Creativity as a tool to understand illness, but it can also bring you the most unexpected of places.
As you might remember the EGG became a tool for me to understand and explore my completely changed life at the onset of ME/CFS in 1998. Although I lived a very secluded life, I somehow made contact with the world beyond my four walls -beyond the shell of my egg.
For the life of me I don't quite remember how this happened, but what I do remember is that it was a friendship of writing and receiving incredibly honest letters, of sharing our creative lives, phone calls, watching movies, or exploring Lismore, where he arrived on a little motorbike, and visits to Ardmore...
As a result of this friendship David created the Fit to Fly Documentary, During 2003-2004 and was supported by the Arts & Disability Forum Arts Bursary.
David interviewed and filmed me, my friends, the arts officer, and visitors to my first exhibition about how illness informed my art making. And visa verse.
The launch and first screening of Fit to Fly was at Lismore Library in May 2004, and opened by MEP Brian Crowley.
Fit to Fly, catapulted me from my solitary existence into the world of the media. The story was featured in many national and local newspapers. David's filming and storyline was taken up by RTE. Nationwide (national TV program about life in Ireland) made their own version. We had an interview on TV3 Ireland AM. It was all a very surreal experience.
 |
| some of the media coverage of the launch of Fit to Fly, and accompanying exhibition |
Months later I was in Cork for a hospital visit. Afterward a friend brought me out for lunch in the city centre. While sitting out on a terrace, a woman walked by, stopped, looked at me, and said: "I saw you on Nationwide. I have one of your Dolls", and walked on again.
Being creative can bring you the most unexpected places.
The Fit to Fly documentary is in total about 14 minutes long, but shown here in two parts.
(it starts with a black screen for a few seconds...)
(it starts with a black screen for a few seconds...)
Links and further reading:
- I am still a huge admirer of David's work. His paintings are just beautiful, his new departure in animation (too small a word for his works) is spellbinding.
- Other documentaries about my creative life
- Reviews of Fit to Fly
- The artworks in the video can be seen here
Corina, I watched these videos (and the others on your website) just recently, and I loved them. So inspiring. And also lovely to see you and hear your voice. I think I will have to watch them again when I get the chance, to remind me of how important creative work it, and just what is possible, despite limitations.
ReplyDeleteThank you Therese for your lovely comment. But also how good it is to hear that you too see the importance of creative work, and to explore one's boundaries and see if we can step beyond them. A lot can be achieved, in very, very small steps.
ReplyDeleteWishing you and all my readers a happy creative time!