GRIT AND GRIME

Autin, Brianna

Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

GRIT AND GRIME Public Deposited

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/xp68kh800

Abstract

The home is the deepest symbol of a person’s life, as it is a place that holds all that is dear to us. Structurally similar, both shelter our heart and soul. A home is built by first clearing and preparing the land for construction, and then laying a foundation and building a frame. This process is similar to the way the female body sheds its uterine lining to prepare for growing the foundational cells that will one day become a child’s skin and bones. Home becomes an extension of ourselves. However, our homes can also hold our deepest and most gruesome wounds. It is scientifically proven that our bodies carry trauma—I believe our homes do as well. If my body carries trauma and the state of my body is connected to the state of my home, I could be hiding some of my pain within the nooks and crannies of each home I have lived in, seen and unseen. The saying “skeletons in the closet” would not exist if there were not some profound connections between where we hide things in our homes and in our minds.

GRIT AND GRIME is a collection of work that consists of three main elements—seven sculptural works, a handmade book in the form of a creative poetic memoir, and an auditory component. Each of these elements are influenced by events of my life in the past as well as an amalgamation of many films, books, images, and thoughts I have encountered throughout my time in graduate school. Through this body of work, I explore the stains and markings left on my worldly body, investigate how my memories and experiences have shaped the home that is my body, and remake those memories in a way I now have control over.

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