Loss

I was invited to join Comma(Communication,Medicine and Art),a group of artists working with a doctor and clinical psychologist whose specialism is sexuality and cancer. The group is interested in Design Activism a process that can be used as a tool to disrupt routine practices by being unconventional or unorthodox ,providing information that is not seen as a routine pathway. It recognizes that feelings and ideas can be expressed in different ways other than language The doctor gained ethical approval to set up a collaboration group with patients from two hospitals who were undergoing treatments for breast cancer. Our role was to meet and listen to their experiences of dealing with the disease and their communication difficulties with the power differential between the patient voice and health professionals. We listened and responded to their stories by making pieces to reflect the problems they were encountering e.g. body image , femininity and sexuality thus affecting their personal relationships The resulting artefacts were then exhibited at the International Conference in Manchester and used as part of an experiential workshop for the delegates.