Imbalanced Bodies: The Representation of Physical and Psychological Pain in Art

Abstract

This Master of Fine Arts research centres on the idea that the experience of pain – physical or psychological – is invisible and isolated to the external viewer. The research engages the idea that even though the experience and feeling of pain may be beyond language, it is not out of reach of visual, physically based communication. Hence, there is a concentration in the research on how artists create ways of communicating to others experiences of bodily pain and subsequent psychological suffering. The research also aims to show how performative and visual expressions of pain – through digital video and photography – are able to connect to notions of the ‘imbalanced body’ and investigate the ‘body under stress’. Some of the artists’ work analysed in relation to these themes include Hannah Wilke, Jo Spence, Kate Mitchell, Alicia Frankovich and Pipilotti Rist. The research continues by expanding on the discussion around awareness and acceptance of responsibility in relation to our corporeal bodily reality.

The methodology of the practical research probes what actions we take as individuals to build ourselves up and out of situations of suffering, illness or injury. The practice focuses on the positive transitions the body and self go through whilst shifting forward in this process. As a work of art, Floored (photographic and video installation) concentrates on the possibility that a performative digital visual aesthetic is able to express some of the sensation and emotion that bodily pain creates for an individual. As a research project, the installation aims to create a greater understanding of the constant struggle we have with our bodies over time.

Ideas emerging from this Masters of Fine Arts research include the recognition of the importance of visual communications over the spoken word and how they may be more crucial in expressing physical and psychological experiences of pain and suffering. By way of engaging forms we create (photography, performance and video); such visual media allow us to connect more directly with those around us. These visual communications can assist us in our attempt to make everyday bodily and psychological sensations of pain and suffering more widely understood and accessible.