This is my MA dissertation, written in the first year of my part-time MA in Fine Art at Bath Spa University and submitted in January 2020.
Read the full article on Academia here: Critical knitting; knitting as a research method
Red is the colour of..., 2019, photoshoot for B-Wing exhibition in the decommissioned Shepton Mallet Prison
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Abstract:
'Knitting as process and product are significant parts of my fine art practice. For this research proposal I aim to find out how and why I can use knitting as a research method as part of a practice-based methodology. I’ve identified key aspects of my knitting practice as a framework for my research. Unfortunately, there seems to be little scholarly writing specifically about knitting, so I’ve also researched the work of other artists who use similarly gendered and stereotyped textiles processes, like embroidery, weaving and crochet. I’ve considered knitting as a verb and as a noun, discussed my findings using critical theory and reflected it back to my own practice. I’ve found out more about arts-based research (Gray and Malins, 2016; Leavy, 2015), researched other fine art and craft sources using books, journals, websites and videos and by visiting exhibitions and analysing my own knitting practice. I’ve also used relevant theories from a range of disciplines including psychology, psychotherapy, feminism, occupational therapy, neurology, anthropology, philosophy, fashion, art criticism and art history. My preliminary findings show that there are many ways that I can use knitting as a research method. Realising the significance of my role now as research-practitioner as well as thinker, maker, connector and performer has been critical. Knitting in private enables me to reflect deeply, knitting in public has strong relational elements. Exploring these aspects and the construction, materials and contexts of knitting more thoroughly during my MA, I look forward to ‘knitting together’ a unique, rigorous and transparent practice-led research methodology using knitting as a research method, triangulating with other, more conventional methods.'