The lived experience of grief is a universal phenomenon that is both a psychological and embodied experience; it finds expression in varying art forms and is considered in multiple discourses, including psychoanalysis. This project identifies a range of responses to loss and grief and critically reflects on their value and efficacy. Through the use of a phenomenological research process, that results in the production of filmworks, the value of using film as a way of managing and processing loss is considered. The notion of a self-reflexive pilgrimage is adopted as a mode of engagement with the liminal experience of grief.

The effects of grief have the potential to develop into a pathological condition, identified in the discipline of psychoanalysis as melancholia, however, the value of using artmaking as a way of processing loss has been given little consideration. Drawing on autobiographical experiences of loss, and working with those who have experienced loss similarly, means that this project is rooted in actual lived experience. The adoption of the self-reflexive location of liminality as mode of engagement enables the production of truthful responses to the experience of grief.

The main research question considers how the liminal experience can be represented in and through experiential filmmaking, resulting in the production of a collection of film works: A Work of Memorial: Southend Pier, The Work of Mourning: The Perfect Pirouette, A Performance of Mourning, Parts 1 and 2 and The End of Mourning: Osea Island. The value of a specific aesthetic approach to filmmaking is critically analysed through these filmworks and the application of elements of this approach considered, identifying specific grammatical features that effectively represent the lived experience of grief.