Reflections: Selfportrait
The world, for some, may completely transform after experiencing events that shatter everything they once believed—turning it upside down, inside out, and scattering it into a thousand pieces. It then becomes a process of picking up those fragments and redesigning them in a way that supports oneself and extends grace to others who may feel isolated in similar circumstances.
This project reflects on the confusion and messiness accompanying the complexities and gifts of misattributed parentage. What began as an exploration of a single theme with one collaborator has evolved into a deeply personal and cathartic creative experience. Travelling from an outwardly focused inquiry to a non-linear, ethereal storytelling, weaving multiple dimensions that are constantly shifting and transforming. No certainty, becoming familiar with trusting new insights birthed from the unknown.
Traditional planning and rigid methods would only restrict this artistic design process. by stripping it of its vibrancy and authenticity.
As discussed in the critical report, cases of parental misattribution are statistically on the rise (Avni et al. 2023: 1), with many remaining undiscovered due to the absence of DNA testing. The project embodies personal events as a narrative tool to shape a future where design is harnessed as a humanistic practice to reframe personal stories. It seeks to alchemies complex, vulnerable, and painful experiences into artful expression. Design communications using expertise to reveal the power of vulnerability, faith, and relationships.
Adopting a matristic approach to define interdisciplinary design storytelling. By applying a fluid design process and playing with changeable ideas of self-identity. Harnessing others' passions and cultivating a relationship with a gifted storyteller, Dylan Giles develops an evolving narrative with no plan but an intention to unearth a magical message beneath the ‘suits’. Changing phases to fit in to be accepted. The story will hold messages and influences from diary accounts and interviews of past events that shape the designer.
We are not passive beings; we continually redesign ourselves through conscious choices, reflection, and interactions. All are expressed through a reflective self-portrait. Of acceptance and homecoming.