Two pieces of my work are in the exhibition WO/ at Vane from 9-24 March 2018
WO/
Vane, Commercial Union House, 39 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6QE
9-24 March 2018
Wed-Sat
12-5
PV Thursday 8th March 5-8pm
WO/ is curated by artists Melanie Kyles and Caitlin Heaney to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March and showcases work on the themes of the feminine experience, identity and expectations. The exhibition raises questions regarding what it means to be a WO/man in the modern era, through the perspective of female-identifying artists and their work.
Work in show:
anatomy of change
drawing and painting on silk, painted wood, string, a nail
h188.54xw91cm
2018
ARTISTS STATEMENT
“The outside of you belies what is going on inside”, is what my great friend, Vicky Watling, my art teacher at school, says about me. The pain causing autoimmune diseases began at school, but it was years later I was told that was what they are, and not emotional or psychogenic. There are thoughts that women’s pain is not taken seriously, being told to “grin and bear it”. My mother’s doctor diagnosed a bowel pain as “period pains”, whilst my campus doctor said it was a grumbling appendix. After my appendix burst, causing peritonitis, when I was at my mother’s during the vacation, he had to apologise to me! I was told to bend my knees when lifting because of my bad back. But I have arthritic knees. I finally got surgery for one knee, after undergoing 7 years of useless treatment for a torn cartilage.
Because of my forename, I am only taken seriously when I am thought to be a man, but my sex is on my medical records. Medical research over the years has led to precise diagnoses, but earlier MRI scans would have eliminated unnecessary treatment, and reduced years of pain.
DESCRIPTION OF ARTWORK
Anatomy of Change is a distressed medical chart illustrating the causes and changes Paddy has had to make throughout her life to remedy the effect autoimmune diseases and other conditions have had on her body. Some images are from Paddy’s research into anatomical studies by 16th and 17th century artists, such as Vesalius and Pietro da Cortona. The circular images, Paddy’s “internal investigations”, are scans and x-rays from the Freeman Hospital.
walled in
drawings in indian ink on silk, bonded to reclaimed bricks, mdf “mortar”
55.5×55.5×7.5cm
2011
ARTISTS STATEMENT
“builders working on the flat upstairs
cracked walls & ceilings
flooded bathroom
flooded bedroom & living room
mouldy walls, clothes & furniture
fell down some steps
broken hand
possessions in storage
living in a hotel
traumatised
trying to work
my story from July 2010 to April 2011”
DESCRIPTION OF ARTWORK
This piece chronicles the trauma of having my home destroyed, living in a hotel without my possessions, and still trying to fulfil work commitments. The frustration and feeling of helplessness of fighting an insurance company, and only getting redress with the intervention of men. With my unisexual name, I am only taken seriously when I am thought to be male.
