Navigating Grief in Creative Practice

This semester we will explore the multifaceted responses to grief through various artistic mediums. We will engage in understanding grief not only as a personal experience but also as a shared cultural and universal phenomenon that shapes identities and collective narratives. We will investigate how our creative practices serve as outlets for processing grief, fostering healing, and articulating complex emotional landscapes that resonate with both personal and communal experiences.Throughout the semester, students will delve into questions that lay the groundwork for a deeper understanding of grief:

The exploration of collective sorrow emphasizes how grief shapes identities and experiences, demonstrating that mourning transcends the individual and becomes a communal phenomenon. Throughout this course, we will engage with the concept that the act of remembering—both painful and restorative—is integral to the narratives we create. Characters in literature often grapple with memories that evoke sorrow, yet also illuminate moments of joy. This reflects the complex interplay between love and loss, a theme that will be central to our discussions and creative endeavors.

In examining the works of writers such as Toni Morrison, we will learn how love and grief are deeply intertwined. Morrison illustrates that her characters mourn not just the loss of a person but also the connections and love that once defined their lives. This duality highlights that grief is a testament to the depth of love experienced, anchoring our understanding of how art can encapsulate the essence of both sorrow and affection.

Loss serves as the foundational element in our exploration of grief. We will engage with the notion of loss as a profound experience that reshapes identity and existence. Rather than viewing loss solely as a void, we will reflect on how it can serve as fertile ground for creative exploration, inspiring artistic inquiry and expression.

We will look at Alice Walker’s exploration of grief and its multifaceted, intertwining personal sorrow with a broader historical context, ultimately leading to a deeper appreciation of the feminine lineage and the role of creativity in processing and transforming grief.

Love emerges as an irreplaceable companion to grief, woven into its very fabric. The course will emphasize that the act of mourning encapsulates not only the sorrow of loss but also a celebration of the love that once filled the spaces now defined by absence. Morrison’s narratives serve as an exemplar of this intertwining, revealing how characters navigate the landscape of love and loss, affirming that grief enhances our understanding of love's significance.

Memory and remembrance are crucial themes in our narrative of grief. They seamlessly blend pain and nostalgia, serving as dual-edged narratives that illuminate the complexities of human emotion. In our artistic practice, memory functions as a canvas where sorrow coexists with joy, allowing for rich, textured explorations of life’s contradictions. We will investigate how memory can act as both burden and source of strength, shaping our narratives of grief.

How do we empower and articulate our experiences and those of our communities through a framework that embraces vulnerability, creativity, and reflection. By investigating the interconnected themes of loss, memory, remembrance, and love, we aim to create connections that reveal the shared nature of grief.