Thirteenth International Conference on The Arts in Society

Abstract

This research investigates the value of using a creative relationship with objects to construct collective meaning by interpreting, through the art making process, memories as they are passed down. Through storytelling and object-centered interviews within a family of five women, this research aims to draw out themes for understanding how the collective memory of a deceased patriarch contributes to a communal understanding of the family identity. By creating artwork from the object history left behind by this central figure and kept by those honoring his memory, the research documents, synthesizes, and makes meaning from the collective memory of this figure in relation to the present self of the artist-researcher. Art as data presented here reaches for myth, for the story that is deep enough to express the profound feelings we have in the present, crafted from the stories of the past, and aiming for a lasting relevance to the narrative of the future family identity, as it grows.