Invisible Illness Portrait
This sculptural head is covered in small strips cut from my own medical files. Up close, many of the words can still be read: hospital notes, procedures, and diagnoses layered across the face, neck, and base like a second skin.
Over all of that, she wears makeup. Her eyes are closed, with bright turquoise shadow and dark lashes, pink cheeks, and bold red lips. Her hair is tan and falls in fine strands. The shadow, cheeks, lips, lashes, and hair are all made from small torn pieces of paper. She looks put together, even cheerful. The makeup is meant to hide what is underneath, but the words keep showing through, no matter how carefully it is applied.
That is the heart of this piece. Many people live with illness that no one can see. From the outside, we look fine, and the effort of looking fine often goes unnoticed. Invisible Illness Portrait shows both at once: the face we present, and the story written beneath it.
Materials: Styrofoam head, strips cut from medical files, small torn paper, paint, adhesive.
Invisible Illness Portrait
This sculptural head is covered in small strips cut from my own medical files. Up close, many of the words can still be read: hospital notes, procedures, and diagnoses layered across the face, neck, and base like a second skin.
Over all of that, she wears makeup. Her eyes are closed, with bright turquoise shadow and dark lashes, pink cheeks, and bold red lips. Her hair is tan and falls in fine strands. The shadow, cheeks, lips, lashes, and hair are all made from small torn pieces of paper. She looks put together, even cheerful. The makeup is meant to hide what is underneath, but the words keep showing through, no matter how carefully it is applied.
That is the heart of this piece. Many people live with illness that no one can see. From the outside, we look fine, and the effort of looking fine often goes unnoticed. Invisible Illness Portrait shows both at once: the face we present, and the story written beneath it.
Materials: Styrofoam head, strips cut from medical files, small torn paper, paint, adhesive.
