An auto-ethnographic sensorial investigation through woven textiles in the creation of personal memorial to loss

Abstract

The research addressed the following questions. Can visual images created through drawing, and tactile memories from the woven translation of those drawings, connect the bereaved to personal memories of a lost loved one and to the lived experience of losing that person? What is the role of narrative in creating a personal memorial to loss, and how does this differ in the creation of collective memorials to loss? A multi-method qualitative approach was adopted, combining auto-ethnography with reflexive phases of drawing, weaving, and writing in reflective journals and on specially designed analysis sheets. A purposively sampled group of artists articulating loss and grief through their practice, were compared to the author’s sensorial and experiential interpretation of personal loss and grief. Study of sensory memory, and materiality of textiles and garments relating to bereavement, provided contextualisation. A hand-knitted jumper and Filofax diary belonging to a deceased parent, inspired the research practice: the vacant jumper acting as a metaphor for the empty space left behind physically and emotionally when a loved one dies. The first contribution to knowledge showed that the weaving, when stimulated by the somatosensorial process of manual creation, aroused and enhanced remembered emotions of the lived experience of losing a beloved parent, providing greater insight and cognisance of living through loss. The second contribution was a weave sampling and testing method that could be applied to alternative weave practice research. A final contribution showed that specificity of individual narrative differentiated personal memorials to loss from the shared narratives of creative collective memorials to loss.