Hollis McConkey

Phases

A collaborative installation work documenting my twin, Charlotte McConkey's, "artifacts of pain". Materials are mounted on walls and dropped on the floor with the accompanying sound of Charlotte's breath work to create an environment emulating her chronic pain in space.Image description: Photo 1. A panoramic photo of the corner of the exhibition. Items like ripped papers, COVID-19 tests, Tim Hortons wrappers, and tissues that Charlotte has written on are mounted on the walls and scattered on the floor. Photo 2. A close-up of a Tim Hortons cup sleeve, paper bag, and a flattened COVID-19 test box arranged on the cement floor. On the sleeve Charlotte has written in blue pen, "When do my cramps start to count as an "act of God" preventing me from functioning." On the box she has written in red ink, "The combination of ADHD and chronic illness is the ultimate distraction." Photo 3. A white K-N95 face mask hangs by its ear strap from the exhibition room's door handle. On it Charlotte has written in black pen, "I just want to go to sleep." Photo 4. A close up of a tissue on the cement floor. Charlotte has written on it in blue pen, "I've changed my pants twice already."

“Phases is an installation work that incorporates sound and physical documentation to attempt to visualize and make visceral an otherwise invisible experience of life with chronic pain. My twin sister, Charlotte McConkey, and I created this collaborative work to allow a space for pain to take control and to reflect on the toll of navigating the everyday as women with chronic pain. Charlotte recorded her thought processes during moments of pain on whatever material was readily available in order to express the immediacy and unpredictability of her pain on a daily basis. The sound of the installation is a distorted recording of breathing techniques she uses to get through particularly painful flares, played on loop to express the fluidity and continuity of living with pain. Together, the "artifacts of pain" and sound create an insulated space to step into Charlotte's particular experience of pain and reflect on the jarring yet still experience of consistency. ”