A Child of Divorce: Autofictional Painting and Social Critique

Date
2023
Authors
Dampney, Isabella
Supervisor
Meyle, Lucy
Shin, Jeena
Item type
Thesis
Degree name
Master of Visual Art
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Publisher
Auckland University of Technology
Abstract

This practice-led research project uses drawing, printmaking, and oil painting to coalesce personal experiences into a multi-dimensional and mutable image of my life through an autofiction framework. The inconsistent and contradictory nature of autofiction allows me to express the material of my life with some distance, where I can emphasise absurd moments and heighten tension in order to critique my experiences of unmet social expectations. Additionally, self-invention enables me to re-image my memories with control over the narrative that I might not have had during the initial experience while acknowledging the impossibility of accuracy. A Child of Divorce: Autofictional Painting and Social Critique forms a personal archive by accumulating created images in different mediums that respond to events and objects in my life that are often absurd, synchronous, sad, or morally suspect. When brought together into an exhibition, the individual works in this project produce connections between each other that can be both contradictory and synchronous, aided by the use of text and titling. Through the partial fictionality of the works, I critique my experiences with social alienation, low-wage precarious employment, and the (dys)function of family relationships and friendships.

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