As we welcome new people to the FEELed Lab, we want to make space for longer introductions to project team members and research affiliates joining us this year. This profile is on Grace Henri who is a research affiliate leading the project Nostalgia Forecast.
1. Can you tell us about your work/research?
I come from a research background of reproductive justice work. Previously working on projects that explored the experiences of midwives and the emotional labour of birth work. I am currently working on completing my master’s in clinical social work, with the intention of entering the field of grief work when I finish. Within the creative world, my work focuses on eco-poetry, environmental horror, and surrealist writing. I hope to bridge these interests and experiences together within the lab and contribute to a space where connection and healing is built through artistic expression and collaboration.
2. Why did you want to work with the FEELed Lab?
After entering a program with a strong clinical focus, I found myself searching for a space with strong interdisciplinary values. I crave connection that expands beyond my own academic and creative perspectives. I am eager to approach environmental justice from an expansive and community-oriented lens. From the experiences I have had with the FEELed lab thus far, it has positioned itself as a beautiful place to connect, learn, share, and collaborate. I wanted to work with the lab as I hope to approach my work surrounding environmental grief by exploring the power in finding community.
3. Why are expansive engagements with environmental issues important? (Expansive in this question can mean expansive in disciplines, methods (artistic, etc.), Space/Place – or whatever feels most relevant to your work and reflections)
Expansive engagement with environmental issues is important as there is no way to approach justice by denying the complexity of the entire picture. I am interested in looking at the broad social, environmental, and emotional effects of grief experienced on a collective level. More specifically, I see the strengths in channeling these expansive engagements through art. We process grief through art, we connect with each other through art. Ultimately, through art we are given the means of attachment. Art is tying strings to our hearts and connecting them together. Art gives me the courage to pull on those strings until I understand that often, my pain feels the same as yours.
The FEELed lab 