The Australian ‘Settler’ Colonial-Collective Problem

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Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Woodrow, Ross
Other Supervisors
Watson, Judith
Craig, Russell
Year published
2017
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This studio-based project identifies and interrogates the Australian denial of violent national foundation as a ‘settler’ problem, which is framed by the contemporary clinical and social concept of a ‘vicious cycle of anxiety’. The body of work I have produced aims to disrupt the denial of invasion and the erasure of Aboriginal culture through accepted narratives of European settlement of Australia. By aligning collective denial with anxiety, it presents a pathway for remediation through situational exposure; in this case, through works of art. The critical perspective on the invasion and colonisation of Australia is presented ...
View more >This studio-based project identifies and interrogates the Australian denial of violent national foundation as a ‘settler’ problem, which is framed by the contemporary clinical and social concept of a ‘vicious cycle of anxiety’. The body of work I have produced aims to disrupt the denial of invasion and the erasure of Aboriginal culture through accepted narratives of European settlement of Australia. By aligning collective denial with anxiety, it presents a pathway for remediation through situational exposure; in this case, through works of art. The critical perspective on the invasion and colonisation of Australia is presented in the discursive and nondiscursive modes of communication of the coloniser not to arbitrate or appease but to amplify the content. The structure of the exegesis also draws from Aboriginal narrative methodology and integrates with, and is informed by, the studio production in printmaking using demanding traditional European graphic techniques such as etching and aquatint.
View less >
View more >This studio-based project identifies and interrogates the Australian denial of violent national foundation as a ‘settler’ problem, which is framed by the contemporary clinical and social concept of a ‘vicious cycle of anxiety’. The body of work I have produced aims to disrupt the denial of invasion and the erasure of Aboriginal culture through accepted narratives of European settlement of Australia. By aligning collective denial with anxiety, it presents a pathway for remediation through situational exposure; in this case, through works of art. The critical perspective on the invasion and colonisation of Australia is presented in the discursive and nondiscursive modes of communication of the coloniser not to arbitrate or appease but to amplify the content. The structure of the exegesis also draws from Aboriginal narrative methodology and integrates with, and is informed by, the studio production in printmaking using demanding traditional European graphic techniques such as etching and aquatint.
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Thesis Type
Thesis (Professional Doctorate)
Degree Program
Doctor of Visual Arts (DVA)
School
Queensland College of Art
Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
Item Access Status
Public
Note
In order to comply with copyright two images have been removed.
Subject
Australian settlement
Colonial Australia
Invasion of Australia
Aboriginal narrative methodology
Print techniques
Narrative art