Life-changing events, they happen to everyone at one time or another and now everybody, everywhere, has health on their mind. 2 years ago I had what they call a life-changing diagnoses, it made me reassess how I work and what I do. It gave me new material to work with literally as well as metaphorically. There is a huge amount of paper, foil, plastic, fabric and metal waste generated by treating a serious medical condition. Also, what are you supposed to do with your lovely lacy bras when you have a mastectomy? So at the start of my treatment, I decided to try to keep my pharmacy, associated medical waste & my collection of useless bras. Butterflies emerged from these creative bra cocoons; they aren’t the prettiest, some of the wings are torn and they’re certainly not symmetrical but I believe they still retain an integral beauty.

In 2018 with the help of The University of Atypical and Arts Council Northern Ireland I received a grant via the IDA Award to research & develop new ways of working adapted to my condition. The Able Disable Enable series are new works using this collection of material and exploring ability related themes.

My thanks go to Vizz Creative for photographing these works so beautifully.