This article explores gaps in communication and mistranslations between languages and cultural identities. My article centres on my artistic research practice, alongside Chinese contemporary artists, Xu Bing and Ai Weiwei, who brought their own culture to bear on the experience of living and making work in the West. When facing the clash of cultural and linguistic environments, the work featured seeks to find a balance between inclusive and exclusive language systems. What seems to be ‘lost’ in translation can be used creatively in art practice, through hybridized forms and often through humour, to ‘find’ new meanings for myself, and hopefully for the audiences of my work.
Negotiating boundaries: reflections on the ethics of arts-based and artistic research in care contexts