I can’t even begin to tell you what it felt like to know my story was being shared at Crinniú na Ceirde - Gathering Craft - Unravelling the story of Irish craft - 9 May 2025 RDS Dublin while I was tucked up in bed in my ‘Treehouse’.
Extraordinary to see some images of my video being shown on four or five screens. To see the huge crowds in attendance. The hear the applause after.
My friend Jane Jermyn had recorded it for me. So I could see and experience it.
For subtitles in English, click on the little wheel top right of YouTube page, and click on Captions. Choose English.
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PECHA KUCHA SPEAKER Corina Duyn. Artist, Writer, Puppet Designer. Living with severe ME, Corina creates from her room in full-time care. She continues to explore creativity through collaboration, using a co-artist to help to formulate her ideas. Her work reflects deeply on illness and altered existence (Design and words by Gathering Craft organisers) |
The Importance of the Creative Conversation by Corina Duyn - Artist in care
Hello everybody my name is Corina Duyn I was invited to give a little thought on … art and creativity. I can’t be there in person but we made this little video in advance, and I wrote a few words which I am going to read.
Thank you
Due to the increasing severity of ME, my body is always changing and my mind continuously having to adapt. As an eternal artist this necessitates the exploring of different art forms: from sculpture, to weaving, writing, and puppetry. Reality is my art. Art is my reality. This time round as Artist in care.
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| Still from the presentation of my video at the RDS |
The time spend working with Caroline Schofield in my nursing home room, courtesy of Waterford Healing Arts, quickly turned from my wish to just have fun creating, to a deep reflection on what it was like to leave my home and studio behind.
This work organically became our exhibition ‘I brought the dream of flying’ at GOMA and Creative Brain Week in 2023. We reused many of my existing puppetry work but telling a new story. As Caroline wrote: “…the room and the collages hold up a mirror to society what ‘home’ is…”
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| Still from the presentation of my video at the RDS |
The bed-accessible-art came in the form of scraps of newspaper, words and images to make small collages. A year after the last one was made the limited edition book ‘In bed I cut words’ came into being through the collaboration with David Murphy from Red Heaven Design.
The title came from the collage: “In bed I cut words - until I can rest - in a world - where loss and pain - live alongside beauty and hope”.
Both the exhibition and the book are probably my most honest and direct work I have ever created. Accidentally pushing boundaries, for myself as well as the viewer and reader. In equal measures there is vulnerability, necessity, pride, sadness, beauty, resilience and pain. However my creative mind will not stop. As Pascale De Coninck wrote: “it is as essential as breathing.”
Now, I don't make art. Apart from some small creative endeavours. But my mind remains active and has ample time to reflect on my creative life lived including the past four years in care. Throughout these musing I often come back to the importance of the creative conversation. The importance to stay connected to a world I know. Or knew. A world I understood. And understood me. The world outside my room.
I am honoured that my work will live on and my book is republished. Katherine Collins from Creative Ireland - Waterford, wrote: “… 'In bed I cut words' provides us with a thought-provoking, vulnerable, honest artistic response to Corina’s situation and helps us consider what home is. We are delighted to provide funding for the paperback edition which brings this important work to a wider audience and I hope for a deeper conversation on the need to support creativity in all settings.”
As artist, as creatives, we see the world differently. It is removed from life of care. So, for me, the creative conversation, or even the creative thought, the creative connection, like here, right now, in this space, is vital for my well-being. As essential as breathing…
Thank you Róisín (De Buitlear) for this opportunity.
Video:
Written and recorded by Corina Duyn - With help from Caroline Schofield. Uploaded to youtube by Myli Myriam Pincheira
For Crinniú na Ceirde - Gathering Craft - Unravelling the story of Irish craft - 9 May 2025
Images by Corina Duyn/Caroline Schofield/Keith Currams/Adrian Duyn/Jane Jermyn
Website: www.corinaduyn.com
In bed I cut words Book page: https://www.corinaduyn.com/site/in-bed-i-cut-words/
From biography in NA CEIRDE / GATHERING CRAFT RDS 9 May 2025 (scroll to Forum for full catalogue)
Corina Duyn
Dutch born Artist, Writer and Puppet Designer Corina Duyn trained as a nurse and social care worker before becoming a full-time artist after moving to Ireland in 1989.
Corina is an Artist in care. Moving into full time care, aged 59, Corina received support from Waterford Healing Arts to explore new ways to create by accepted use of her co-artist's hands to bring ideas into being.
Portrayal of life around her changed to exploring the inner world of illness to understand this utterly changed existence.
Despite living with Severe ME she continues to have access to her creative mind and values the Creative Conversation.
Creative highlights in recent years include facilitating ‘Life Outside the Box’ puppet project (2015), keynote speaker at ‘Broken Puppet Symposium on Puppetry, Disability and Health’ (2018) and the ’Invisible Octopus’ video poem (2020), an extraordinary and succinct illustration of life with ME.
All of the work in the past four years has taken place in Corina's room at Signacare. 'The Tree House', as Corina calls it, is an extraordinary space which Corina has utterly transformed with her artworks.
Within the nursing home Corina curated the photographic project Hands of Signacare and recently published her book of collages’ In bed I cut words’ which were spontaneous, intuitive responses to life in care.
In 2023 ‘l Brought The Dream of Flying’ with co-artist Caroline Schofield was exhibited at GOMA modern art gallery Waterford, and Creative Brain Week 2023
"Artists move our world wherever they may find themselves."
Dominic Campbell, Irish Hospice Foundation
