Grounded Theory: Emergent Themes and Emergent Images

In November I had a miscarriage, I was 15 weeks pregnant. This miscarriage was devastating but was compounded by the fact that it is my 5th miscarriage since I've been in the doctoral program. The November miscarriage happened in the midst of my interview coding and derailed my research for a few months. I spent time during these months cutting images out of magazines, and hoping that this process of selecting and cutting was somehow tied to my research. In January I returned to focused work and spent a week away from my husband and son on a research retreat. The time away rejuvinated my research process. However being alone for a long stretch of time also made me aware of my grief about the miscarriage and my fear that I was too off track to complete my research and writing on time. As I re-immersed myself in the interview data, I used a collage process alongside the grounded theory coding. As I created collage images that represented the themes from the three interviews with art curators, this collage emerged as a result of setting aside images that I liked from my pile of pre-cut images. The baby image is a christening photo but it reminded me of funeral photography. The dark unopened trunk felt ominous to me as if it held things yet to be revealed. The background images feel dark and mysterious but when coupled with the text, "Its ok she said. There's going to be so much light," and the images of the hummingbird, and the rosebud it felt hopeful. The image offered encouragement during a time when I felt behind in my work and doubtful that I was headed anywhere with my research. I was reminded to push forward and trust that there was "so much light" ahead of me.