Reimagining Chronic Pain through the Arts
This costume represents painful chronic eczema. Pain although very real and physical, can sometimes be linked to our repressed emotions. The woman who inspired this costume came to realise that her painful eczema flared when she didn’t feel secure in her own skin. Through reading feminist poetry in her native French, she realised the true …
Corona and chronic pain.What does it really mean to be isolated? It is usual at this time of the year for me to feel a little bit sad. As I visit my parent’s house during the first days of Spring, I look out at what used to be a view of lush farmland and ancient …
Fear and anxiety sends the nervous system into fight or flight. This directly affects physical pain. The pain is not, ‘in your head’, but soothing your nervous system and slowing your heart rate can start the process of dialling down the intensity of pain. Enjoying Art or anything you really love also directs the nervous …
“A Mexican Thalasinus Hummingbird. To me, it shows the expression of Freedom. The freedom to fly, spread one’s wings. Something that everyone who is living with chronic pain wishes they could do. I do this through art.” – Sharon Brooks Sharon has truly embodied the message of Something Chronic in her Mexican Hummingbird. It is …
“I don’t paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality.” Frida Kahlo Sometimes reality can be a lot stranger than nightmares. Sometimes art can mirror life, often without our consent or knowledge. I had no idea how tightly Frida Kahlo’s colourful legacy had woven itself into my subconscious until I was profoundly shocked at …