The Art of Presence: Contemplation, Communing and Creativity reflects on the making of a dance theatre work called Song of Longing presented at Victorian College of the Arts in 2008. Song of Longing was made in collaboration with the cast, who participated in a process centred on improvisation. The resulting performance was a synergy of dance and unaccompanied singing. / The thesis is an investigation of the choreographer's ongoing exploration of movement, singing and improvisation, informed by Buddhist philosophy. Both the writing and the performance mirror an embodied practice - making tangible themes and concepts that have emerged into consciousness. / Central interests include the ‘life-world’ of the artist and its influence on the creative process, the concepts of spirituality, spirit and ‘flow’, the experiential focus of the inquiry, improvisation as presence and the value of art as healing and therapy. / While the perspective of the writing is drawn from the subjectivity of the practitioner, the aim of the work is to draw on the broader fields of research in these areas and to connect with the creative practices of other artists. To this end, a conventional survey of the literature has been augmented by writings and teachings on Buddhism and other spiritual practices, documentaries and visual art. Interviews with artists in Australia and India and thoughts from the performers of Song of Longing are also included.

The Art of Presence: Contemplation, Communing and Creativity reflects on the making of a dance theatre work called Song of Longing presented at Victorian College of the Arts in 2008. Song of Longing was made in collaboration with the cast, who participated in a process centred on improvisation. The resulting performance was a synergy of dance and unaccompanied singing. / The thesis is an investigation of the choreographer's ongoing exploration of movement, singing and improvisation, informed by Buddhist philosophy. Both the writing and the performance mirror an embodied practice - making tangible themes and concepts that have emerged into consciousness. / Central interests include the ‘life-world’ of the artist and its influence on the creative process, the concepts of spirituality, spirit and ‘flow’, the experiential focus of the inquiry, improvisation as presence and the value of art as healing and therapy. / While the perspective of the writing is drawn from the subjectivity of the practitioner, the aim of the work is to draw on the broader fields of research in these areas and to connect with the creative practices of other artists. To this end, a conventional survey of the literature has been augmented by writings and teachings on Buddhism and other spiritual practices, documentaries and visual art. Interviews with artists in Australia and India and thoughts from the performers of Song of Longing are also included.

This paper discusses the issue of depersonalization and the subjective need for objectification and provides a means of understanding and developing a possible solution. Through the basic observation of an overlap between Behavioral Genetics, Neuroscience, Philosophy, Psychology, Physiognomy, the visual language and the artistic practice, one can begin to take note of the affects of our environments on an individualistic level. Through creative practice and the use of the visual language, one may develop an individualistic form of therapy. In recent years we have drifted away from the science of visual language and the basic aesthetic experience. The visual language and the basic aesthetic experience allow the depersonalized individual to engage in conversation and observation through an object of the visual language to the biological inner self as person. Through this conversation one may find comfort in the acknowledgment of the biological inner self as person from the other as person in hopes to subdue the subjective need for objectification. One may also gain a better understanding of the individualistic correlation between one's environment and one's biological inner self as person.

Orchids: Intersex and Identity in Documentary explores the creative practice challenges of working with bodies with intersex in the long-form auto/biographical documentary Orchids. Just as creative practice research challenges the dominant hegemony of quantitative and qualitative research, so does my creative work position itself as a nuanced piece, pushing the boundaries of traditional cultural studies theories, documentary film practice and creative practice method, through its distinctive distillation and celebration of a new form of discursive rupturing, the intersex voice.