Shrinking World
Windows on Pain is an art exhibition like no other. Sponsored by the Pain Management Research Institute, it features the work of 30 emerging and established artists, who have used different media - painting, sculpture and installation - to depict the stories they each heard from people living with chronic pain.
make stuff happen director, Chia Moan, not only designed the exhibition but is a contributing artist. Chia’s arresting portrait called Shrinking World, depicts an Alice in Wonderland figure curled up in a confined space with a mask in her hand. The painting alludes to a story Chia heard from one pain sufferer who said she felt like Alice disappearing down the rabbit hole, with the opening at the top growing smaller and smaller.
A recent review of the exhibition in the Sydney Morning Herald featured Chia’s Shrinking World as its accompanying image and quoted her saying:
“People who live with chronic pain deal very literally with shrinking options in their lives. If and how they can work, exercise, socialise and travel. Usual activities are affected, all subjected to scrutiny: what is possible, what is not? They also speak frequently about not being able to communicate their pain, wearing a mask.”
Chia’s multiple skills as an artist, designer, facilitator and journalist, have helped ensure that the Windows on Pain traveling exhibition receives a receptive audience. Creative responses to difficult or complex phenomena, like pain, are what make stuff happen is committed to exploring and we’re thrilled that Chia has applied her creativity and compassion to this valuable community project.
Links:
Sydney Morning Herald article.
