Artist explores the concept of pain

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By Emma McFarnon

Thursday 30 June 2011

Can you see pain? A new exhibition at the Menier Gallery explores this very concept.

The result of a collaboration between a photographer, pain specialists and patients at University College London Hospital, MASK:MIRROR:MEMBRANE explores the invisible and complex nature of chronic pain.

Facial pain, which can stifle the ability to communicate, has the potential to trap sufferers behind a mask-like exterior, rendering them frozen and isolated.

Drawing on patients' personal testimonies, medical texts and artist and patient notes, the exhibition seeks to give sufferers a voice, and explore whether images can help negotiate between different perspectives.

The exhibition, put together by Deborah Padfield, evolved from her two-year residency investigating facial pain, and the role photographs can play in its communication.

MASK:MIRROR:MEMBRANE: 6 July-16 July, Menier Gallery, London.

To find out more, visit www.meniergallery.co.uk

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