Wendy Nālani E. Ikemoto

My dissertation situates the form of the paired, or pendant, canvas within the ideological paradigms of the Victorian gothic, and in relation to theories and practices of replication and doubling in antebellum visual and literary culture. By approaching five core painted pairs through what I term visual narratology, my project investigates how the dual structure of the pendant exploits the dialogic construction of meaning to establish a uniquely visual temporality.

This study situates the form of the paired, or pendant, canvas within the ideological paradigms of the Victorian gothic, and in relation to theories and practices of replication and doubling in antebellum visual and literary culture. By approaching five core painted pairs "visual narratology", this project investigates the pendant structure as it exploits the dialogic construction of meaning and the off-screen space between canvases to establish a uniquely binary discourse.