Artist Statement

[1] The disabled world

[2] The lack of dip in a curb. The long ramp alternative to a small set of stairs. Light switches too high to reach. Corridors too narrow for a wheelchair. Cramped disabled cubicles.

“Whenever I experience a severe Fibromyalgia flare up my body suffers. More than that, my ability to verbally translate physical sensation is relinquished, relocated to a trapping web of unfathomable nonsense where it has no hope of escape.

The dialogue of chronic illness and what it means to be having a ‘good’ day vs. a ‘bad’ day is one that I have found to be only truly understood by someone also living with chronic illness. It is a complex language, like Russian to someone who can’t read Cyrillic. The only way to gain true understanding and communicate as such, is through years of experience and exposure. Learning a language, you might take a holiday or even live in the country a while; all in the name of exposure; No matter what you do, there is a wealth of information accessible to all demographical backgrounds.

The dialogue of chronic illness has no guidebook. No textbooks. No tutors. No online courses. I am feverish with the possibilities of opening a two-way channel of informative expression between our world[1] and The World at large. The prospect excites and terrifies me.

I do not fit into a specific category of artist practice, which may present my art as unorganised, disjointed and even careless. My choice of medium depends on unconnected factors each as important as the next. When I am fatigued or migraine induced, I appreciate pen and paper. When the weather is grey, I set my photography shoots in the bathroom. When I am physically unable to visit shops for materials, I use household resources such as wall filler. When I find a canvas munched on by my rabbits (true story), I find a way to incorporate it. When I can’t get up to use my sketchbook, I draw ideas and write notes on my phone. Whatever my choice of medium, a story exists beyond what can be seen. resides

I favour paralleling my practice to a life with chronic illness. Although my ideas come from my personal experience, they are not autobiographical in nature. Disabled experience of the world can be unpredictable and disjointed. Hidden in place sight to the abled eye, each day erects a new set of obstacles.[2]

Problem solving and solution seeking are the feather duster to my entangled web.”

- Helena

- Helena