International Forum on Artistic Research
17th Conference of the Society for Artistic Research (SAR)
Submission Number: 136
Submission ID: 185
Submission UUID: 2d4a1667-84b7-4354-859e-86731ac4d917

Created: Mon, 23 Feb 2026 - 02:32
Completed: Mon, 23 Feb 2026 - 02:49
Changed: Wed, 13 May 2026 - 08:53

Remote IP address: 118.148.145.8
Submitted by: Janet Mazenier
Language: English

Is draft: No
Current page: webform_confirmation

Flagged: Yes
Given name Janet
Surname Mazenier
Email janet.mazenier@gmail.com
I understand that by submitting this form, I consent to the use of my data for the purposes of the 2026 Forum on Artistic Research'. Yes
I agree to the terms of service. Yes
Title Ancient Futures
Format Project presentation
Main language English
Abstract Ancient Futures: Connecting Home, Spirit and Heritage Through Painting

My creative practice research investigates anam áite (the Irish concept of “soul-place”) through a painting-based, practice-led inquiry grounded in phenomenology, materiality, and the affective dimensions of place. It asks how contemporary painting can evoke the spirit of place and engage environmental, ancestral, and emotional resonances. Situated between Aotearoa New Zealand and Ireland, the research positions painting as a means of articulating lived relationships to land, memory, and heritage.

The inquiry is materially driven and process-based, foregrounding the agency of matter and the reciprocal relationship between artist, medium, and method. Cold wax medium is central for its capacity to hold uncertainty, flux, and transformation. Wax, pigment, and surface operate beyond intention: they crack, absorb, resist, and reconfigure. These material behaviours generate their own methodologies, shaping the work through collaboration rather than control. This approach aligns with phenomenological and new materialist perspectives, where matter is understood as an active participant in meaning-making.
The resulting artworks function as durational artefacts that hold traces of ecological, ancestral, and perceptual time. Through material transformation, painting becomes an attentive practice of worlding in which spirit, matter, and memory converge to evoke the complexity of place.

I propose to exhibit work that has been created in Aotearoa New Zealand - depending on the size of the exhibition space I will bring large unstretched canvases that can either be wall-hung or draped.

In addition, I can offer a workshop (1-2 days) introducing people to cold wax medium - a beautiful, transparent medium that, when combined with oil paint and other media can be excavated, accreted and scraped. Its transformative qualities seduce and concurrently, hold sediments of time and place.
Link to the Exposition https://www.researchcatalogue.net/profile/show-exposition?exposition=4202198
Image Ancient Future.jpeg
Short biographies of the presenter(s)
  • I am a contemporary visual artist whose practice engages with place, time, affect, world bending, and materiality. My drawn-paintings are characterised by texturally rich, excavated, and striated surfaces that evoke ancientness, the hidden, the unseen, and the ephemeral.

    In 2025, I led an international collective called Meitheal (an Irish term for people who support each other to bring in the harvest) —a collaboration born from time spent at the Burren College of Art in County Clare, Ireland. The collective includes women from around the world. Our work Faultlines was exhibited at the Sluice World Building exhibition in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland, in May, with a focus on inclusivity, art-making, and shared joy.
Previous presentations or iterations of the research In May 2026 my PhD candidature exhibition will be held at Auckland University of Technology. This includes two large paintings that have been created from the research conducted in Aotearoa New Zealand and Ireland throughout the research period. Until 26 May this work is embargoed.
Additional information I propose to install the works in the exposition in a space allocated at the Forum. Upon receipt of advice of acceptance I will work with the Forum organisers to confirm the space and therefore the logistics of travelling with the work and other equipment needed. As well, I can offer a 1-2 day workshop introducing people to using cold wax medium.
Spatial and technical requirements Wall space for work, and/or floor space for draping work over freestanding frames.
Potential risks or ethical concerns None
Create a user account for SAR 2026 Yes
Create new user Janet Mazenier