Esthetic expression of body, memory, and repair in contemporary art through an auto-iconographic approach

Abstract

This study explores how contemporary artists transform their personal memories, bodily experiences, and traumatic traces into an aesthetic form of expression through an auto-iconographic perspective. Auto-iconography refers to the construction of a symbolic language composed of recurring symbols and images grounded in the artist’s autobiographical narrative, bodily presence, and inner wounds, thereby establishing a bridge between individual and collective memory. Drawing upon the works of Louise Bourgeois, Kiki Smith, and Mona Hatoum, the study examines how the body functions simultaneously as a site for personal repair and as a medium for collective empathy, interpreted within the framework of psychoanalytic theories such as Winnicott’s concept of the transitional object, Klein’s notion of the damaged object  and Kristeva’s theory of abjection. Bourgeois’s spider and stitching motifs, Smith’s fragmented bodily figures, and Hatoum’s installations on displacement render visible the intricate connections between the body, trauma, and memory, creating an empathic cathartic space for the viewer. Thus, the auto-iconographic art practice reveals the artist’s internal process of healing while inviting the audience to share in a collective process of restoration through imagery. This article demonstrates that auto-iconography functions as an effective paradigm for transforming the intertwined notions of the body, memory, and repair into an aesthetic strategy within contemporary art.