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Published on: January 11, 2020
Painting through grief and loss: an autoethnographic arts-based inquiry
Christopher M Strickland1, Sheri R Klein1
1Department of Art & Design, University of Nebraska, Kearney, USA.
Background:
Two artist-researchers engaged in a year-long virtual collaboration using autoethnographic and arts-based methods to explore grief and loss.
Methods:
Artistic inquiry supported emotional processing, well-being, self-understanding, and intuitive meaning making. Through painting, poetry, collage, and dialogue, they uncovered the following shared themes: emotions, visual and classical elements, and concepts of time.
Results:
Findings highlight grief as a complex, non-linear, and spiritual experience marked by liminality.
Conclusion:
The study demonstrates how collaborative, arts-based research can offer valuable tools for understanding, transforming, and making meaning of grief.
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