mkstewar

Thesis Project: Blissomatic Surreal

The Blissomatic Surreal is an intimate installation space providing both a tactile and visual experience relative to the topics touch, feeling, and emotion.

The thesis project I proposed in my MFA application was about designing and developing a functioning virtual reality environment that mimics the womb. A few decades ago, in the seventies, water tanks were named sensory deprivation tanks, or "think tanks". They were used to stimulate the experience of a safe altered state of mind. Mid way through my first year my thesis extended to exploring how love feels between humans and their pets (specifically dogs). I was deterred first by an illogical feeling that it was the wrong project for me to do, shortly thereafter my dog became terminally ill. The embodiment of my prior thesis ideas as they relate to touch and texture as an emotional journey into an altered state of mind are the basis of my thesis.

DANM Courses

Listing and documentation of courses and teaching assistantships acquired

Pre-MFA Bio in a nutshell

I have always been a builder of intangibles, and my tools have included everything from architect's scales to software, imagery, text, paint, still, moving, and appropriated imagery, wax, clay, code, and INK.
I graduated with a BFA in new media and my graduating show was held in the CSU Stanislaus Art Gallery May 07. As well, samples of my actual artwork can be found on my personal website Melanie Stewart. The website dataDADA was developed to quantify more immediate goals, specifically graduate school. This site exemplifies how I fuse the traditional fine arts with digital arts in both practice and context.