Painting towards a new feminine noise : an exegesis presented in partial fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Massey University

Abstract

This exegesis seeks to offer insights into and critical analysis of the motivating ideologies and painting methodologies undertaken within my studio practice. The structure of the document is oriented in relation to each word of my thesis title, Painting, Towards, New, Feminine, Noise, exploring how I understand and position these terms.

My creative practice doctoral study brings together a series of visual art bodies of work, predominantly studio-based painting extending into working with photographic processes, and found objects (historical records). The visual research is underpinned and in conversation with a consideration of how Lauren Fournier’s articulation of Autotheory¹ intersects with my positionality as an artist. While at the same time the research reflects on trajectories of practice and political thought prior to and during this doctoral study, (encompassing the hybrid practices of painting and Noise Music) in order to develop a deeper understanding of and language for painting towards a new feminine noise.

Through artistic experimentation I explore how my painting practice operates in response to the new conditions of noise I propose in order to develop a deeper understanding of, and language for, painting towards a new feminine noise. This research considers the traditional meaning or intention of Noise Music as a politicised musical genre where loudness and annoyance are recognised as a protest against the status quo, during which I also observed and considered the wider patriarchal histories of Western art from a critical position.

In order to explore impacts on new meanings in sonic thought, my painting practice seeks to imagine and test ways in which the work can paint towards a new feminine noise. One such conceptualisation can be understood through artist Ellen Moffat’s words: “…the capacity of small sounds to sound the differences of others…”²

¹ Lauren Fournier, Autotheory as Feminist Practice in Art, Writing and, Criticism (London, The MIT Press, 2021). ² Ellen N Moffat, “Strings of Sound and Sense: Towards a Feminine Sonic” (Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 8201, 2021), ii.