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Abstract:

While mastering one's artistry has been recognised as an important component of being a successful creative practitioner, less attention has been directed towards understanding the relationship between the connection with our authentic selves and the expression of our creative identities as a gateway for a sustainable and fulfilling life and creative career. 

This thesis investigates the above topic in two ways. In the first part, literature pertaining to identity, creativity and authenticity is examined to gain a better theoretical understanding of the topics explored in this paper. In the second part, I dive deeper into my own creative story and creative process in order to shed light on the following research question: How can I as a creative deepen the connection with my authentic self? By pairing my findings of practiceled research and autoethnography with relevant literature, I was able to gain insight into my inner workings as a creative. The immersion in reflective making resulted in a collection of handbuilt ceramic objects, digital drawings and comics that capture my journey towards better understanding who I am as a creative practitioner. During the process, I realised that forms of visual storytelling such as collage, comics and doodles came to me with more ease compared to the written word so I used them as tools for accessing my authentic self and later as visual data for the purposes of this (re)search. Secondly, I noticed an influx of less filtered thought occurring when I was making things with my hands which inspired me to construct and execute a clay-mediated semi-structured interview for my peers. Observing fellow creatives making with their hands allowed me to witness some of the processes I was exploring in my thesis from a different perspective while speaking with them allowed me to deepen my understanding of who I am in relation to others. One of the takeaways of this thesis is the understanding that when it comes to creating our own ways as creatives, it is the relationship we have with ourselves and the degree to which we are aware of and accept our light and shadows that determines how well we are able to construct an authentic way of working and being in this world. I hope this thesis finds fellow creatives who might also be searching for their way and helps them by shedding light on the processes involved in this exploratory journey of connecting with their authentic selves.