About me
I'm a psychology researcher who is very curious about how emotions impact our psychological well-being. I have recently completed the Graduate Certificate in Visual Art course at the Victorian College of the Arts. I am interested in investigating the embodiment and expression of emotions through art. I also love writing poetry in my spare time as a form of self-expression.
I have been creating art since I was a young child. After a long hiatus, I started learning about tonal painting with Australian tonal painter David Moore in my late 20s.
My art practice investigates the embodiment and expression of emotions and is informed by psychological, neurological, and physiological research findings. I am particularly curious about how trauma impacts the way we relate to our bodies and understand our emotions. As Dutch psychiatrist Dr Bessel van der Kolk stated, knowing what we feel is the first step to knowing why we feel that way. If we are aware of the constant changes in our inner and outer environment, we can mobilize to manage them.
The experience of trauma stops us from connecting with our bodies and increases the chance of us developing alexithymia, an inability to identify and express or describe one's feelings. The loneliest aspect of the experience of trauma is that it often occurs in private spaces and behind closed doors. My most recent series of works, Behind Closed Doors, is influenced by the trauma I have experienced through observing my parent's situation of domestic violence and the longer-term ramifications of this childhood trauma on my adult life. While growing up, I never spoke about the violence I saw at home. When the nuclear family went out in public, everyone played his or her roles. There were no indications of the pain and trauma that occurred inside the house. Although my experiences are not typical, they are not uncommon. In Australia, nearly 3 million people witnessed violence towards one parent from a partner before 15 years of age. Imagine the scale of this hidden violence and residual trauma.