Research

RESEARCH

• Theories of grief

• Although there are several literal theories on grief such as the Sigmund Freud’s Model of Attachment,

Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle and Bowlby’s Attachment

Theory, all the theories understand grief to involve painful emotional adjustment which takes time and cannot be rushed, and that grief is a process with universal characteristics although each person’s grief experience is unique. According to Sigmund

Freud’s theory, “the bereaved do not need to forget and leave the deceased behind, but can integrate them into their future lives by means of a continuing bond. I have linked Margaret Stroebe and Henk

Schut bereavement theory to my body of works as I feel that it helps me to reflect on clarifying and refining of my ideas. Stroebe and Schut’s bereavement theory which is known as the Dual process model, does not put emphasis on controlling one’s emotions, and suggests that grief operates in two main ways of restoration- oriented and lossoriented in which people switch back and forth between them. In loss-oriented, one’s memory of a loved one are triggered by particular situations around them which in turn lead to sadness, whilst in restoration-oriented, stressors allow one to be distracted from grief through daily life activities.

•History and techniques of weaving

•Weaving has been done through centuries, seen as central to women’s lives and a practice that informed women’s identities, and regarded as a woman’s art. It is a process that involves building the weft thread by thread, and weaving in and out between the warp threads, can be viewed in the same way as people’s daily actions weave through their values, back and forth to build the fabric of their day. The weaving creative process will become a ritual repetitive motion for me when moving my hands as I open up the warp for the weft to be inserted over and over. By allowing the mind to fall into repetitive motions as one weaves, it becomes a meditative and therapeutic exercise of opening one to the inner dialogue, directing actions and allowing for that possibility of healing by giving one a place to let go. •From birth to death, textiles are seen as the literal fabric of people’s lives, as they are woven into our lives, because as individuals we are interconnected in so many ways, such as being part of relational support systems of friends, family, religious and communal systems.