Research Abstract

Trauma and repair: exploring family dysfunction and its inherent legacy through constructed objects, installation and the photographic self-portrait.

The primary research for my PhD is a studio based investigation that seeks to contribute to current discourse in relation to family dysfunction and the legacy of trauma. The research reflects on both personal experience and a broader scope of psychological damage, protection and self-repair. An emphasis on psychological states and defence mechanisms will underpin the artworks created. In realising this body of artwork a variety of strategies will be employed, including the symbolic, and metaphoric to comment on identity, self-image, self-protection and the reparation of a fragmented psyche. This doctoral project examines materials and ways of making to explore connections to the concepts repression, trauma and memory with the relationship of found objects and salvaged textiles to loss, recovery comfort and protection. Needlework and stitching techniques are investigated to interrogate emotional states, self-mending and repair of psychological wounds. Photographic self-portraiture features as a means to explore identity and how performative costume may allow the artist greater freedoms to explore alternate aspects of self, that are otherwise concealed or have been repressed. Within this body of practice my research also considers the transition from the private (studio) to the public space (gallery) as an empowering transition — allowing boundaries to broken, wounds to be healed and new narratives to be revealed and shared within a broader scope of the public domain.

Bio

Born in New Zealand Jude Worters settled in Melbourne in 1988. After completing an Art course in Adult Education, she went on to study a Bachelor Degree at Victorian College of the Arts and a Graduate Diploma of Education at Melbourne University. On graduating she began teaching Art at the VCE College/Centre for Adult Education. In 2016 Worters graduated from the Masters Programme at RMIT University. Worters practice is multi-disciplinary encompassing soft sculpture, self-portraiture, costume, and installation. Recent projects explore the legacy of trauma and the transformative nature of the creative process. She is currently engaged in PhD research at RMIT University in Melbourne.

judewort@yahoo.com.au
@jude_worters (instagram)