Research and development 7
I have been thinking about the foundation of my fractured theme and basing it on the collective trauma COVID-19 and Melbourne’s Stage 4 lockdown. Speaking of cumulative trauma from a single perspective makes me uncomfortable and have realised that I can only talk or share of my own experiences, be they personal or ancestral.
The foundation of my I ZO series has subsequently changed, and I am now questioning transgenerational trauma. It is interesting to consider, particularly with my ancestry. I am looking forward to researching the psychological conditions of social, cultural or political impact (in many cases, all three) and their relationship with genetically passed on information and applying this to my practice.
My ancestors are Eastern European — Russia, Hungary and Romania – and on both sides (paternal and maternal), survivors of WWII Europe. We came to Australia seeking asylum and are refugees in this land that we now call home.
Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild passenger log for the ship ‘Fairsea’ which departed from Naples, Italy on 22 September 1949, arriving in Melbourne on 19 October that year.
The website states that “this is the passenger list for ‘International Refugee Organization Group Resettlement to Australia’, containing individuals and families that migrated to Australia after World War II from various European Countries including Germany, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, etc. Most passengers are World War II refugees or displaced persons”. My father, his mother and siblings were on the ‘Fairsea’.
After careful consideration, I am satisfied that my research and application of the aesthetics and theories of Kintsugi, Wabi-Sabi and Gestalt are applicable and relevant to this shift in my project. The images relating powerfully in a contemporary setting.
Gay, Z 2020, Diptych, triptych and polyptych designs based on selection of ancestral flag designs
I have made the chart above to show the influences and methods applied in creating diptych, triptych and polyptych displays in my I Zo collection based on the research of my ancestral flags designs.
Quote
What interests me is the unforeseeable. — Sigmar Polke (Thistlewood, D 1996)
References
‘European Commission Grants Funding for Project on Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma’, NewsRx Health 2018, viewed 23 August 2020, <https://primo-direct-apac.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/aqirjb/TN_cdi_gale_infotracacademiconefile_A555320343>
‘Findings from Deakin University Broaden Understanding of Social Science (Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance and Social Responsibility: Perspectives from the Social Sciences)’ 2018, Health & Medicine Week, viewed 24 August 2020, <https://primo-direct-apac.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/aqirjb/TN_cdi_gale_infotracacademiconefile_A550708143>
Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild nd, ‘Fairsea’, viewed 21 August 2020, <https://immigrantships.net/v5/1900v5/fairsea19491019.html>
Koran, L 1994, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers, Imperfect Publishing
Krohn Amorose, V 2013, Art-Write: The Writing Guide for Visual Artists, Luminare Press
Lesser, C 2018, ‘The Centuries-Old Japanese Tradition of Mending Broken Ceramics with Gold’, Artsy, viewed 22 July 2020, <https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-centuries-old-japanese-tradition-mending-broken-ceramics-gold>