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Hi all!
Welcome to the first week of our CHIME framework creative prompts – inspired by artworks from The Dax Centre!
The first creative prompt is all about Connectedness.
Connectedness is an important process in recovery.
What can Connectedness look like?
- Connect with friends and family, whether it be online or even video chat.
- Connect with GPs, Mental Health Services and mental health supports.
- Connect with nature/ enjoy gardening.
- Reconnect with something you enjoy, like crafts.
- Eat meals together.
- Read the paper.
- Connect with yourself
This Week’s Artwork: My Life... On the Line
To inspire exploration of the theme Connectedness, the artwork we have chosen for this week is My Life... On the Line.
ABOUT THE ARTWORK:
The t-shirt series My Life...On The Line was created in 2005 by participants of the Mallee Family Care's Psychiatric Disability Rehabilitation and Support Services Program. The collection of works were then showcased at the Swan Hill Regional Gallery. Under the guidance of Jill McIndoe, the Co-Ordinator of Mallee Family Care at the time, the program encouraged participants to reflect on their lives and their position within the community.
Par were prompted to explore their thoughts, perceptions and the challenges they encountered through their experiences with mental health issues. The aim was to investigate the ways in which they felt understood and supported by family members, care workers, case managers, psychiatrists, and other health professionals.
Over four weeks, participants were given cameras to capture photographs representing these experiences. From these captured moments, each participant selected one photograph to be printed on a t-shirt. Alongside the chosen image, they crafted a title and a statement highlighting the significance of the photograph to their journey.
In The Dax Centre exhibition, we have presented a selection of the t-shirts as if hanging on a clothesline. Deliberate thought was given to the method of displaying the artworks in this manner, as Jill McIndoe expressed that for many individuals experiencing a challenging time finding support for mental illness, their existence could often feel at risk, as if hanging "on the line".
Through the participants' engagement with textile-based art and the use of digital printing, this medium becomes a vehicle for personal agency, storytelling, and challenges mental health stigma.
To encourage engagement with this artwork at The Dax Centre gallery, we created an participatory activity with mini-shirts. In this activity, we ask gallery visitors to reflect on these questions: Who and what makes you feel supported? What brings you gratitude?
We then hang the colorful t-shirts on a ‘clothesline’ on display in the gallery.
As you can see from the pictures below – we've had a great response to the activity!
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