My Art, My Health: Creating empathy through sculpture, Otto Kamensek in dialogue with Jacqueline Davidson

Abstract

This paper offers a personal discussion of the use of art, sculpture specifically, to bridge personal experiences with chronic illness: juvenile arthritis. Drawing on the experiences of making work and sharing this work in different contexts, it focuses on what it is like to live with arthritis and how creative practice can be used to benefit both artist and viewers. The works discussed in the piece have been created to explore and develop understanding around issues that are not easily talked about in either the doctor’s office, or in public settings. The figures generated through this body of work provide a device or platform that allows the artist to look at the disease through the course of his life and in so doing, to adopt a third perspective on this sometimes difficult process. Reflecting on that young boy, that teenager, that young man struggling with arthritis, sometimes effectively, at other times not so, the art-making process and shared products allow the artist a certain freeing, revelatory view capable of reconciling trials and struggles with self-knowledge and empowerment. This work allows the artist “to dig into those dirty emotional corners” and to work through uncomfortable thoughts. These works and the experience of discussing them has been useful in educational contexts, particularly germane to further understanding of creative practices, artworks, and their potential contributions to healthcare-related services and service providers.