Positionality with Eve Lin & Jason Forrest
Introductory Talks:
Eve Lin and Jason Forrest ’s discussions on the “positionality” core session actually struck a chord with me.
Jason’s discussions on the Ikigai diagram and the complexity of “self” being whittled down to a singular concept didn’t feel right to me. I think there’s an inherent issue with the industrialisation of society that fed this concept (especially with the current corporate climate in Japan, considering the massive suicide that occurred as a result of an overworked individual in Tokyo in recent years and the current mental health crisis being ignored due to a traditionalist society and keep quiet in front of superiors attitude but that’s a discussion for a different day) so to begin the core session with it didn’t feel right. But as we went on the freedom of choice and ethical beliefs that shape our choices as artists and creatives did make up for the difficult start.
Eve’s further reading and the discussion of applying our individual traits in the workplace and especially of the mistreatment in the fashion industry especially I think made it’s mark in terms of what I consider workplace template for me in terms of setting boundaries and prioritising learning and mutual respect and changing attitudes towards lower experience / new workers in the corporate/creative industries.
Actual writing session:
And then we moved onto the actual learning part. I think I was confused at the beginning. Positional statement was supposed to be a beginning or setting the stone of our end of year reports. I think I had a problem in terms of actually understanding what it is they wanted me to do but understanding the fact that it was basically a description of “what makes me” “who am I” actually helped to basically list down what shapes my identity as an artist.
My summary: I’m a 21 year old cis woman who is bi, disabled, AuDHD, unmarried with a widowed mother, born in Bangladesh but grew up in East London, passed my GCSEs and Alevels with flying colours and now on my BA course, whilst also starting my own blog as a writer/artist with fluent English and broken Bengali.
Looking at that summary, the lack of a niche or a focus is making sense. My positionality is neither here nor there and that can be seen by the diversity that is present in my experiences. I think even before I was aware of the concept of positionality I was aware of the impact of my experiences as a disabled invisible and an undiagnosed AuDHD kid. My artist statement itself is a testament to this self-awareness. My Artist Statement on my madebykulsoma.com ↓
I am a painter who is exploring multiple themes currently in the search for self-discovery and niche. My work is a mixture of different materials and techniques, and it is an exploration of the relationship between form, color, and storytelling. I work primarily with oil on multiple surfaces.
Being a serial painter who enjoys working on multiple works at the same time, I am working on finding a balance for my process as I navigate life as a student, a disabled person, a new adult, a woman, etc., etc. My goal is to paint as a therapeutic endeavour and eventually begin sharing my works with those who follow my journey. My paintings are inspired by my own experiences. They are a reflection of my own over-thinking and how it fits within my contemporary environment.
I think just a bit of tweaking and I’d be able to recycle this statement for the upcoming positionality statement submission/task so that it’s more up to date with my current understanding of my practice.
