Maarit Mäkelä

Constructing Female Genealogy: Autobiographical Female Representations as Means for Identity Work

In this article, I am uncovering my journey as an artist. This journey opens up to an ambiguous autobiographical space produced by narrative means. The space can be conceived both as mental and spatial. The mental space is an autobiographical state where identity is constructed through the stories we tell ourselves about our lives; the spatial space is a concrete exhibition that is produced out of the mental one. During the journey I ask: How were the exhibition Mirrorplay and the creation process related to it produced? What were the means I used to create this space, and what did it mean to me to work in this autobiographically flavored space? While pondering these questions I am aware that the description of my artistic process can also encourage viewers to step into the (mental) autobiographical space of their own.