T1-D: Spectrum
Diabetes is a chronic auto immune disease that effects 10% of the diabetic population. I was diagnosed with the condition a year ago and it has come with far more impactful complications that just injecting after food.
For me the hardest part has been the sensation loss in my hands during undesirable blood sugar readings. Something as simple as just drawing a circle has become a struggle at unhealthy values. Diabetics are recommended to stay between the values of 4-7. Over the period of a month I experienced values from 2.2 to 20.2. For this piece those values have been sequenced according to numerical value, cut out, the ideal range highlighted with gold, and the whole collection is mounted just off the wall with gold pins to signify the gold tone of the needles I use to treat myself daily.
Prior to my diagnosis my hands and my skills with them were a massive part of my life as a costume maker, when I lost the use of them I felt as though I’d lost part of my identity. Doing this piece has given me back a level of confidence in my ability to make work as an artist and therefore who I am as a person. Acting not only as a commentary on disability and a form of self-portrait, I hope that the work will allow people to have a comfortable dialog about how ability affects identity.
