Pen on Cotton Rag paper, photography, variable sized concertina sketcbook (no longer physical), 2025

Reflective Commentary 

My intentions of this project have been to investigate how the process of making and unmaking in art can embody impermanence, to have a thorough understanding of what it means for art to not just exist as a fixed, finished product but to focus on the process of its existence.

I understand that mandalas are individual experiences of how people perceive themselves in their experience of the world, they symbolise continual movement and transformation in life, "a representation of our sense of wholeness and of at-oneness with the rest of the universe" (Thames & Hudson, pg. Circles).
Kant's explanation of the world of experience - "the phenomenal world" (Immanuel, pg 43) in space and time helped me to understand that there are limits to our knowledge of experience, we don't perceive things as they truly are but, beyond "empirical intuition" lies "pure intuition" (Immanuel, pg 43), explaining impermanence as something shaped by a shifting and ever-changing understanding, not fixed. 

Heidegger's concept that "human actions and experiences are temporally structured that they involve a "retention" of the past and an "awaiting" of the future" (Wrathall) further highlighted that the meaning of the work emerges, coming not from the finished object but the time between making it, destroying it and what will happen to it in the future.

Heraclitus' philosophy influenced the decision to purposefully burn the work. His belief that fire is "not just a substance but the very principle of a ceaseless change and flux" (Montgomery, 2025) determined why using this element was a perfect material for demonstrating physical impermanence and "the transitory nature of reality" (impermanence, Exploring Continuous Change across Cultures, pg 32).

This research has supported how the concertina sketchbook can be seen as a fluctuating, unfolding experience. Documenting the creation of the mandalas with time-lapse explains each drawing as a temporal experience being lived through. They are not static images but show the unraveling of each mark being made. 

The burning itself turned the act and moment of unmaking into a shared ritualistic experience, reflecting spiritual practices where change is something welcomed.
The documentation of this becomes a trace of what once physically existed, but now lives on as an experience and in a new form, embodying impermanence. “Impermanence applies not only to physical objects but also to mental states and experiences” (chris.mckeown, 2023)
Philosophically, culturally and artistically researching time and impermanence has taught me that change is potentially the only guaranteed thing in life. Despite humans desperation to preserve, the importance and value of art can lie in the process and transformation of making and unmaking.

Upon reflection of these ideas, impermanence is not just a concept or an idea to me, it is an active process and negotiation of "arising and passing away" (chris.mckeown, 2023). It is about realising and appreciating the present moments whilst simultaneously accepting a transient nature, where nothing comes in a fixed form. 

It is not tragedy for something to no longer physically exist but something that should be embraced.
The relationship i created with my work because of the time spent returning to it and then intentionally destroying its form will guide my future practice as I explore materials, processes and audiences in a way to represent the transient nature of reality.

Bibliography: 

chris.mckeown (2023). Hanging on to Impermanence! - Tibetan Buddhist Society. [online] Tibetanbuddhistsociety. Available at: https://tibetanbuddhistsociety.org/hanging-on-to-impermanence-2/ [Accessed 3 Dec. 2025].

Immanuel, K. (1998). The Critique of Pure Reason. [online] Generic NL Freebook Publisher, p.43. Available at: https://research.ebsco.com/c/3sefaz/ebook-viewer/pdf/tg4mfujepv?location=https%25253A%25252F%25252Fresearch.ebsco.com%25252Fc%25252F3sefaz%25252Fsearch%25252Fdetails%25252Ftg4mfujepv%25253Fdb%25253Dnlebk [Accessed 24 Oct. 2025].

Montgomery, H. (2025). The Element of Fire in Ancient Philosophy and Element. [online] planksip:registered:. Available at: https://www.planksip.org/the-element-of-fire-in-ancient-philosophy-and-element-1763695465099/ [Accessed 3 Dec. 2025

Thames And Hudson (1995). Mandala. New York: Thames And Hudson.

Warner , D., Haidy Geismar, Otto, T. and David Warner , C. eds., (2022). Impermanence, Exploring continuous change across cultures. [online] London: UCL Press. Available at: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10144167/1/Impermanence.pdf [Accessed 26 Oct. 2025].Wrathall, M. (2025). Martin Heidegger. [online] Stanford.edu. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/heidegger/#Temp [Accessed 24 Oct. 2025].