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Long abstract:

In this paper, I will frame my experience of undertaking a PhD in artistic research that had been assessed by a team from different disciplinary backgrounds- academic philosophers and visual culture theorists. The thesis revolved around embodiment, metaphor, and contemporary painting. I conversed with, have been taught by, and assessed by academics who hold high-level theoretical knowledge on the same subjects. The tension between theoretical knowledge and embodied experiences was palpable during these encounters. After the Ph.D. the same thread of inquiry expanded into collaborations with biological scientists in the field of creative visualizations of different processes. Such projects navigate interdisciplinarity from a different plane- visualization is an integral part of science, and exploration in phenomenology and felt experience has an instant appeal to many scientists. In the doctoral study, the friction revolved around the concern about assessing the artistic merit of the paintings made and the contribution to knowledge these entail. These frictions have been resolved through a more responsive and expanding painting practice that is increasingly more diverse in media and forms. In the artistic exploration of scientific concepts, the function of the artist turned out to be a mediator between knowledge systems. In the rigid academic institutional setting, creative and artistic expression and practice became a sensual and imaginative respite. In my paper, I will explore how I negotiated and collaborated with scholars from the humanities and natural sciences through a spirit of generosity inherent in all creative practice.