Unfolding the Invisible:
Autoimmue Narratives
Since being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder several years ago, I have been visually documenting and examining my experiences of navigating the illness.
Autoimmune disorders often present with invisible symptoms, and their unpredictable flare-ups make requests for accommodations particularly nuanced. These conditions also affect personal and professional relationships, reshaping one’s identity through new limitations on energy and capacity.
Visual art has become my primary means of making this invisible illness visible. My work is informed by my lived experiences, conversations with others navigating autoimmune disorders, and literature on ableism, critical studies, and disability justice.
Within the United States alone, 24 million people live with some form of autoimmune disorder. Yet, research and understanding of autoimmune disorders are lacking, resulting in misdiagnoses, prolonged durations for people to receive effective treatments, and causing financial difficulties due to medical costs and lack of accommodations at work. The general public is also not adequately trained to support chronically ill individuals, often leading to feelings of isolation among people with autoimmune disorders.
The project serves as a consciousness raising tool for the viewers to examine intersections of ableism and capitalism through understanding the nuances of living life as a chronically ill person.
