Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Art/Art History

The CoBrA art movement (1948-1951) stands prominently among the few European avant-garde groups formed in the aftermath of World War II. Emphasizing international collaboration, rejecting the past, and embracing spontaneity and intuition, CoBrA artists created artworks expressing fundamental human creativity. Although the group was dominated by men, a small number of women were associated with CoBrA, two of whom continue to be the subject of debate within CoBrA scholarship to this day: the Danish painter Else Alfelt (1910-1974) and the Dutch sculptor Lotti van der Gaag (1923-1999), known as "Lotti." In contributing to this debate, I address the work and CoBrA membership status of Alfelt and Lotti by comparing their artworks to CoBrA's two main manifestoes, texts that together provide the clearest definition of the group's overall ideas and theories. Alfelt, while recognized as a full CoBrA member, created structured, geometric paintings, influenced by German Expressionism and traditional Japanese art; I thus argue that her work does not fit the group's formal aesthetic or philosophy. Conversely Lotti, who was never asked to join CoBrA, and was rejected from exhibiting with the group, produced sculptures with rough, intuitive, and childlike forms that clearly do fit CoBrA's ideas as presented in its two manifestoes. Examining Alfelt's and Lotti's individual roles within CoBrA through the feminist art theories of Linda Nochlin and Laura Mulvey, writings by scholars and art historians, and exhibitions and collections, I focus on individual and institutional influences, and patriarchal contexts that shaped these two artists' status in relation to CoBrA membership. In doing so, I also pose questions about who belongs in any art movement, and who gets to decide who belongs, and how all of this is defined complexly over time.

Committee: Katerina Ruedi Ray Dr. (Advisor); Mille Guldbeck MFA (Committee Member); Andrew Hershberger Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Criticism; Art History; European History; Gender Studies; Museums; Womens Studies

Master of Computer Science, Miami University, 2021, Computer Science and Software Engineering

Modern Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems are able to collect multi-spectral overhead imagery which can be analyzed for targets of interest, such as landmines. Landmines exhibit specific multi spectral signatures which can be used to detect them automatically, they are also typically placed in patterns of regular spacing (i.e. "minelines"). Minelines can also occur in curvilinear arrangement as they are placed by trucks or airplanes on uneven terrain, to avoid obstacles, or to follow geographic or other boundaries. Prior mine detection methods exist when mines are placed on straight lines; however, when mines are placed in a curvilinear arrangement the number of miss-detected mines rises significantly. This thesis explores an approach for detecting mines without assuming they are on straight lines. The algorithm is capable of detecting any set of points along a curvilinear path, even when the detection algorithm tasked with finding those points has completely failed. After the capability of mine detection is evaluated over several different conditions, the algorithm is optimized using vectorized routines to achieve a 100 times better runtime performance in some areas.

Committee: John Femiani PhD (Advisor); Philippe Giabbanelli PhD (Committee Member); Daniela Inclezan PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Science