This, too, was a gift

This, too, was a gift is a research rooted in the artist’s personal process of transformation. Underpinned by analytical psychology, the theory of complex trauma, writings on film, trauma and the representation of the unrepresentable, the research explores how filmmaking can be a tool to foster and chronicle this multi-layered journey. Here, particular emphasis is placed on making visible — and empirically experiential — the impact of past traumatic events on the present moment. 

Processes of transformation are intricate and unfold in numerous ways and on manifold levels. Should one wish to do justice to the totality of one’s experience (of transformation) in or on film, the artist contends, it is insufficient to document one’s physical life and interactions with the tangible world. One must attempt to capture with equal attention — as well as translate and render — one’s psycho-emotional and visceral states of being, one’s inner worlds of images as well as one’s dreams. 

Examined through the general methodology of the “fragment” (fragmentation of the self being a hallmark of trauma) and articulated through a range of (audiovisual) forms — from essay documentary and experimental associative images, music compositions and poetry, to staging with actors—the resulting collection of fragments begins to create a complex and layered cinematic tapestry in which objects, experiences, and notions can be traced and begin to “make sense” beyond simple narratives, rational understanding, and everyday representation. This, too, comprises the artist’s attempt to arrive at a “holistic” documentation, as well as an outer and inner journey, of that transformation. Arising from this research is a full-length documentary, currently in development. 

Year

2023