Introspective Fieldworks; the Everyday in Flux

Abstract

My practice-led research visually explores the fluctuating nature of my everyday through figurative painting. It was activated from a desire to connect to my everyday environment, its conditions, objects, and relationships by observing and being present. I wanted to appreciate the small things I had overlooked or taken for granted. When spending time in my most immediate environments like home, I noticed its shifting, transient and fluctuating physical and metaphysical nature; the everyday is not a background, rather it ebbs and flows. Therefore, this thesis examines how the fluidity of paint visually translates the sensation of the flux felt within everyday environments. With a focus on the visual distinction of figure-ground relationships within the field of the canvas, painting becomes a vehicle for understanding the interconnection between bodies and their environment beyond a solely ecological interpretation. Broader ideas such as intimacy, diaspora perspectives on ‘home’ and the interconnection between past and present have arisen from my painting practice. By foregrounding small everyday matters through painting, this fieldwork calls viewers to introspectively recognise the dynamics occurring in their overlooked environments.