Introduction:

The topic that I will be researching and discussing is the connection between artists and how they approach strongly affected emotions from major events through their expression of art. 

As I have been through this event, the way it affected me really altered my perception of art and motivation based on it. When it comes to emotionally altering events, I want to recognize and discuss how people, more importantly, artists, express their art whether it be not at all or entirely based on their coping mechanisms. 

Background/Review of the Literature:

Upon doing research, I discovered articles that touch upon the impacts of major events such as the losses of a family member due to cancer, and events that have impacted larger groups of people such as the Holocaust. In both of these situations and their similarities in impact, artists emerged and interpreted their emotions and trauma through the expression of art in grief-ridden times, be it temporarily to over the time period of decades.

Rationale:

Why do artists use emotion to portray their work?

Who or what are artists mostly impacted by?

What are the prevalent emotions that artists feel in their lives? Grief? Anger? Happiness?

Who are the artists that have created work following tragic or large events in time?

How do these emotions impact a person’s desire to create impactful art?

How can the viewer see the emotion in a piece of work an artist has made? Is it the colors, the scene, the characters?

How has the artist’s work developed over time in tragic events? 

How can we see this art in our modern, digital age, yet in its increased need for mental health awareness?

Method and Design:

I have begun to search for references that pertain to these categories: Designers, artists, traumatic events, emotions. Upon this research, I gathered articles based around artists that have developed following the tragic Holocaust, along with artists that faced smaller scale, yet just as tragic losses in their personal lives including losing those they know to cancer and unprecedented ailments. I want to gather how artists use these events and whether they approach them directly in their art – such as portraying themselves and their sadness, or anger – or if they create opposing worlds in which it consists of how they want to feel. Of course, there will always be content in between and the interesting part is knowing that every artist and their work is different. Everyone copes with losses differently, and comparing these methods of cope can not only open insight into how artists create work, but also send the message to anyone who feels alone in their journey. 

References:

Tkaczyk, Karolina. “Directory of Open Access Journals.” Toruńskie Studia Bibliologiczne, vol. 12, no. 1 (22), pp. 131–49, https://doi.org/10.12775/TSB.2019.006. Accessed 4 Nov. 2021.

Diamond, Shira, et al. “From a World of Threat to a World at Which to Wonder: Self-Transcendent Emotions through the Creative Experience of Holocaust Survivor Artists.” Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, vol. 12, no. 6, Sept. 2020, pp. 609–18, https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000590.

Possible Reference:

Nager, Lily. https://lilynager.ch