• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Search

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington IU Bloomington

Open Search
  • About
    • Areas and Programs
      • Architecture
      • Ceramics
      • Comprehensive Design
      • Digital Art
      • Fashion Design
      • Fibers
      • Graphic Design
      • Interior Design
      • Merchandising
      • Metalsmithing + Jewelry Design
      • Painting
      • Photography
      • Printmaking
      • Sculpture
    • Facilities
      • Virtual Tour
      • Fabrication Labs
        • Fine Arts Fabrication Lab
        • Kirkwood Hall Fabrication Lab
        • Wood and Metal Shop
        • Columbus Fabrication Lab
      • ArtShop at Eskenazi School of Art
      • Museums + Libraries
    • Centers and Collections
      • Eskenazi Technology and Innovation Lab (ETIL)
        • Members
        • Research
      • Center for Innovative Merchandising
      • ServeDesign Center
      • Sage Collection
    • Accreditation
    • History
    • Careers/Opportunities
      • Part-time Position Descriptions
    • Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access
      • Community and Student Success Committee
      • Cultivate and Create Scholarship
      • IDEA Impact Fund
      • Kudos Corner
    • 2030 Strategic Plan
    • Emergency Preparedness
    • Staff Directory
    • Contact
  • Faculty
    • Leadership
    • Faculty Directory
    • Faculty Research
  • Undergraduate
    • Majors
      • Comprehensive Design B.S.
      • Fashion Design B.A.
      • Interior Design B.S.
      • Merchandising B.S.
      • Studio Art B.A.
      • Studio Art B.F.A.
    • Minors
    • Creative Core
    • How to Apply
      • Laptop Requirement
    • Scholarships + Financial Aid
    • Visit/Contact Us
  • Graduate
    • M.Arch (Architecture)
    • M.F.A. in Studio Art
    • How to Apply
    • Graduate Student Funding
    • Schedule a Visit
  • Current Students
    • Career Preparation
    • Student Organizations
    • Student Resources
      • Curricular Forms
      • Academic Advising
      • Career Advising + Internships
        • Talk to a Career Advisor
      • Student Emergency Relief Fund
        • Eskenazi School Student Emergency Relief Fund Application
      • Applying to the B.F.A. Program
        • Studio Art B.F.A. Application
      • Scholarship Awards
        • Scholarship Application
      • Studio Art Thesis Exhibitions
      • Graduation
      • Eskenazi Ambassadors
      • Student Special Project Fund
      • Undergraduate Teaching Assistant/Intern (UTA/UTIN) Application
    • Overseas Study Programs
  • Exhibitions
    • Grunwald Gallery
      • Call for Entries
      • Exhibitions
      • Archive
        • 2024
        • 2023
        • 2022
        • 2021
        • 2020
        • 2019
        • 2018
        • 2017
        • 2016
        • 2015
        • 2014
        • 2013
        • 2012
        • 2025
      • Online Exhibitions
        • MFA / BFA Thesis Shows
        • Alumni Exhibition
    • Miller M.Arch Gallery
      • Exhibitions
      • Archive
    • Sage Collection
      • Archive
      • Exhibitions + Events
  • News
    • 2025
    • Eskenazi School News
    • Vision Magazine 2023-24
  • Events
    • Speaker Series
      • McKinney Visiting Artist Series
        • Archive
          • Folder Name
          • 2023-2024
            • Barbara Tannenbaum: Photography
            • Brad Vetter: Graphic Design
            • David Hytone: Painting
            • Reinhold Engberding
            • Lauren Fensterstock: Impermanent Conditions
            • Nina Sarnelle and Selwa Sweidan: Touch Praxis
            • Theresa Ganz
            • Roos van Haaften: Shadow Laboratory : light works based on Bloomington’s Astronomy Glass Photographic Plate Collection
            • Endi Poskovic: Dream and the Paradox of Image
            • Curtis Hidemasa Arima
            • Daniel Vlček and Tom Kotik
            • Sunshine Cobb
          • 2022-2023
            • Saša Bogojev: Painting
            • Thomas Madden: Metals
            • Kei Ito: Photography
            • Yuri Kobayashi: Creative Core
            • Akirash: McKinney International Artist in Residence
            • Christopher K. Ho: Sculpture
            • Tiare Ribeaux/Jody Stillwater: Digital Art
            • Ben Cuevas: Fibers
            • Wuon-Gean Ho: Printmaking
            • Nicole Dotin: Graphic Design
            • Paul S. Briggs: Ceramics
          • 2021–2022
          • 2020–2021
          • 2019–2020
          • 2018–2019
          • 2017–2018
          • 2016–2017
          • 2015–2016
      • Miller M. Arch Lecture and Exhibition Series
        • Archive
          • Folder Name
          • 2023-2024
          • 2022-2023
          • 2021–2022
          • 2020–2021
          • 2019–2020
      • Design Speaker Series
        • Archive
          • 2023-2024
          • 2022-2023
      • Bill Blass Speaker Series
        • Archive
          • 2024-2025
          • 2022-2023
          • 2023-2024
      • ETIL Noon Talk Series
        • Archive
    • Special Events
      • Archive
        • 2024-2025 Events
        • 2023-2024 Events
        • 2022-2023 Events
        • 2021-2022 Events
        • 2020-2021 Events
        • 2019-2020 Events
        • 2018-2019 Events
        • 2017-2018 Events
        • 2016-2017 Events
  • Alumni
    • Alumni Connect
  • Giving
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Staff Directory
    • Community + Collaboration

Eskenazi School
of Art, Architecture + Design

  • Home
  • About
    • Areas and Programs
    • Facilities
    • Centers and Collections
    • Accreditation
    • History
    • Careers/Opportunities
    • Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access
    • 2030 Strategic Plan
    • Emergency Preparedness
    • Staff Directory
    • Contact
  • Faculty
    • Leadership
    • Faculty Directory
    • Faculty Research
  • Undergraduate
    • Majors
    • Minors
    • Creative Core
    • How to Apply
    • Scholarships + Financial Aid
    • Visit/Contact Us
  • Graduate
    • M.Arch (Architecture)
    • M.F.A. in Studio Art
    • How to Apply
    • Graduate Student Funding
    • Schedule a Visit
  • Current Students
    • Career Preparation
    • Student Organizations
    • Student Resources
    • Overseas Study Programs
  • Exhibitions
    • Grunwald Gallery
    • Miller M.Arch Gallery
    • Sage Collection
  • News
    • 2025
    • Eskenazi School News
    • Vision Magazine 2023-24
  • Events
    • Speaker Series
    • Special Events
  • Alumni
    • Alumni Connect
  • Giving
  • Search
  • Connect
  • Home
  • Exhibitions
  • Grunwald Gallery
  • Online Exhibitions
  • MFA / BFA Thesis Shows
  • Spring 2020 MFA Thesis Shows

Morgan Stephenson

"Detail 1", 2020, Digital Inkjet Print on Fabric
"Untitled #1", 2020, Section 1 of 4, Digital Inkjet Prints on Fabric
"Detail 2", 2020, Digital Inkjet Print on Fabric
"Detail 3", 2020, Digital Inkjet Print on Fabric
"Untitled 2", 2020, Section 2 of 4, Digital Inkjet Print on Fabric
"Detail 4", 2020, Digital Inkjet Print on Fabric
"Detail 5", 2020, Digital Inkjet Print on Fabric
"Detail 6", 2020, Digital Inkjet Print on Fabric
"Detail 7", 2020, Digital Inkjet Print on Fabric
"Untitled 3", 2020, Section 3 of 4, Digital Inkjet Print on Fabric
"Detail 8", 2020, Digital Inkjet Print on Fabric
"Untitled 4", 2020, Section 4 of 4, Digital Inkjet Print on Fabric
"Detail 9", 2020, Digital Inkjet Print on Fabric
"Detail 10", 2020, Digital Inkjet Print on Fabric
"Facing Herself", 2020, 10' x 30', Mixed Media

She was/She is/She isn’t

Morgan Stephenson

Degree: MFA

Area: Photography

More from the artist

Thesis Statement

She was/She is/She isn’t examines the social, cultural, and communal expectations of white southern womanhood. The mythologized construct of the Southern Lady existed to manipulate southern identity and continues to be reinforced throughout generations of contemporary women. Southern society and culture reminds young women of their obligations to marriage, motherhood, beauty, and religion through familial and personal relationships, popular culture, the workplace, and daily interactions. This work also acknowledges the privilege that comes with being a young, white woman and recognizes the privilege in having the creative freedom to subvert these social and cultural expectations.

The work challenges, re-embodies, and disrupts southern ideology surrounding young women using inherited articles of clothing as well as items contributed by other southern women. Each article of clothing acts as a vessel for memory and corporeal material while the clothing style and aesthetic is curated to be representative of the Southern Lady and feminine expectations. The clothing constrains the body through material, social, and cultural inheritance, leaving it contorted and confused as the fabrics suffocate, bind, and restrict movement.

She was/She is/She isn’t critiques the cultural and social expectations placed on young women by creating a new visual language for the depictions of the white female body. The work presents the opportunity to accept and admire imperfection while challenging the viewer to contemplate their reaction when presented with an image of the female body and their participation in reinforcing cultural stereotypes. As a young woman, I am neither the expectations that I inherit nor is my body the legacy of traditional southern womanhood.

Back to Gallery

Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design resources and social media channels

  • Faculty & Staff Intranet
  • COLLEGE OF ARTS + SCIENCES
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Indiana University

Accessibility | College Scorecard | Privacy Notice | Copyright © 2025 The Trustees of Indiana University