Abstract
This research looks at studio work produced by children and young adults from the standpoint of the 'relationship between subject matter and thematic expression' by which subject matter provides an opening into the person's life (the act of living) and world, as well as the motivation to give form to pictorial image (that which one wants to express). While conflict accompanies the process, by looking at the aesthetic sentiments that emerge in the thematic formation of artwork (giving form to what one wants to express), this method aims at giving children and young adults a new grasp on their sense of self, and verifying its effectiveness. I call the approach the 'thematic method'. With this thesis I hope that through methodizing the act of making, art students will discover possibilities for new ways of living. In the seven years between 1988 and 1994, I gave students in the education department of K University the subject matter 'dreams' as a studio assignment. During that period I sensed a dullness in the imagery students embraced relating to dreams, from which I realized students had lost, or shut down, the mechanism for image-related development of subject matter. After a five-year series of thematic practices, I tried reassigning 'dreams' as subject matter - changing it to 'the colors/motifs of dreams' - in an intensive art education methods course at the art department of H University in September 1999 aimed at eliciting new developments to the subject matter. The interest revealed in expressing the absurd or fantastic aspects of dreams is of course noteworthy, as is the recognition of ironic expressions. In this studio assignment 'the colors/motifs of dreams' as subject matter opened up new horizons to the problems inherent in the thematic method. Students were sensitive to the words 'colors/motifs' in the subject title; it stimulated their imaginative powers which elicited original creative expression. They executed the intelligence/criticism associated with ironic interpretations in response to 'color/motifs' and strove to make logical connections to social reality. This also led to the derivation of new modes of expression such as collage combined with illustrative techniques, and color applied to color copies of photographs; the breadth of thematic expression expanded overall. Ordinarily with subject matter that provides an opening into the relationship between life and the world, the thematic method triggers artmaking activities, however with 'the colors/motifs of dreams' as subject matter, the words 'colors/motifs' held the latent power to open doors into real life and the contemporary world and inspire rediscovery of richness within.
