Barbara Bickel

Muted Colours of Grief

Artist Statement

Muted Colours of Grief is a poetic video story and part of a larger in-process ancestral art-based research project. In this artworking the artist collaborates with her recently deceased mother—remembering and honouring her maternal ancestral lineage and the lived experience of her mother’s dying and death experience. It is a collage that traverses time and space while integrating art with grief and care. Ancestral connecting, healing and relearning take place within a framework of learning to die well through art-care. The artist’s journey is aided by Nature and arational processes of inquiry, such as dreaming, trance and art-making. Tapping into ancestral traumas and strengths, historical consciousness is awakened, restoried and transformed.​

This artworking is dedicated to Helen Edith Bickel (1932-2022)
 

Barbara Bickel

Barbara Bickel is an artist, writer, researcher, and educator. She is an Associate Professor of Art Education Emerita at Southern Illinois University, and co-founding director of Studio M*: A Research Creation Lab Intersecting Arts, Culture and Healing in Canada. She creates and teaches art as a sacred inquiry and interdisciplinary meaning making process.  http://www.barbarabickel.com

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Affiliation
Studio M: Research Creatio Lab Intersecting the Arts, Culture and Healing
Studio M* recognizes the arts and culture as essential healing terrains for the restoration of sanity and nurturing the soul. Co-founded by artist educators Barbara Bickel and R. Michael, it is an interdisciplinary creative artworking always in progress. www.studiom.space