The EDIFY Programme celebrated the work of its four Artists in Residence during a recent exhibition and panel discussion titled Stories in Shape & Sound.
The UKRI funded EDIFY research consortium is developing a fresh approach to eating disorder research and practice, bridging the worlds of arts, humanities and sciences. As part of this, EDIFY has hosted four artists-in-residence, who have developed work across different media - sound, illustration, textile, digital media, sculpture - in close collaboration with the five EDIFY workstreams,[HB1] delving deeply into the personal stories, research findings and ideas being produced by the programme.
As the Artists in Residence programme drew to a close, King's College London hosted the four artists for a panel discussion about being part of the EDIFY research, and how this has affected their artistic practice, and, in turn, has shaped approaches to research and clinical practice. The artists shared the stage with Professor Sally Marlow, Associate Dean for Impact the IoPPN at Bush House last week, and discussed their work, process and its relationship to eating disorders experiences and research.
Who are the Artists in Residence?
Sian Fan is an interdisciplinary artist who explores embodiment, identity, and the human experience in the digital age. Her pieces take form as sculpture, costume, performance, animation, installation, and new media.
Ivana Picek, also known as Pi Lubanjice, is an electro-fairy artist whose bewitching and genre-defying music is a concoction of electro-alien-fairy-cyber-hyper-pop. She is a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter who collaborates with various artists from her native Croatia and beyond, captivating a devoted following with her mystical, avant-garde sound.
Zofia Chamienia is an illustrator who specialises in bold, playful designs, full of incidental shapes, wobbly lines, and self-made textures. Her illustrations aim to feature a diverse range of people, places, communities, and cultures, celebrating the different characters and personalities she meets.
Maeve Magnolia Gillespie is a textile artist and designer whose work explores the changing value of materials through processes of craft. She documents fragility, recovery, regeneration, and decay, and is interested in the human connection between objects and the fluctuating value system we attach to different materials.
What did they create, how, and why?
Despite working in very different mediums, during the panel discussion it became clear that a common theme between the artists was the intensity of the thought and planning in dialogue with EDIFY researchers that had gone into each piece.
Sian Fan described wanting to bring together "false dualities" in her work, bridging the gap between technology and art. The final piece draws inspiration from trinkets and tactile technology such as Tamagotchi and the iPod. Her work followed the EDIFY-led STORY Study, where participants wore an Oura ring, with data on sleep, movement and so forth forming part of the study. Taking inspiration from this, Sian considered what it would mean to reflect on that information ourselves, rather than transmit it away from our bodies. With this, she created a selection of technological sculptures, which offer prompts to the holder.
Dr Ivana Picek's sound pieces drew on many aspects of research, and on her own experience as a clinician in the Eating Disorders Service at South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Picek was working with the RaISE trial, a study which is exploring the effects of Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation (ITBS), a form of non-invasive brain stimulation in young people with anorexia nervosa. As part of this, she recorded sounds of the ITBS, and used this as a sample in part of her musical work, finding the musicality and intrinsic art even in some of the most technological and scientific areas of research. Being part of this work has even led Dr Picek to develop a creative group with her patients, exploring art and music.
Maeve Gillespe's piece explored textiles and co-creation in close collaboration with the EDIFY workstream 'Lived Experience'. It incorporated contributions from over 100 people affected by eating disorders or involved in their research. Their reflections on the topic of eating disorders and resilience written on reclaimed pieces of fabric were then sewn together by the artist with volunteers in different community settings during two workshops sessions. The result is a large-scale tapestry in which each stitch represents a connection between art, lived experience and research.
Zofia Chamienia used her illustrations to bring together a landscape of an optimistic space in eating disorders treatment and research, with diversity, cultural sensitivity and inclusion at its core. During the panel discussion, Zofia touched on how being an artist in residence with EDIFY had afforded her the luxury of time in the creation of this piece, which doesn't often come with more commercial work. The final artwork, 'A Care Landscape', invites the viewer to reflect on what might be possible in the evolution of eating disorders treatment and research in future.
The event was hosted by Professor Ulrike Schmidt OBE and the EDIFY research team, with the panel discussion led by Professor Sally Marlow, who encouraged the artists to share the triumphs, challenges and future of their work throughout. The exhibition ran for two days in the Inigo Rooms at King's Strand Campus. More information on the future of the exhibit will be shared in due course.
