflects a movement from survival toward deliberate presence, proposing that migration occurs not only across space, but within consciousness itself.

Publication Date

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Fine Arts Studio (MFA)

College

College of Art and Design

Advisor

Luvon Sheppard

Advisor/Committee Member

Emily Glass

Advisor/Committee Member

John Aasp

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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