Revealing such deeply personal experiences takes immense courage.
SICK AF Foreword
SICK AF showcases the transformative power of art to express the complexities of chronic illness, injury, and recovery through stories of resilience, hope, and shared humanity. Through diverse narratives, artists transform challenges into expressions of beauty, empowerment, and connection. Their works invite viewers into spaces where symbols resonate, imperfections reveal strength, and cultural and emotional narratives intertwine. SICK AF powerfully affirms art’s capacity to inspire growth and healing.
The studio became my sanctuary during my own health crisis. As artist and curator, SICK AF became a three-year journey to rebuild my identity and safely navigate my world. My curatorial vision was to create an exhibition where artists could share their own voice. Revealing such deeply personal experiences takes immense courage.
My health journey has been shaped by the principles artists embrace in the creative process: “Being led by curiosity—experimentation—and embracing failure as part of the process.” Similarly, Susan Margareta Allwood found strength through art: “When I became crippled again in 2000, I figured that’s it, I’m buggered. So I began my own art gallery in my cottage.”
For Christina Baltais, creativity is a vital means of expression: “I use creativity as means to communicate and process my experiences living with a heavily stigmatised and misunderstood disease.” Helena Bogucki and her daughter embraced imagination, creating “a world that kept them both safe from the fear of the unknown waiting behind the closed doors of long hallways.”
Ron Bradfield Jnr confronts cancers both internal and external: “The truth is, it’s far easier for me to address this cancer inside of me and RESET my own body, than it is to address the cancer of racism, bigotry and dismissiveness that I’ve been forced to grow up with.” Nadeen Brown embraces her new identity through art: “I am not the person I once was, I grieved her; yet I am free of her. I see beauty in life and when I physically cannot see the beauty, I create it, to view for myself.”
SICK AF powerfully affirms art’s capacity to inspire growth and healing.
Melissa Cameron reflects the intimate intersection between art and healing: “…no raw or overlocked edges to irritate, or threads to soak in the pools of lotion that I must anoint myself with twice daily… The result, a medicinal dress.” Kate Campbell-Pope finds solace in the act of gentle creation: “Working gently, always gently. The leaves, part of the prayer for healing, for recovery, stitch themselves into this bone, allowing it to be offered now, with gratitude.”
Olga Cironis captures the essence of her journey: “A marking to find my way to being.” Brad Coleman highlights the restorative nature of creativity: “For me, the act of creating is more than just a visual pursuit – it’s a moment of stillness amid the demands of daily life.” Meanwhile, Lucinda Crimson reflects on the impact of illness: “2024 finds me disabled and exhausted with crippling fatigue from ME/CFS. I used to be bright and extroverted, with a colourful wardrobe, home, and art practice. Now, I’m fading.”
Ana Fuentes rediscovers inner strength: “Slowly but surely I found hope. I realised I had always had the power. I just had to learn for myself.” Catherine Higham envisions a reimagined world, drawing “on this time of immense personal uncertainty as well as global uncertainty to imagine a changed social order, in which nature could reassert itself.”
Sunniva Innstrand boldly questions in the face of her disease “How dare I want more from this life?” Eden Lennox channels grief into her art: “My pieces represent embodied grief—significant past lifechanging events I have experienced.” Wendy Lugg reflects on the meditative power of stitching: “I wonder if Harry found comfort in the slow drawing of thread through cloth. For me, the calm solitude of stitching has offered healing and solace during difficult times.”
SICK AF illuminates the healing potential of creativity and the strength found in vulnerability.
For Annemieke Mulders, the act of breaking and repairing becomes a metaphor for self-healing: “While repeatedly destroying and repairing this ceramic, I mend my soul a bit at a time, seeking acceptance for its fragility.” Shayne O’Donnell poses a poignant question: “Will my salty tears preserve or erode me?” Shereen Ricupero explores the tension between holding on and letting go: “I cradle her disease in my palm, ignoring the slow rot, the white ants, the sands of the hourglass.”
Claire Townsend reflects on resilience: “The beauty of the vessel symbolises the layers and ‘silver lining’ that can eventuate from negative experiences.” Annamaria Weldon’s connection to nature guides her healing: “My needs were different now that illness had ‘rewired my brain, my body’, but my devotion to the lake’s resilient, adaptive nature was as strong as ever.”
SICK AF illuminates the healing potential of creativity and the strength found in vulnerability. As the collective voices within SICK AF remind us, art is not just a tool for self-expression but a sanctuary for recovery, a testament to adaptability, and a beacon of inspiration for those navigating life’s challenges.