Northfield, Sally (2014) Canvassing the emotions : women, creativity and mental health in context. PhD thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

Canvassing the emotions examines the role and meaning of artmaking in the lives of women who have experienced mental ill-health and/or psychological trauma in Australia between the 1950s and the present. Hovering at the nexus of a number of contested domains, the thesis bypasses the perennial question of what is art to explore the neglected and perhaps more interesting query – what does art do for the artmaker? – and associated questions of why does art matter; what is the function of artmaking in relation to wellbeing; and what are the implications of a thwarted life of making? The thesis presents the findings of three studies: The Exhibition – a touring exhibition of art produced by women with an experience of mental ill-health; The Interviews – with thirty-two women who make art and who have experienced mental ill-health; and The Collage – a collation of women’s accounts of – what does art do?

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