Susanna Strati

Susanna Strati is a Masters of Fine Arts graduate of the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales. She is a lecturer in Design at the College of Fine Arts, and is also an Australia Council grant recipient that has exhibited both nationally and internationally
MFA ABSTRACT
This research investigates particular ways that memorialising and mourning can be made manifest through public commemorative objects and spaces such as memorials and through smaller scale personal mementos. It also examines ways that these physical reminders can act as repositories and markers for memory, and as metaphors for identity. In particular the research is focussed on Traditional Southern Italian customs, reflecting on the ways that keepsakes and the cenotaph can provide allegories for declining cultural practices of Southern Italian migrants in Australia. The data collected for this thesis is based partly on participant observation, and on informal conversations with migrants from Southern Italy, regarding their funerary practices and stories told about the rural areas left behind in Italy. Research of visual and published material in the area of memorialising and memorial object are examined in order to gain an understanding of the language of death. The thesis also examines the use of Catholic religious objects in what anthropologist Per Binde has coined ‘transactional acts’, during supplication and remembrance and during times of mourning. An exploration of memorial and memento objects, by contemporary practitioners including Christian Boltanski, Lindy Lee, Julie Blyfield and Maya Lin has also been included. Inclusion of contemporary artists reflects on how memorials continue to play an important role in today’s society as well as being integral in reflecting identity and maintaining connections with the past.
Investigation of this genre is expressed through the research document and a body of studio-based research connected to the traditions of Memorialising. The studio research is expressed in the exhibition ‘In Black’ through the language of Catholic religious objects, memory boxes, personal mementos and cultural signifiers in wax, metal, and installation. These works, as time capsules are filled with significant representations of individuals and events that evoke memories through depictions of life, significant places and words descriptive of time and place.
In nero: oggetti transazionali e performativi in morte
Riassunto
La ricerca esamina modi particolari in cui il commemorare e il lutto possono manifestarsi tramite oggetti e spazi commemorativi pubblici come monumenti commemorativi e ricordi personali in scala ridotta. Si investigano anche modi in cui questi ricordi fisici possono fungere da miniere e segni per la memoria, e come metafore di identità. La ricerca si concentra su certe usanze tradizionali dell’Italia meridionale, riflettendo sui modi in cui ricordi e il cenotafio fanno da allegorie di costumi culturali declinanti fra emigrati meridionali in Australia. I dati raccolti per questa tesi si basano in parte su osservazioni dei partecipanti e su conversazioni informali con emigrati dal Sud riguardo alle loro usanze funebri e ricordi delle aree rurali lasciate. Ricerche su materiali visivi ed editi nel campo della commemorazione e l’oggetto commemorativo vengono esaminate per capire meglio il linguaggio della morte. La tesi esamina anche l’uso di oggetti religiosi cattolici in usanze che l’antropologo Per Binde chiama “atti transazionali” durante la supplica, il ricordare e il lutto. Viene inclusa, come riflessione sul ruolo di tale oggetti nella società odierna e la loro importanza nel mantenere identità e legami con il passato, la considerazione di oggetti commemorativi creati dagli artisti contemporanei Christian Boltanski, Lindy Lee, Julie Blyfield e Maya Lin.
L’investigazione di questo genere si esprime mediante il documento di ricerca ed un corpus di ricerche in studio legate alle tradizioni del commemorare. Le ricerche in studio si esprimono nella mostra “In nero” attraverso il linguaggio degli oggetti religiosi cattolici, scatole-ricordo, ricordi personali e significanti culturali in cera e metallo, e installazioni. Queste opere contengono rappresentazioni significanti di individui ed eventi che suscitano memorie mediante rappresentazioni di vita, luoghi significanti e parole con valore spazio-temporale.
Solo Exhibitions 2007 In Black, Performative & Transactional Objects in Death, MFA Exhibition, Kudos Gallery, College of Fine Art, UNSW 2005 In Black, MOP Projects, Redfern 2000 Implements, Bulle Galleries, Melbourne 1998 Implements, Object Gallery, Customs House, Centre for Contemporary Craft, NSW. 1996 Sculptural Installation, Particle Gallery, Sydney. 1996 Master of Art Exhibition, College of Fine Arts, Sydney





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