Multimodal Depictions
The invitation was to take a moment of resonance from mapping and create a depiction in either movement or using art materials and to notice anything that comes up in the process. The way this invitation was framed was of particular importance for me. There was a clear emphasis placed on noticing your process.
This meant that I was a little more descriptive in my internal dialogue of what I was doing as opposed to focusing on interpreting or thinking ahead of the process [which is at times difficult not to do]. This focus definitely allowed for a more in-depth awareness of the process. Here is the a phrase of resonance from my mapping that I chose to describe.
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Spirit of generosity?
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It was a question that I had circled from my map. The question bubbled up at the end of the process, to which i responded with curiosity, but was not wanting to answer it through mapping. I was just excited for it to be there. This felt like the perfect spring board to see what might emerge.
Below is how I articulated a little reflection of my process. I would like to include the entire section because I feel like it was a strong moment of working emergently through a process of what is described as being present with content in process and engaging in reflexivity.
‘Reflexivity is closely linked to emergence and is a process of circular dialoguing with self (reflections) and others through time where it becomes possible to 'reframe' understandings and make choices on how to move forward based on understandings gained' [Miecat Inc., 2016, p.6 ].
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There was something so organic, connected and present about the relationship to something that was both experiential [inside me] and relational [with the canvas to which I was working with]. There was an organic build in curiosity and knowing that seemed to be congruent and somewhat boundless. I have just noticed I am bracketing in a little of my boundless love [one of my other cluster titles] and my relationship with this spirit of generosity is really speaking to the perplexity of how I share, engage, am present, and the real organic part of being relational. This seemed to emulate a fluidity that I really honour when in a genuine flow with another love. I also notice the finality of the process dealt with the sunlight and the water, there is something about nature that is apart of this that I’m curious about. But that is an access point for another day.
I begin. I took a piece of crisp white A3 paper, because it had edges and boundaries that appealed to me. I then moved into the art room and came across some leaves. I was drawn to them because of the natural/organic qualities that resonate a sense of authenticity [which I now can articulate is a quality of my investigation into 'spirit of generosity.'] However when I unearthed the box, I realised that they were fake, which gave me a strong dissonance. I moved my gaze down, to where I saw this beautiful piece of flat cut ply that had natural images of what looked like mountains indicated by the patterns from the tree trunk. I picked up this piece of wood and immediately wanted to explore it. I went through a process of selection with some acrylic paints - a material I hadn’t yet explored.. Despite wanting to use and mix all of the colours - I felt a really strong pull to a royal blue, lilac and white. I mixed these colours on a pallet and began to layer the paint, creating dynamic textures and lines. At first this was a fairly curious and frivolous process that brought a sense of delight and surprise [because of the lack of control to the consistency of the paint]. I felt breath deepen my connection to the movement of the paints. Here I noticed a difference in patterns and relationship with body, process and the medium. I looked closer and was absolutely blown away by the intricate line work, the relationship between colours and the depth and textures created by the movement across the wooden pallet.
[Kowitz, Feb 16, 2017].