Navigating the unknown

Abstract

On finding my proposed MFA topic subverted by an unexpected event, my art-making took a radically different path to the one envisaged. Guided by my interaction with my materials, work that was unpremeditated and unexpected, but nevertheless coherent, emerged. This experience brought about a reformulation of my research interest, namely an examination of the creative process and a questioning of what research methodology might be in the context of the visual arts. I examine my working process and put it in the context of that of other artists, and I look at how creativity tends to be studied. I come to the conclusion that the creative process is mostly unpredictable, unexpected and difficult to define. I ask, if this is the case, how is one to understand research methodology in an academic context. I conclude that the creative process constitutes a methodology in its own right, different from methodologies usually applicable to academic disciplines, and that this methodology legitimately results in knowledge. I argue for the need for a more clear articulation of the meaning making process in the arts by creators themselves. An examination of my own work after the event leads me to identify a personal iconography which has become pivotal to the way I work and my working outcome.