FIGURING IT OUT: Phenomenology and Painting

This practice-led research explores the development of artistic practice in the context of phenomenology and aesthetic theory. The research arises out of the question whether a painter can satisfactorily consider and maintain both surface and depth at the same time. The practical research includes some 157 drawings, prints and paintings, whilst the thesis records the constant testing of painting progress, and the testing of the theoretical underpinning by that practice. In the thesis the theoretical background suggests ways in which surface and depth might be held together, with important contributions from Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty , Crowther and Shusterman. Theoretical research in to the centrality of the body to the formation of knowledge has guided the practical research. The body of meaning attached to the term 'surface' is analysed to provide an understanding of subjective and objective apprehensions within the painting . This understanding is then applied to the documented evolution of the painting practice. Three distinctive outcomes of the research have emerged: that background contextual influences must be considered to provide the necessary freedom of intent; that concepts provide a powerful dynamic for painting , even when the painting is not overtly dealing with ideas; that the physicality of art making is a useful way of considering the potential unity of mind and body . The emergence of these outcomes marked important turning points in the research. In the conclusion I assert that surface and depth can indeed be held together in a single vision as a mutually beneficial dialogue between thinking and making, and I believe this to be borne out by the final large paintings onto canvas. The physicality of these final works also informs my contention that artistic practice a n d theoretical knowledge can spontaneously emerge from one another to mutual benefit