A studio-based doctoral research project is a peculiar two-pronged process of making and writing, aimed towards an outcome of both artwork and dissertation. How to work in synergy towards a successful thesis, is the focus of this paper, which explores processes in depth and poses questions, such as: How to develop an initial idea in multiple directions, and through two distinct modes of expression, without losing the plot into chaos? What is the matter with Reflective Practice as the model for a creative methodology? How to construct and apply an inventive methodology that embraces studio practice, theories and writing? How to achieve synergy where studio-based research and reflective dissertation work together, rather than either component becoming reduced to an explication of the other? How is artwork able to function as articulate communication, how can it be manoeuvred to ‘speak’ without shouting, but also avoid being dense and hermetic?
This paper may come up with occasional answers, but more often suggests potentialities, while validating questioning as an important aspect of a creative and successful methodology. Considering the whole thesis as collage of interconnected fragments, I propose that a methodology can be constructed by drawing on philosophical and cultural theories, to bring together complexities through interweaving experience, theory and practice: an expressive process, while situated within a critical context.