Art of Katharsis: A Study of Creating Abstract Expressionist Art in the Quest for Emotional Release and Healing

This thesis paper discusses the art seen in the exhibition, Katharsis, is a body of work inspired in the quest to validate suppressed emotions pulling from personal experiences of grief and abandonment. The methodology behind the work explores the artistic process that enables the transformation of pain and grief. The research is guided by understanding the artist’s process through therapeutic methods found in abstract expressionism. Art produced in pain, allowed a process of healing and honest forgiveness. The vicious cycle of feeling trapped in the idea of letting go when you have not allowed yourself to understand, threatens the possibility of moving on and finding peace. Having a closer look into personal experience of abandonment and pain; was the true catalyst of a downhill spiral of suppressed emotions that led to emotional distress. Seeking for a place of true forgiveness my graduate studies provided a new direction and a beginning to a new-found knowledge