Sponsored by
Looking beyond the scars
Tess Felder
AN exhibition by two artists who have dealt with long-term illnesses through their artwork is coming to St Luke’s Hospital next week, following on from its display in Waterford Regional Hospital last year courtesy of the Waterford Healing Arts Trust (WHAT).
Under the title ‘Hide and Seek’, the works by Gypsy Ray and Laura Gladney will be on display in the Link Corridor of St Luke’s Hospital, near the Medical Assessment Unit (MSU), from June 15 until early August.
The title, as Laura explains, refers to the natural desire of a person who has an illness to want to cover it up, and the fact that sometimes that isn’t possible.
“When serious illness strikes, one is caught off guard,” says the native of Shanbough in south Kilkenny near New Ross. “Our confidence and independence are replaced by guilt, shame, vulnerability and fear. Concealing these negative feelings, covering up the physical signs of suffering and adopting a pretence becomes the preferred method of survival. It is this practise, the playing of a game of ‘Hide and Seek’ with our admissions of our illness to ourselves and others that prompted the show’s title. As is often the case, visual art gave us a voice when we could not speak.”
As Laura explained of her artwork at the time of the initial exhibition: “My work is chiefly derived from photography and drawings made from observation of different aspects of the human body. My choice of subject is presently greatly influenced by my being a Lupus patient at Waterford Regional Hospital.
“Painting has helped me to retain my identity and creativity and has also provided me with an outlet for expression. My work ranges in size and composition but generally takes a series form, usually diptych or triptych (oils on canvas). The organic forms encased within the rectangular format are representative of the conflict that exists between the passion and the transience of life.
“Impulsive marks are layered and built up in areas of texture creating what resemble maps of the body. The various marks, rashes, scabs, scars and emotions of the disease are documented. Manipulations of the paint is very important – scratching, layering, reworking, melting, all in an effort to create various surface qualities, representing decay and renewal. Subconsciously, I am likening the body to the weathered topography of the landscape.
“If autoimmunity is a civil war, then these maps document the associated battles and tragic irony.”
Concealing
Gypsy Ray’s series of drawings, “Concealment”, began as an exploration following on from treatment after being diagnosed with breast cancer, but they came to represent something far more universal.
“It started off as a personal experiment, but what happened was that I didn’t want it to be so personal. I wanted to explore the idea that everybody has a trauma, whether it is an illness or they lose someone or suffer from depression,” she explains. “And we have to hide behind bandages. You have to hide it to get on with everyday life.”
A Tyrone Guthrie Centre Bursary, which she was awarded through the Kilkenny County Council Arts Office, gave her the time and place to explore these possibilities. She began by having photographs printed onto drawing paper, placed real bandages or masking tape – symbols of coverings – onto the paper, and then worked with graphite powder, white and coloured pencils. Each image portrays a human body, although this is not always visible at first glance.
For Gypsy, creating this artwork was a form of emotional healing. “I am a firm believer that the healing process does not stop with the physical healing,” she says. “Some people have to go into therapy if they have come through something. Some people have gone to support groups, but for me as an artist, basically the healing process went into my artwork.”
“Most people need some kind of outlet after they have gone through an illness or trauma,” Gypsy says. She was fortunate to be able to channel this through her artwork, and for others she highly recommends the PatientWise courses at CEART in Callan. These self-management courses are for anyone with a long-term illness, whether it’s multiple sclerosis or cancer, Parkinson’s disease or chronic pain or any other form. Through these courses, participants have also organised art workshops, yoga classes, theatre workshops and other activities.
The self-management programmes are delivered by trained tutors who are themselves living with chronic disease or long-term illness and pain. They are based on developing people’s confidence and motivation to use their own skills to take control over life with a chronic condition.
More information on these courses is available at www.patientwise.ie and – such is the success of the programme – representatives from PatientWise have been asked to give a presentation to the Irish College of General Practitioners summer school in the Lyrath Estate hotel from June 17-19.
As with so many vital services, however, a shortage in funding is threatening its success. They have therefore begun a fundraising campaign in conjunction with the Susie Long Hospice Fund whereby they are collecting used bags, belts, scarves, jewellery and selling them to raise money. Items can be dropped off at the Ormonde Hotel, Kilkenny from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, and volunteers are also being sought to sell the items at festivals around Ireland this summer. For more information, email PatientWise co-ordinator Anne Cody at annecody@ceart.ie.
‘Hide and Seek’ will be on display in St Luke’s Hospital from June 14 until early August.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Weather for Kilkenny
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 7 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
