Shona Crawford MFA Print Media Thesis

Bug in my Heart, Bug in my Eye

In , Foucault speaks to the exchange of the real and illusory. As a child, I had an active imagination which cloaked itself in anxious paranoia. I was told I talked too fast. The stories I told myself were kept secret. Later, I developed an obsessive-compulsive disorder which attracted unwelcome, intrusive thoughts and ritual associated with numbers and repeated touch.
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The actions I performed were real, the anxiety and fear were real, but the superstitions and perception of self I had created were illusory. 
Viewing the physical body as a temporary home to an inner, intangible self, and my own search for sound mental health has led me to my current work. This resembles conducting a case-study of self: a process-based examination of my proclivities through collecting, dissecting, arranging, and eliminating. Through the repeated image and collage I’ve been able to visually represent my experience as a woman with invisible illness, and add to the conversation of what it means to develop a consistently self-reflective artistic practice in the 21st century.

Bug in my heart, bug in my eye animation: https://player.vimeo.com/video/416585459

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MFA in Print Media Thesis Works