Abstract
Searching for the Light is a lens-based visual essay that offers an intimate, practice-led exploration of the embodied experience of chemotherapy. Developed during treatment, this work engages with the materiality of photographic prints and transparencies to symbolize the physical and psychological effects of “chemo decay.” Through a hybrid methodology that draws on memoir writing and a personal photographic archive, this project investigates how art practice can serve as both a therapeutic process and a means of inquiry into the lived realities of illness. The central research question—What kind of insight can artistic practice offer into the bodily and mental experience of chemotherapy?—is examined through creative interventions and conceptual reframing. New terms such as chemo-graphy and pissography are introduced to describe expanded photographic techniques that respond to the impact of cancer treatment on the body. Case studies of lens-based artists, writers, and cancer survivors further contextualize the research within a broader discourse on illness, healing, and creative expression. Ultimately, this project positions art practice as a potent site of transformation—one where the aesthetics of decay intersect with resilience and reflection, offering new dimensions to how cancer narratives are told and understood.
Presenters
Tamara VoninskiSessional Academic, Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Photography, Archive, Chemotherapy, Breast Cancer, Art Therapy, Practice-led Research, Lens-based
