{"id":626,"date":"2025-04-18T15:12:51","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T15:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/?p=626"},"modified":"2025-05-14T19:25:45","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T19:25:45","slug":"copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/2025\/04\/18\/copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy-copy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Keen Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"778\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/57_the-keen1.jpg\" alt=\"Stone humanoid statue entitled, &quot;The Keen&quot;\" class=\"wp-image-557 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/57_the-keen1.jpg 778w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/57_the-keen1-233x300.jpg 233w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/57_the-keen1-768x987.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/57_the-keen1-220x283.jpg 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 778px) 100vw, 778px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>The Keen soul has sharp eyes and an investigative soul. Someone interested and attentive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Explore the works below. Before expanding the text, think to yourself:<br><em>What do you see?<\/em><br><em>What do you feel?<\/em><br><em>What might it be addressing?<\/em><br><em>What questions do you have?<\/em><br><em>Do you like it? Why or why not?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"621\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/2018-AGO-Mickalene_Thomas_Les_Trois_Femmes-1-1024x621.jpg\" alt=\"Painting titled &quot;Three Graces: Les Trois Femmes Noires&quot; by Mickalene Thomas\" class=\"wp-image-799\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/2018-AGO-Mickalene_Thomas_Les_Trois_Femmes-1-1024x621.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/2018-AGO-Mickalene_Thomas_Les_Trois_Femmes-1-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/2018-AGO-Mickalene_Thomas_Les_Trois_Femmes-1-768x466.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/2018-AGO-Mickalene_Thomas_Les_Trois_Femmes-1-880x534.jpg 880w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/2018-AGO-Mickalene_Thomas_Les_Trois_Femmes-1-220x133.jpg 220w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/2018-AGO-Mickalene_Thomas_Les_Trois_Femmes-1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>Expand to learn more<\/summary>\n<p>This is <em>Three Graces: Les Trois Femmes Noires<\/em> (2010) by Mickalene Thomas. <em>Le d\u00e9jeuner sur l\u2019herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noires <\/em>calls back to the iconic Manet painting of the same title (at least the first half). This painting is massive, standing at 10 feet tall and 24 feet wide. With this work, Thomas is both critiquing the original as well as the ways in which the art world approaches depictions of women. In terms of the arrangements of the figures, Thomas\u2019 work is very reminiscent of Manet\u2019s painting, with one central difference. In <em>Trois Femmes<\/em> <em>Noires<\/em>, the three women are all looking directly at the viewer. Additionally, where Manet\u2019s women are naked, Thomas\u2019 are fully dressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What difference do the eyes of the subjects make on your viewing experience?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thomas\u2019 process is something that many people wonder about when coming across her work. Her work manifests in many stages, particularly for works like <em>Three Graces<\/em> which combine photography, collage, and painting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"575\" height=\"460\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/79ff5c366e5a7c6aa97efb2b127f3270.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1114 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/79ff5c366e5a7c6aa97efb2b127f3270.jpeg 575w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/79ff5c366e5a7c6aa97efb2b127f3270-300x240.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/79ff5c366e5a7c6aa97efb2b127f3270-220x176.jpeg 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>First, Thomas photographs her models and then creates a collage using the photograph as a base (left). Finally, she creates the painting using the collage as a reference. Incorporating paint as well as rhinestones onto the surface, which in this case is wood.<br><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>About the Artist<\/summary>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:47% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"724\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/1-1573853305-1-1024x724.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1115 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/1-1573853305-1-1024x724.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/1-1573853305-1-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/1-1573853305-1-768x543.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/1-1573853305-1-1536x1086.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/1-1573853305-1-2048x1448.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/1-1573853305-1-880x622.jpg 880w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/1-1573853305-1-220x156.jpg 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>Mickalene Thomas (b. 1971) is an American artist who creates works combining painting with non-traditional materials (like rhinestones) and techniques (like collage). She depicts almost exclusively Black women, often nude, sometimes sexual. She engages with histories of exploitation and objectification that Black women face in media, the arts, and daily life.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"902\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/TH1261_THsu_DataScreenSkinBlue_2023_48x54x7in_1-1024x902-1.jpg\" alt=\"Multimedia sculpture titled &quot;data-screen-skin.blue&quot; by Tishan Hsu\" class=\"wp-image-800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/TH1261_THsu_DataScreenSkinBlue_2023_48x54x7in_1-1024x902-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/TH1261_THsu_DataScreenSkinBlue_2023_48x54x7in_1-1024x902-1-300x264.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/TH1261_THsu_DataScreenSkinBlue_2023_48x54x7in_1-1024x902-1-768x677.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/TH1261_THsu_DataScreenSkinBlue_2023_48x54x7in_1-1024x902-1-880x775.jpg 880w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/TH1261_THsu_DataScreenSkinBlue_2023_48x54x7in_1-1024x902-1-220x194.jpg 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>Expand to learn more<\/summary>\n<p>This is <em>data-screen-skin.blue<\/em> (2023) by Tishan Hsu. In <em>data-screen-skin.blue,<\/em> Hsu utilizes a combination of computer software and practical materials to create hybrid pieces that reference both human bodies (the eye, flesh) and the digital. The title alludes to this hybridization as well, written as a saved file would be.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hsu utilizes a combination of computer software and practical materials to create hybrid pieces that reference both human bodies (the eye, flesh) and the digital.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Where do art and technology meet? There is a massive discussion around AI creations and whether they can or should be considered<\/strong> <strong>as art. How does Hsu&#8217;s work contribute to that conversation?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>About the Artist<\/summary>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:42% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/06tmag-hsu-slide-2BJY-copy-mediumSquareAt3X-v4-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1117 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/06tmag-hsu-slide-2BJY-copy-mediumSquareAt3X-v4-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/06tmag-hsu-slide-2BJY-copy-mediumSquareAt3X-v4-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/06tmag-hsu-slide-2BJY-copy-mediumSquareAt3X-v4-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/06tmag-hsu-slide-2BJY-copy-mediumSquareAt3X-v4-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/06tmag-hsu-slide-2BJY-copy-mediumSquareAt3X-v4-880x880.jpg 880w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/06tmag-hsu-slide-2BJY-copy-mediumSquareAt3X-v4-220x220.jpg 220w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/06tmag-hsu-slide-2BJY-copy-mediumSquareAt3X-v4-50x50.jpg 50w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/06tmag-hsu-slide-2BJY-copy-mediumSquareAt3X-v4.jpg 1335w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>Tishan Hsu (b. 1951) has been making art about the inevitability of the digital world since the 80s. As we have entered the world in which digital technology completely runs almost every aspect of our lives, Hsu\u2019s works, such as <em>data-screen-skin.blue<\/em> approach the enveloping of humanity by the digital.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1009\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Preparations-1024x1009.jpg\" alt=\"Painting titled &quot;Preparations&quot; by Zoe Hawk\n\" class=\"wp-image-801\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Preparations-1024x1009.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Preparations-300x296.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Preparations-768x757.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Preparations-880x867.jpg 880w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Preparations-220x217.jpg 220w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Preparations-50x50.jpg 50w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Preparations.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>Expand to learn more<\/summary>\n<p>This is <em>Preparations<\/em> (2021), a painting by Zoe Hawk. <em>Preparations <\/em>depicts three girls in the process of getting ready\u2014for what, we don\u2019t know for sure\u2014but we see two of them doing their hair while the third stands and watches. The two doing their hair stand contorted, forcing their bodies into uncomfortable positions in the name of beauty, with one going as far as using an ironing board to straighten her hair. Keen can mean many things. In relationships, it has come to signify interest. Are these girls primping themselves because they desire interest? Are they doing it because they have to meet certain standards of beauty to even be seen as human? Hawk talks of this adolescent period as the time in which she came to the awareness that boys and men alike had begun to notice her in new ways that terrified her for the future.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>About the Artist<\/summary>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:38% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"597\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Hawk_Portrait_2-900x597-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1118 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Hawk_Portrait_2-900x597-1.jpg 900w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Hawk_Portrait_2-900x597-1-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Hawk_Portrait_2-900x597-1-768x509.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Hawk_Portrait_2-900x597-1-880x584.jpg 880w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/350\/2025\/04\/Hawk_Portrait_2-900x597-1-220x146.jpg 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>Zoe Hawk (b. 1982) is an American painter based in the Midwest. She deals primarily with the complex experience of girlhood\u2014feelings of belonging, what identity means as a girl, fears of growing up, etc. Her paintings, using bright washes of colors, have an underlying sense of discomfort, taking inspiration from stories like Alice in Wonderland and other children\u2019s books that engage with the macabre.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons has-custom-font-size has-small-font-size is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-499968f5 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/portfolio\/the-contemporary-soul\/\" style=\"border-radius:0px\">Back to Home<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Keen soul has sharp eyes and an investigative soul. Someone interested and attentive. Explore the works below. Before expanding the text, think to yourself:What do you see?What do you feel?What might it be addressing?What questions do you have?Do you like it? Why or why not?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-course-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1405,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626\/revisions\/1405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/museum-capstone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}