The subject of mental health remains within hazardous terrain. From private to public vocalisations, the conversation demands prudence and care, for both ourselves and those involved. Yet the purported breakthrough in public expressions of mental health is not without its caveats. Many voices remain unheard and neglected due to perceived stigma and cultural confines.  

Informed by personal health conditions and her mother’s Bipolar Disorder diagnosis, artist Antonia Attwood positions herself as an investigator, medium, and participant within the realm of psychological well-being. Bringing the focal lens closer, Antonia uses visual storytelling in the pursuit of highlighting the ‘individuality of the human condition’. In this process, Antonia extends her practice to discuss her management of Psoriasis - an immune-mediated chronic skin condition characterized by the excessive growth of skin cells, leading to furfuraceous rashes - and the causally linked inflammatory condition Psoriatic Arthritis, distinguished by pain and swelling in the joints. 

Beyond her practice, Antonia leads Creative Health Camden, a dynamic charity dedicated to the creative well-being of patients attending the James Wigg and Queens Crescent practices in Kentish Town. 

The Poorly Project sat down with Antonia to discuss her life-long experiences with mental health and chronic health conditions and how they have materialised into a creative practice. 

Contemporary culture has borne a tangled thread around neurodivergence - a superordinate term for cognitive and behavioural conditions including dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Neurodiversity involves differences to how an individual perceives and navigates education, culture, and social cues that most register as mundane. 

As art mirrors culture, the artist finds themselves at the ruptured hypocenter of definition and understanding. Chaining together expressions of Autism and ADHD, artist and designer Christopher Kelly hooks their creative practice to crocheted sculptures, bestowing tangible life to what’s going on inside their neurodivergent mind. 

Upholding their practice in their Princes Risborough-based studio and teaching Fashion Foundation at Central Saint Martins, Christopher was diagnosed with ADHD in 2018. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Christopher would develop long COVID, summoning a period of physical inactivity. Resisting the long-term side effects of the virus, Christopher’s neurodivergence would usher an opportunity to craft, preserve creative engagement, and better understand what it means to be neurodiverse. In 2023, Christopher received their Autism diagnosis. 

What does it mean to be ‘renewed’ or ‘rebirthed’? What does ‘recovery’ truly entail? These enigmatic concepts are the creative tenants for artist Sarah Davis’ practice. Currently pursuing an MFA in Fine Arts at Goldsmiths University, her practice embraces a melange of wood carving, gilding, sound collage and poetry, leading a creative expedition on her Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis and the curative treatments she received.

Committed to a year-long treatment period in 2017, Sarah received chemotherapy, radiotherapy and an autologous stem cell transplant - a medical procedure whereby stem cells are harvested from a cancer patient’s blood or bone marrow before cell-killing treatments. These cells are frozen and stored until they can be safely infused back into the body, allowing the immune system to recover. 

Raising its inquisitive lens, The Poorly Project had the pleasure of investigating Sarah's creative universe and how, eight years post-diagnosis, her practice continues to shape her understanding of malignancy.