Date of Award
5-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art
Department
Art
First Reader/Committee Chair
Alison Ragguette
Abstract
I am exploring artwork about women’s power and sexuality, centering on hair. I’m interested in how hair carries history and how it has been used to control and frighten women. I’ve been reading feminist artists’ books and researching their findings alongside my own work. Drawing on my personal history, my mother’s story, and the experience of raising my daughters, I consider how my children’s lives differ from mine and my mother’s, and what those differences reveal.
Hair has long been wielded as a weapon to enforce expectations on women’s bodies by a society afraid of losing control. As creators of life and builders of society, women must resist refusing imposed norms, rejecting abuse, and reclaiming autonomy over our appearance and sexuality. My research examines these struggles, using images, artworks, and research of hair to map power, lineage, resistance, and transformation.
Recommended Citation
Correa, Mya L., "Nasty" (2026). Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations. 2377.
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/2377
Included in
Art and Materials Conservation Commons, Art Education Commons, Book and Paper Commons, Fiber, Textile, and Weaving Arts Commons, Furniture Design Commons, Glass Arts Commons, Interactive Arts Commons, Painting Commons, Printmaking Commons, Sculpture Commons