‘I am a Work in Progress’ was a collaborative project with Goldsmith’s University of London funded by the Welcome Trust. The project formed part of the research of Dr Fay Dennis (Department of Social Science & Bioethics) which aims to “make people who use drugs matter”.
Participants in recovery / treatment for drug and alcohol dependency were guided through a series of creative research workshops. Using shadow drawing techniques they each created their own life size “body maps”. Different body positions were explored and drawings were embellished with words and images to express their experience of living with and without drugs. Participants depicted the ongoing nature of their recovery process as encapsulated in one participants phrase “ I am a work in progress”
Working with fellow artist Penny Maltby, I chose to respond to the participants work by revealing the uniquely personal narrative behind an individual’s drug use and offer a sense of the labour required to mend and rework the fabric of their life.
The positioning of the two figures implies a relationship, an intimacy. The first appears vulnerable, dominated by the burden he/she carries. Words, used by the participants to describe their life with drugs, cover the rucksack like camouflage, drawing the viewers eye, so the person themself becomes almost invisible.
The second figure is upright and appears to be moving forwards, referencing the steps of a journey. Pieces are suspended, connected and supported by thread, creating a body that is incomplete, fragile, reconstructed and held together in precarious balance. Words and phrases are applied to the fabric referencing the way in which society ‘labels’ those who use drugs.
The personal nature of clothing, its association with identity and the body, offers a metaphor for the individual experience. Calico was chosen as a working cloth, often used during construction of a garment. The different treatments of the fabric such as stitching, tearing and fraying, unpicking, pinning and tacking are used to explore the conflicting, transitory aspects of recovery.
The installation was exhibited alongside the participants’ work at the Constance Howard Gallery, Goldsmiths University of London. Through this exhibtion we hope to offer an insight into the lived experience of those who use drugs. We aim to provoke the viewer to move beyond the stereotypes and empathise with the challenges facing those living with and without drug dependency.
We would like to thank Dr Fay Dennis for her confidence in the creative research process and the participants for their engagement and willingness to share their personal stories.