Seascape and Horizon by Joanna Holland

Photography

Artist statement: Living with chronic illness means you spend time in hospital – attending numerous clinics/diagnostics/infusions or being hospitalised on various wards. During my hospitalisations & clinic visits I have collected images of the spaces I find myself in.

I subsequently re-imagined these spaces – hospital bed blankets became cave systems & rolling hills, whilst hospital bed privacy curtains became seascapes, skies & stairs.

I’m sharing ‘Seascape’ as part of #sickartistsclub as I wanted this work to be for Lizzie. I know she lived near the sea. It’s actually a photograph of my hospital bed privacy curtains, turned on their side - with the light coming through at dusk/dawn? You lose time and orientation in hospital so can’t quite remember time of day/direction of the window...

Huge thanks to Lizzie Rose, @leah_r_clements & @alicehattrick for the brilliant ‘Access Docs for Artists’ – your work (& the work of other sick artists) has had a profound influence on me. I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing now without it.

Joanna Holland, an artist & creative producer/curator & [SYNTAX ERROR] (a pseudonym occasionally used for her artist-self) is interested in how we live with each other, and our planet, equitably. Joanna’s work explores knowledge production and exchange; dialogue which informs the development of imagined landscapes.

Part real, part imagined, these landscapes are informed by lived experience, including Joanna’s own experience of living with multiple, long-term, chronic health conditions. Many of these are autoimmune autoimmune conditions including a rare blood vessel disorder and ankylosing spondylitis – subsequently her work is heavily influenced by sensory processes. For example, noises ordinarily unheard or changes to colour perception. Joanna uses many different mediums in her work including, but not limited to, sound, visual arts, video and photography.

These landscapes take many different forms, from visual stories to soundscapes. They offer provocations on precarity and possibility. Joanna’s practice builds on her background in feminist art histories, cultural inclusion, and biodiversity conservation. She often works collaboratively, co-producing with different communities of artists, scientists, and academics.

Joanna has worked for/with The British Museum, Cambridge Conservation Initiative, Cambridge Curiosity & Imagination, The National Archives, The National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts, The Science Museum, The University of Cambridge Museums & Botanic Garden, Tate Britain & Tate Modern.

Find out more about Joanna's work at hollandsyntax.uk

Seascape and Horizon by Joanna Holland

Photography

Artist statement: Living with chronic illness means you spend time in hospital – attending numerous clinics/diagnostics/infusions or being hospitalised on various wards. During my hospitalisations & clinic visits I have collected images of the spaces I find myself in.

I subsequently re-imagined these spaces – hospital bed blankets became cave systems & rolling hills, whilst hospital bed privacy curtains became seascapes, skies & stairs.

I’m sharing ‘Seascape’ as part of #sickartistsclub as I wanted this work to be for Lizzie. I know she lived near the sea. It’s actually a photograph of my hospital bed privacy curtains, turned on their side - with the light coming through at dusk/dawn? You lose time and orientation in hospital so can’t quite remember time of day/direction of the window...

Huge thanks to Lizzie Rose, @leah_r_clements & @alicehattrick for the brilliant ‘Access Docs for Artists’ – your work (& the work of other sick artists) has had a profound influence on me. I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing now without it.

Joanna Holland, an artist & creative producer/curator & [SYNTAX ERROR] (a pseudonym occasionally used for her artist-self) is interested in how we live with each other, and our planet, equitably. Joanna’s work explores knowledge production and exchange; dialogue which informs the development of imagined landscapes.

Part real, part imagined, these landscapes are informed by lived experience, including Joanna’s own experience of living with multiple, long-term, chronic health conditions. Many of these are autoimmune autoimmune conditions including a rare blood vessel disorder and ankylosing spondylitis – subsequently her work is heavily influenced by sensory processes. For example, noises ordinarily unheard or changes to colour perception. Joanna uses many different mediums in her work including, but not limited to, sound, visual arts, video and photography.

These landscapes take many different forms, from visual stories to soundscapes. They offer provocations on precarity and possibility. Joanna’s practice builds on her background in feminist art histories, cultural inclusion, and biodiversity conservation. She often works collaboratively, co-producing with different communities of artists, scientists, and academics.

Joanna has worked for/with The British Museum, Cambridge Conservation Initiative, Cambridge Curiosity & Imagination, The National Archives, The National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts, The Science Museum, The University of Cambridge Museums & Botanic Garden, Tate Britain & Tate Modern.

Find out more about Joanna's work at hollandsyntax.uk