Date of Award
Spring 5-1-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Art
First Advisor
Carrie Moyer
Academic Program Adviser
Steve Locke
Abstract
This thesis explores “containment" (the act of keeping something within limits) as both oppressive control and a mode of self-regulation, grounded in the author’s experience with epilepsy. Paintings deploy grayscale grounds, restrained palettes, and contrasting rapid/slow gestures; emergent color, texture, and altered substrates map psychological states, bodily impulses, and reactive processes. Research into witchcraft, remedial items, and eugenics (notably Buck v. Bell) informs works that link historical censorship and institutional violence to contemporary stigma. Sculptural installations (nets, jute, flawed Faraday-like enclosures) and cannibalized studio materials probe systems that restrain thought, media, and bodies. By introducing unpredictable variables with found supports, embedded media, blind gesture, the practice parallels neurological unpredictability and treats containment as an ongoing, generative negotiation between suppression and survival rather than a condition to be resolved.
Recommended Citation
Mittelstead, Quin, "Containment" (2026). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/1496
Included in
American Art and Architecture Commons, Art Practice Commons, Contemporary Art Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Painting Commons
