Under and Beyond (the Skin): Artistic Process, Trauma and Embodiment in Image-Making

This paper examines bodily presence and absence, points of connectivity, and negotiates the terrain of the body through two distinct projects. Engaging in a drawing-centered practice I consider embodiment through two projects (Under the Skin and Beyond the Skin), forming a dyad through which to negotiate and illuminate various bodily expressions and representations. Throughout a lived existence, the body undergoes various transformations and adaptations; its ongoing mutation requires a continuous realignment and re-examination. A phenomenological approach acknowledges that an embodied experience is one which is physically aware and shapes our understanding of the world. Trauma, in varying degrees, forces the body to transform and adapt, potentially resulting in a different embodied perspective. Under the Skin takes up a study of embodiment through trauma and the body in pain. Beyond the Skin engages the prosthesis from an artistic perspective, exploring the capacity for altering the figuration of the body, which in turn informs my artistic praxis. Engaging works by artists Rebecca Horn and Matthew Barney, my intention is to develop a context for my own practice and an expansive understanding of prosthetic terminology and the presence of a prosthetic metaphor in artistic practices. As a creative endeavour the refiguration of prosthetic terminology has the potential to enhance the cultural experience of loss, trauma and adversity, allowing an exploration of the body as adaptable and expandable.