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 Bennett (2005) warns that reading artwork in terms of pathologies or symptoms of trauma distills the work to an illustrative process.  Bennett calls for framing trauma-related pieces as a ‘coming into language….and to open up the question of what art itself might tell us about the lived experience and memory of trauma’ (Bennett, 2005, p. 2). Sense memory brings the viewer into contact with the image not just by presenting something graphic or a horrific scene but through a ‘physical imprint of the ordeal of violence: a (compromised and compromising) position to see from’ (Bennett, 2005, p. 39). The ‘coming into language’ and creating a position to see ‘from’ is the motivation for this research.

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(Bennett, J., 2005. Empathic Vision: Affect, Trauma, and Contemporary Art. Stanford University Press, Stanford.)