Narrative Possibility: an introduction to, and a move towards, Integral Creativity is an exploration of creativity and a creative exploration, and it is a search for meaning and making which carries as backpressure an individual, societal, cultural, and global need for change. Change, as I have interpreted it, is a change of consciousness. While the exploration is multidimensional and multidirectional it has as its foundation a process of communication that is essential in and to all aspects of our present and past, showing and telling. Implicitly and explicitly we define ourselves and all that we encounter by stories. I am using the term ‘story’ to mean showing and telling in all its forms but my approach, although it is predominantly aligned to Western interpretation, is a perspectival inquiry into and through word and image. It comprises and integrates stories by a layered methodology that includes diverse perspectives from theorists and artists. Among these: David Bohm, Andrew Wyeth, and Leonard Shlain are important, but, in the aspects of their work which focus on Integral Consciousness, Jean Gebser, Ken Wilber, and Terry Sands are most prominent. My exploration also incorporates stories of my lived experience as student, mother, visual artist, teacher and researcher, as well as fictional stories and poems. In both methodological structure and the writing and content of this work (in documenting its progress and in recording the unfolding visual work of several of my students,) I bring to this thesis my philosophical approach: Narrative Possibility -stories that do not have preconceived outcomes. Narrative Possibilities originate and manifest in and through (and require, therefore, a methodology that encompasses) Creative Events, States, Processes, and Products. It is a disciplined method that unfolds a story to a point in which all aspects appear to cohere, and yet this aspect of the story is untold: there are no definitive words or marks which obviously or even abstractly point to completion. Creativity, according to David Bohm, is a natural potential largely blocked by the way civilization has developed. I accept this premise and suggest that Narrative Possibility is a creative approach to integration and that it is a personal, social, and spiritual move towards our possible evolution. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The primary objective of this creative project was to make my artwork more appealing to a mature audience. I would use familiar imagery that I had created from characters that were initially developed for children. These characters are now not only entertaining, but also have been enhanced through the use of engaging symbolic narrative.The secondary objective was to combine my knowledge of drawing, painting and sculpture based on changes in my recent artwork. These changes were brought about through investigating contemporary artist while studying at Ball State University. The body of work includes an underlying theme: "A Journey Though life," which features Quest the foolish dog, derived from the fool card in a tarot card deck. / Department of Art

Thesis (M.Land.Arch.(Coursework thesis))--University of Adelaide, School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, 2002. / "August 2002" Bibliography: leaves [1-8].

This research project is aimed at creative practitioners in art and design who choose to engage in postgraduate research and who recognise narrative to be an important aspect of their work. While the goal of narratology has been explicitly declared as an interest in understanding narrative in all its forms, this project responded to a perceived absence of art and design centred perspectives in the general literature on narrative. A general attitude has developed throughout the course of the twentieth century resulting in a view that narrative has become a dead issue for contemporary practitioners. Findings from the investigations conducted as part of this project demonstrate a contrary view and show that definitions of narrative tend to be weak unless anchored in specific practices or disciplines. The lack of scholarship to support contemporary art and design research practitioners produces a problem by giving the false impression that narrative is largely irrelevant to practice. It also inhibits new scholarship when what currently exists is poorly categorised. The research question asks how it is possible to support the creative practitioner doing postgraduate research to better articulate their position on narrative in a way that contributes to scholarship in the arts and consequently to knowledge about narrative in general. The thesis argues that approaches to narrative traditionally associated with the discussion of art continue to be relevant today but only account for practice in a marginalised way. It posits that theorisation of narrative in the social sciences provides additional opportunities for creative arts practitioners. In psychology, sociology and anthropology the focus has tended towards localised or personal narrative in accordance with the disciplinary interests in those fields. If small stories, in contrast to the great narratives of history or literary art, can be regarded as the prototype of narrative, then artists can draw on other academic resources which better reflect their own disciplinary interests. Having established narrative to be more relevant than it might otherwise appear in the existing traditional scholarship, the thesis proceeds to make use of my practice as a case demonstrating narrative possibilities to be considered in relation to the work of practicing artists. Since my work operates across fields of art and design it was necessary to use a mix of methods to reveal the understanding of narrative in the different cases. Finally, the thesis proposes a narrative framework which categorises narrative in creative practice in five classes which incorporate the work, its reception, and the social space in which it is experienced. In addition, the practitioner's perspective is a distinct class. The purpose of the framework is not to describe narrative in all the forms that could ever be imagined by creative practitioners. Instead it offers a way of thinking about narrative that is derived from practice and structured relative to theories traditionally used to discuss narrative and art.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Collage, as a verbal and visual medium, epitomises the heterogeneity, indeterminacy and fragmentation of the postmodern moment. In this thesis I argue that visual collage - in the context of book illustration - presents an ideal form with which to illustrate the state of contemporary (postmodern) narrative. Postmodernism, as a term or concept, evades any form of absolute or definitive account. Hence, in my discussion of the postmodern condition I move towards an understanding of this complex theoretical and cultural phenomenon. Postmodern cultural artifacts reflect the state of a modernised, Western-orientated, globalised consciousness, which resists arborescent structures in past and contemporary texts. In both postmodern narratives and in literary fictional narratives the condition of artifice is amplified. Thus, this thesis explores various characteristics evident in postmodern fiction in order to understand and demonstrate the changes manifest in contemporary narratives in general. Many of the stylistic and figurative devices employed in the postmodern novel foreground the excessive appropriation and self-reflexive textualism of contemporary texts - these literary devices often reflect particular collage-like tendencies or characteristics. Contemporary literary theory, in addition, provides many useful terms and concepts with which to describe visual texts and, for the purposes of this discussion, narrative illustration. This thesis is centred primarily on an analysis of the practical component completed as part of the Master of Arts degree in Fine Arts. The discussion of the practical work is embedded in the wider fields of book art - particularly the postmodern artist's book (livre detourne) - and in contentious debates around the role of visual narrative illustration. In both the thesis and the illustrated book objects, I challenge the secondary and supplementary position traditionally held by illustration in the context of the book. I argue for a form of visual narrative that is not required to function as a mere translation of the primary verbal text. Instead - working within the context of the artist's book and through the utilisation of collage as a visual (and verbal) medium - I demonstrate that illustration may complement, supplement or subvert the written text. Furthermore, I show that illustration may assume the role of the primary text in the context of the codex. Finally, this study creates a space for a creative and participatory reader who, through the intertextual processes made evident in the book objects, becomes an active 'reader-writer' of the visual and verbal narratives under discussion. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Collage, as beide 'n verbale en visuele medium, verpersoonlik die onbesliste, gefragmenteerde, heterogene moment van postmodemisme. In hierdie tesis voer ek aan dat visuele collage, binne die konteks van boekillustrasie, 'n ideale vorm van uitbeelding hied om die toestand van kontemporere (postmodeme) narratief te illustreer. Postmodemisme, as 'n term of konsep, ontwyk enige volslae of beslissende betekenis. Gevolglik poog ek in my bespreking van die postmodeme toestand om nader aan 'n begrip van hierdie komplekse teoretiese en kulturele , fenoneem te beweeg. Postmodeme kulturele artefakte reflekteer die toestand van 'n gemodemiseerde, Westers-georienteerde, geglobaliseerde bewustheid wat liniere strukture in tekste uit die verlede en die hede weerstaan. In beide postmodeme narratiewe en fiktiewe literere narratiewe word die gesteldheid van kunsskepping toegelig. Dus ondersoek hierdie tesis verskeie opvallende eienskappe van postmodeme fiksie ten einde die veranderinge wat in die algemeen in kontemporere narratiewe manifesteer te verstaan en te demonstreer. Vele van die stilistiese en figuratiewe tegnieke van die postmodemistiese roman plaas die oormatige toe-eining en selfrefleksiewe tekstualisme van konteporere tekste op die voorgrond; die literere gebruikswyses reflekteer dikwels bepaalde collage-agtige tendense of eienskappe. Hierbenewens, bied kontemporere literereteorie vele nuttige terme en konsepte waarmee visuele tekste sowel as, vir die doe] van hierdie ondersoek, visuele narratiewe, beskryf kan word. Hierdie tesis is hoofsaaklik gevestig op 'n analise van die praktiese werk wat dee) van die Magister Artuim-graad in Beeldende Kunste uitmaak. Die bespreking van die praktiese werk is veranker in die wyer terreine van boekkuns - spesifiek die postmodeme kunstenaarsboek (livre detourne) - en in kontensieuse debatte oor die rol van visuelenarratief-illustrasie. In beide die tesis en die gelllustreerde boekobjekte bevraagteken ek die tradisionele siening dat illustrasie binne boekkontekse 'n sekondere of aanvullende posisie inneem. Ek argumenteer ten gunste van 'n vorm van visuele narratief waarvan daar nie bloot verwagword om as 'n beskrywing van die primere verbale teks te funksioneer nie. In plaas daarvan, deur binne die konteks van die kunstenaarsboek te werk en deur collage as 'n visuele (en verbale) medium te benut, demonstreer ek dat illustrasie die geskrewe teks kan aanvul, daartoe kan toevoeg of dit kan ondergrawe. Verder toon ek dat illustrasie die rol van die primere teks in die konteks van die kodeks kan inneem. Laastens skep hierdie studie die geleentheid vir 'n kreatiewe en bydraende leser - vanwee 'n intertekstuele proses wat in die boekobjekte aan die Jig kom - om as 'n aktiewe 'leser-skrywer' van die visuele en verbale tekste onder bespreking op te tree.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

This educational study on narrative and symbolic art and its impact on me as artist, researcher, and teacher and ultimately how the use of narrative and symbolism impacts student learning was conducted throughout the school year 2013-2014 in the environment of both my home and my classroom in a south metro Atlanta high school. The research is based on my reflections of my artistic processes, my research of family history, and my observations as I introduced narrative and symbolic art in the classroom. The findings of the study reveal that the roles of artist, teacher, and researcher are significantly interrelated and enhance one another; I also believe that my students’ learning was impacted. While students are at first assigned narrative and symbolic art projects, many begin to extrapolate that art is more meaningful to them when it has a story to tell or includes symbolism with which they associate importance.

Orientador(a): Luiza Helena da Silva Christov / Banca: Margarete Arroyo / Banca: Ecleide Cunico Furlanetto / Banca: Joana Mariz de Sousa / Banca: Anderson Zanetti / Resumo: Neste trabalho, apresento questões, reflexões e aprendizados a partir de narrativas, minhas e de outras pessoas, com as quais me encontrei durante as trajetórias em busca de uma voz própria e que me levaram à criação do Ateliê de Voz, um projeto constituído nas fronteiras de diferentes áreas do conhecimento que tem a voz como interesse. A estrutura textual que propus para este trabalho mostra a criação e a sustentação de um espaço onde pude nomear, em primeira pessoa, os processos que vivi durante a minha história com a voz. Narro momentos de empobrecimento da experiência, passando pelo silenciamento da minha voz, submetida ao que os outros tinham a dizer ou ao que as áreas consagradas da ciência tinham a dizer à respeito da voz, assim como a experiência de tombamento vivida no contato com as vozes dos cantos de trabalho das Destaladeiras de Fumo de Arapiraca, em que coloco em suspensão todas as verdades sobre a voz até então conhecidas por mim. Por fim, narro como acontece o Ateliê de Voz, um espaço em aberto para a invenção de uma voz-experiência, uma voz que escuta e pode ser escutada, pode narrar a própria história, habita o próprio corpo e se expõe, cuida de si e se percebe. Por esse caminho da voz-experiência chegamos à voz própria: uma voz pode enunciar a si próprio e inventar a si próprio / Abstract: In this thesis, I present questions, reflections, and learnings from narratives, either mine and form other people which whom I met during the trajectories in the search for the self-voice and that led me to the creation of the "Voice Atelier", a project built in the borderline of different fields of knowledge which hold the voice as its interest. The textual structure I propose for this thesis shows the creation and sustaining of a space where I could name, in first person, the processes I lived during my own history with the voice. I narrate moments of impoverishment of the experience, passing through the silencing of my own voice, submitted to what others had to say, or about what the renowned scientific fields had to say about the voice, as well as the experience of collapse lived through the contact wit the voices of the working songs of the Destaladeiras de Fumo (Workers who manually struke tobacco leafs) from Arapiraca, when I suspended all the truths I knew by then about the voice. At last, I narrate how the "Voice Atelier" happens, an opens space for invention of a voice-experience, a voice that can listen and be listened, can narrate its own history, inhabits its own body and, exposes, looks after and is aware of itself. Through this pathway of the voice-experience we reach the self-voice: A voice capable of self-enunciating and self-inventing / Doutor

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Fine Art in the Department of Fine Art, Durban Institute of Technology, 2006. / This study will investigate and critically evaluate the reconstitution of African women’s spiritualities in the context of the Amazwi Abesifazane project. This project forms part of the endeavours of Create Africa South, a Non Governmental Organisation situated in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, which was initiated by the artist Andries Botha. It encourages women, post trauma, to ‘re-member’ themselves by creating memory cloths of embroidery and appliqué reflecting on their experiences in pre- and post-apartheid South Africa. This interdisciplinary study theorises that it is an archive that speaks about African women resisting destructive forces and reconstituting their spiritualities through the therapeutic effects of creativity. The study will not include research into the many other activities undertaken by Create Africa South. Rupture is implied in the use of the word ‘reconstitution’. Reconstitution encompasses the act of constituting again the character of the body, mind and spirit as regards health, strength and well-being of the women (McIntosh, 1970:261). In this study, spirituality is defined as the way in which the women in the Amazwi Abesifazane project reflect upon and live out their belief in God. The power of storytelling is examined from the perspectives of narratology, narrative therapy, sewing and orality/literary studies as resources for the women’s reclamation of their lives. Defining feminisms in South Africa is problematised by issues of race, class and culture. In a context of poverty, everyday survivalist strategies are the diverse forms of resistance seen in the Amazwi Abesifazane project. The women’s stories, cloths and interviews are triangulated as primary data. They are examples of the rich art of resistance against despair and are located in a paradigm of hope. In conclusion, I strongly call for government support in declaring the project a national archive. The multidimensional mediums of the Amazwi Abesifazane/ UbuMama projects nurture the women’s creativity and revitalise their spiritualities towards personal and national transformation.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: To write a life story the auto/biographer must reflect upon the past that was once experienced. When presented with this task of depending on memory and narrative, the auto/biographer often finds himself/herself in the position of creating and imagining, rather than reflecting or presenting the past as it was lived. Fragmentation, forgetfulness, selection, (re)construction and imagination are often inextricably connected to Memory which results in the reliance on an unstable memory to access the past. This dissertation explores how postmodern auto/biographies, specifically the (auto/bio)graphic novel, acknowledges the difficulty of writing about the past when concerned with truth. The (auto/bio)graphic novel disrupts the notion of truth by blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction, resulting in a hybrid form where text and image, reality and imagination co-exist to create new, and often more significant pasts (that can serve the present). / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Om ‘n lewensverhaal te skryf, reflekteer die outo/biograaf op dít wat eens geleef was in die verlede. Deur hierdie proses, wat ‘n afhanklikheid van die geheue behels, vind die outo/biograaf homself/haarself gereeld in ‘n situasie waar hy/sy ontwerp en verbeel, eerder as om die verlede weer te gee soos dit beleef was. Fragmentasie, vergeetagtigheid, selektering, (her)konstruering en verbeelding is soms onskeibaar van Geheue wat dui op die afhanklikheid van ‘n onstabiele geheue in die skryf- en illustreer-prosesse van ‘n outo/biografie. Hierdie verhandeling ondersoek hoe postmoderne outo/biografieë, spesifiek die (outo/bio)grafiese roman, bewus is van die kwessies rondom die skryf van die verlede in verhouding tot waarheid. Die (outo/bio)grafiese roman ontwrig die idee van waarheid deur die grense tussen feit en fiksie te ondermyn. Gevolglik onstaan ‘n hibriede vorm van outo/biografie waar teks en beeld, realiteit en verbeelding gekombineer word om nuwe en meer beduidende verledes te skep (wat so ook die hede op nuwe maniere kan dien). / mlb2013