Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the human body was not only isolated but visually overexposed. Images proliferated across screens, newsfeeds, and memories—turning presence into static, silence into overload. In my visual project INEXPRESSIBLE, exhibited at the Living Art Museum in Reykjavik, I worked with 200m² of pandemic media printouts, rabbit skin glue, and fragmented sculptural faces to explore the impact of visual trauma and bodily dissociation. This paper reflects on how artistic practices can address collective wounds through visual stillness and psychic embodiment. Drawing on Jungian thought, post-traumatic theory, and arts-based research, I propose a hybrid methodology that brings together image-making, poetic inquiry, and body-based observation. I argue that in a time of media saturation, the act of stopping—freezing—can become a radical gesture. I will explore the notion of the “silent body” as both symptom and resistance: a body that no longer reacts but absorbs; a voice that withdraws rather than shouts. My inquiry asks: can visual art diagnose the invisible? Can stillness speak? Through this research I share both my artistic work and its theoretical grounding, inviting reflection on the potential of visual culture to not only represent crisis but to interrupt it—offering space for presence, dignity, and restoration.
Presenters
Patryk WilkMFA Graduate / Independent Researcher, Department of Fine Arts, Iceland University of the Arts, Iceland
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Visual Culture, Trauma, Silence, Pandemic, Media, Embodiment
