Date of Award
7-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Studio Art
Department
Art
First Advisor
Peter Cotroneo
Second Advisor
Joseph Weber
Third Advisor
Piper Hutson
Abstract
This project investigates the intersection of color psychology, maternal experience, and visual perception through a series of five artworks. Using a qualitative methodology, this project draws upon interdisciplinary research such as neuroscience, marketing, art history, and personal experiences as a mother. This work explores how sensory changes during pregnancy and postpartum influence the emotional perception of color, and how this can be represented in art. Inspired by artists that have explored the theme of motherhood such as Mary Cassatt, Käthe Kollwitz, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Jenny Saville, and Alice Neel, this project uses an emotionally charged approach to depicting motherhood. Color changing LED lights are used to alter the perception of each painting, symbolizing the shifting, often contradictory emotional states experienced during motherhood. This project challenges the traditional depictions of the maternal figure and offers a contemporary and psychologically complex narrative of motherhood.
Recommended Citation
Kutz, Katie, "Through a Mother's Eyes: The Psychology of Color" (2025). Theses. 1418.
https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/theses/1418
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.