I am one of the more than 40 million Americans and 1billion people worldwide who suffer from migraine, a neurological disease that affects 1 in 5 women, 1 in 16 men, 1 in 11 children. I was diagnosed with migraine at the age of eight. Living with the disease most of my life has had a double impact—the days and hours lost to migraine and the price I have paid for not acknowledging it.
My repeated attempts at keeping records of the frequency of the attacks failed until 2009, when I started to photograph myself each time I experienced a migraine episode. As an artist who has used my self-image in many art projects, I became obsessed with the challenge of making my invisible illness visible. The cameras in my laptop and phone became the mirrors in which I not only witnessed my pain but also visualized a more complete version of myself—the one who lives with migraine.
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This project is not just about me. I honor the long history of women who suffered in silence from migraine, chronic pain, and other invisible illnesses and were not believed, were told they were too emotional, who were committed to institutions, or in the worst cases killed themselves. For way too many women, unacknowledged illnesses have stopped them from leading full lives.
ONLINE PRESENTATIONS Sometimes A Body is Not Just a Body, Artist Talks and Panel Discussion with Nancy Bowen, Mira Schor, Lorie Novak, and Lachell Workman. Moderated by Jennifer Jones
