Sharing stories for artist practice.

[dpooley-tolkien]

Hi! I hope I'm not breaking any rules here!

I'm a Fine Art student, well I was but had to defer due to trying to get a diagnosis and still waiting! This experience has changed my practice entirely, once working with the subject of motherhood I've struggled to look at past work for the last 10 months when everything flared up, I'm now using my practice to make the conversation of Gynaecological sufferings and issues standard and no longer taboo.

I'm working in ceramics, hand building pots and attempting to demonstrate women's stories of ailments, both physical and mental, whether a point of pain or scars from surgery. They will all be white earthenware, so incredibly minimal and each one named after the woman who's story it shares.

Alongside these pots I am wanting to put together a coffee table book, that shares the stories and conversations I have with the women involved in making the pots. In this I am hoping to have maps of the body, showing the points of pain that flare up, as well as the conversations.

I want to be able to make it clear that women are not alone and that they are free to talk about the things society has made us feel we should never be open about, to make sure that the future generations will know their bodies and not have to take years to find out what it causing them problems, and give them the confidence to talk about these things openly.

If you are willing to share your story the message me with your name and email address and I will pass on the first set of questions, I will be so very very appreciative. I have found the community on here not only comforting but inspiring. Thank you.