Departures, Wanderings and Homecomings

Abstract

This essay discusses filial-­father relationships in the biographical accounts of artists, and considers the life and work of these artists from both allegorical and psychological standpoints. Such filial precedents have informed my own art making in relation to past experiences with my late father. In a sense, my art asks to what depths do we create out of, or are influenced by our father experiences? Part One looks at Eastern and Western artists who give experiential and aesthetical form to filial-­father relationships. My observations are framed as both a metaphorical and literal type of filial-­father journey, invoking departures, schisms, wanderings and reconciliations. The 'journeys' acknowledge, historical, cultural, political, and spiritual influences, and addresses the constant shifting climate causing the 'filial-­father journey' to simultaneously diversify. Part Two looks at fathering from the perspectives of different fields of social science. It reflects on the possible direct and indirect connectivity between father experiences and an artist's disposition. In order to delve into the topic's psychological underpinnings, attention is given to early childhood development in recent research findings; the positive and negative repercussions of fathering experiences in correlation to cognitive and emotional functioning. It focusses on the relevancy of traumatic father experiences in connection with a person's identity, emotional make up and creative articulation. It touches on topics such as abuse, trauma, self-­esteem, trust, and validation. The focus on fathering and father figures is in no way meant to diminish the important role a mother plays in a daughter's or a son's life. The substantiated biological and emotional knowledge of mother-­child research is vastly ahead of what scientists and therapists know about fathering impacts. Science journalist Paul Raeburn laments the recent historical perspective disparaging the roles of fathers in his 2014 publication, "Do Fathers Matter?" Raeburn reports on the general consensus during the 1970's that, "the irrelevancy of fathers had become an article of faith among researchers." (Raeburn 6) This 'irrelevancy' has slowly begun to be rethought, and this essay in some ways attempts to contemplate and address that imbalance through certain parallels in the creative arts. Furthermore, the single paternal focus stems from a 2015 photographic research project I began in order to find out about my Fijian-­European father who passed away in 1997. The research included interviewing family and friends that knew my father, including three half-­brothers and two half-­sisters from my father's first marriage. The fact that we had different mothers but shared the same father meant there was a discernible set of experiences and consistent characteristics, which appeared plainly traceable back to our father. Additional research involved a first time trip to Fiji to meet my family relatives and explore Suva, Fiji, where my father came from. Aside from the interviews, a lot of the photographic documentation is situated around a Rotuman welcoming ceremony called "Mamasa", which literally means 'to be dry'. It has traditionally been a celebration for welcoming back those returning from seafaring journeys. Because of the large percentage of Rotumans living on the main Fiji Islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, the ceremony has gradually been adapted to welcoming family kin who may have been born abroad but who make the passage back to visit or reunite with relatives. Photography has been an important medium for my 'journey', not only in documenting this family reconnection but also in a metaphorical contextualisation. The photographic processes of receiving light, photosensitivity, and fixing of images, mirror the processes of my attempts to bridge the familial and personal psychological expanses, and fix an image of my own familial belonging. The chemical wet processes of analogue photography, such as washing and fixing negatives, also find various parallels in the Mamasa's ceremonial symbolism. The journey I embarked on was with an intention to make sense of earlier experiences with my father and how that has affected my identity. Though the record of my sojourn in Suva reveals moments of clarity, it also acknowledges the indistinct opaqueness through which paternal experiences and family histories often veil themselves.