Portraying Pain’s Invisible Characteristics
I thought you might like to see some of the artwork I’ve created over the past two years. It’s been slow but I’m really happy with this [...]
Catharsis With Frida Continues
Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) has one of the best gallery gift shops. I saw this fantastic jigsaw puzzle of Friday Kahlo in [...]
Printmaking packs for pain management
Art is not only distracting but I believe the benefit is in the expression, making something, getting frustration out of the body. Everything you need to make a linocut is in these $99 packs. I've not included paper as that part is a very personal preference. You can choose textures, colours, mix up paper to make a patch work, make cards, print on fabric, etc. The purpose of these packs is not so much about the patterns but rather about the process of carving. It's also to provide all the materials if you've never done printmaking before. Once you have these basic materials (carving tools, barren and roller), you only need to source lino and ink which you can find at most art shops!
Mark of hope?
Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop (QG&W) organised the Lettered print exchange. A Print Exchange is when artists submit works to a set theme and they exchange each other’s work, each artist keeping a [...]
I made a gallery
True! Theo and I made a huge life move as many of you have read. Our transition began over a year ago when we escaped to Tasmania to figure out how to [...]
Appearances can be Deceiving
Frida, ...a woman who used fashion to channel her physical difficulties into a courageous statement of identity, strength and beauty. Exhibition by ISHIUCHI MIYAKO
Intermission, my solo exhibition in Hobart
It’s my PN anniversary, eight years (if I don’t subtract the 4.5 years it took me to find out it was in fact PN)! Obviously time brings on reflection which in turn [...]
Semi Finalist for the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize 2014
Very chuffed to be selected as a semi finalist regardless of the outcome. The portrait was flown up to Sydney for a second round of judging. She didn't make the final cut of 30 finalists but I feel so content that Ms Soula is going to great lengths to create awareness for invisible pain.
Cathartic collage, my self portraits for sale
Collage has been a little more therapeutic for me than my usual art forms. I think it must have been finding a technique that I could manage and one that didn't add to the fatigue and pain. Cutting small pieces of paper and glueing, drawing, attaching was just so light and easy. The painting of small pieces of paper and the careful ripping and tearing was like rocking. So gentle, so calming and at the same time feeling like I was handling my pain, expressing it and getting it out of my body and onto the art piece. ... Contact me if you want to purchase my artwork, these are the original pieces, no printouts will be sold. Paypal or Direct deposit available. Will post safely and securely free within Australia (plus postage outside of Australia).
Visual Pursuits book review on Art & Chronic Pain – A Self Portrait
In Art and Chronic Pain – A Self Portrait, artist Soula Mantalvanos shares her experience with chronic pain, which has been a debilitating presence in her life for almost seven years. Soula suffers from Pudendal Neuralgia, a painful nerve condition that developed following an accident where a fit ball that she was sitting on burst, causing her to drop violently to the concrete floor beneath. Early on in the book Soula describes that split-second, and the devastating effects that followed. A highly active yoga-loving woman before the accident, throughout the book Soula gives a deeply personal account of the psychological, emotional and physical impacts of living with chronic pain for so many years. These negative effects were compounded by the fact that her condition Pudendal Neuralgia baffled her doctors, and took four and a half years to even diagnose.