Balance by Brighid Ó Dochartaigh

Lino print on white paper

Artist statement: We use words to try and describe our feelings. Words in combination make meaning, conversation, understanding possible, but often in limited ways. One of my responses to living with chronic illness has been roughly carving, on small pieces of lino, individual words that describe something of how I feel about my illness, and about my ill life. I periodically print these words in different combinations, reflecting different aspects of my feelings at a particular time. This particular print came out of an idea of a set of scales weighing up my ‘bad' and ‘good’ feelings against the ultimate measure that I’m still here, surviving. I wanted the print to suggest something of how hard it is, emotionally, to live with a chronic illness. But although the negatives clearly outweigh the positives - and seems so heavy they might tip over and crush the positives, I’m still here.

Follow Brighid on Instagram at @bb.ealain

Balance by Brighid Ó Dochartaigh

Lino print on white paper

Artist statement: We use words to try and describe our feelings. Words in combination make meaning, conversation, understanding possible, but often in limited ways. One of my responses to living with chronic illness has been roughly carving, on small pieces of lino, individual words that describe something of how I feel about my illness, and about my ill life. I periodically print these words in different combinations, reflecting different aspects of my feelings at a particular time. This particular print came out of an idea of a set of scales weighing up my ‘bad' and ‘good’ feelings against the ultimate measure that I’m still here, surviving. I wanted the print to suggest something of how hard it is, emotionally, to live with a chronic illness. But although the negatives clearly outweigh the positives - and seems so heavy they might tip over and crush the positives, I’m still here.

Follow Brighid on Instagram at @bb.ealain