Gina Zetta

Abstract

It is in our nature as humans to want for a home, a point of origin to start from and safe place to return at journey's end. When that place is lost, we risk becoming lost too. This body of work is an exploration of how the spaces we occupy shape us. It's location is focused on the American landscape in an attempt to explore the ideals that have developed within the psyche of the American culture, and what happens to those dreams when expectations do not mirror reality. I am particularly interested in socially and geographically vulnerable locations. Places that are in liminal states of existence because of tragedy or economic failure.!

What happens when we do not just lose our sense of home, but we lose the very geographic location that we once knew as home? Can home ever truly be found again once it has been lost? It is hard to ignore the ever more pressing issues surrounding population, social class, energy crisis, and depletion of natural resources. When our economic decisions overshadow our human and cultural needs we risk far more than just losing the building we call home or the streets that collectively makeup that location. We risk losing our values, morals, history, and even future.

The particular interest of this body of work comes from my own personal experiences as well as borrowed stories. Born in a Pennsylvania oil refinery town, I am no stranger to the perils of the over-consumption of natural resources. As a former resident of Oakland, CA, a socially vibrant city, perpetually in an economically and geographically vulnerable position, I have developed a sensitivity to the unique relationship that a cultural sense of belonging has on the urban psyche and landscape. As a current resident of Rochester, NY, a rustbelt city living in the shadow of the monoliths of its cultural prowess, I have cultivated an appreciation for the historical significance of specific local and the role that memory plays in shaping one's sense of home. It is places like this that stir my imagination and sympathies. I have gathered and collected these homes that have shaped me. They will now travel with me as memories and stories that guide this work, to honor the very idea of "home" in all of its manifestations.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Glass sculpture--Themes, motives; Glass sculpture--Technique; Home in art

Publication Date

5-15-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Glass (MFA)

Department, Program, or Center

School for American Crafts (CIAS)

Advisor

Michael Rogers

Advisor/Committee Member

Robin Cass

Advisor/Committee Member

Leonard Urso

Comments

Physical copy available from RIT's Wallace Library at NB1270.G4 Z48 2014

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

GLASS-MFA

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