OCAD University Open Research Repository

Imagining a Queer Utopia: A Manifesto

Melnicky, Nicole (2021) Imagining a Queer Utopia: A Manifesto. Masters thesis, OCAD University.

Item Type: Thesis
Creators: Melnicky, Nicole
Abstract:

In the thesis of Imagining a Queer Utopia: A Manifesto, I evoke the spirit of a utopic, futuristic Bluefire Phoenix Bird—Rising into its Future Destiny; the power of utopia manifested through dreaming and imagining of a liberated future. I envision a utopian world that transcends our karmic pasts, flaws, and dystopian realities, achieved through the Phoenix’s renewal and transformation. A blue Firebird is reborn from its own preceding ashes, suggesting an acceptance of queer vulnerability, expressing individuality and liberty. We break free and heal from our political pasts by allowing love to surface through shedding, leading us towards a more hopeful and liberated future.

In my Master of Fine Arts Thesis, I explore the methodologies of Queer Utopia by José Esteban Muñoz, Queer Threads by John Chaich, Queer Abstraction by David J. Getsy, Camp by Susan Sontag, Utopia in Performance by Jill Dolan, dreaming, kitsch and pride through painting, textiles, and fashion. By utilizing colourful digital prints, innovative embellishment, and unconventional materials, I generate a surrealistic space in which the possibilities of the future become tangible through the process of imagination. In my research, installation, and fashion garments, I transmute emotions and thoughts through bold, confrontational colour, dreaming, and through the imagining and union of an autonomous twin soul love. Hence, creating a powerful gateway or threshold into a liberated utopian universe. Through fashion and painting, I generate an expansive ocean, a dream space, in which our queer desires of love become manifest in physical reality.

Date: 10 May 2021
Divisions: Graduate Studies > Interdisciplinary Art, Media and Design
Related URLs:
Date Deposited: 14 May 2021 14:19
Last Modified: 20 Dec 2021 20:31
URI: https://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/3456

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