HEURISTIC ARTS-BASED
RESEARCH

The video performance presented portrays the main themes deciphered in the heuristic arts-based research that I, the performer and researcher underwent as part of my art therapy Master's program. I utilized an intersectional, postcolonial and decolonial feminist lens to address my journey into critical self-examination and to investigate my sociocultural identity, starting at a cognitive level and then digging into my body, mind and soul.. My research was guided by Moustakas' (1990) six-step heuristic inquiry and used various approaches and forms of art throughout the research process to collect, analyze and present the data. As part of the data collection I engaged in Journalling,  and in an art making ritual guided by the Intention Witness Process (Allen, 2005). The data analysis was facilitated by the process of dyeing pieces of fabric and then mending them. My creative synthesis is portrayed in this video performance through my interaction with the piece and pieces of fabrics that I transformed.