On Pain

Doors open at 5pm
Panel Discussion 5:30 – 6:30pm
Event concludes 6:45pm

Join On-Site artist Cecilia Sordi Campos, author and artist Madison Griffiths and On-Site Curator Lisa Linton for an eye-opening conversation about stigma and pain that explores the driving resilience behind the artist's creative practice.

Two of five women in Victoria suffer from chronic pain. In a recent state survey, half the participants reported that menstruation-related conditions, among them endometriosis, caused alarming levels of pain. On-Site artist Cecilia Sordi Campos suffers from endometriosis; she lives with the chronic pain of this condition but has learned to channel it into her creative practice. Like many women in Victoria, her pain has been questioned by and stigmatised in our public health system.

Similarly, in her debut novel Tissue, author Madison Griffiths turns her keen eye to the topic of abortion. She takes a contemplative and personal look at this procedure, a procedure that is common yet vilified. Tissue looks at the feelings of guilt and shame around choice, exploring the language we use (or don’t use) and considers how silence shapes the way we think and feel.

Join us for a conversation that delves into stigma, shame and pain, but also creativity, resilience and choice.

Image: Cecilia Sordi Campos, Reverberação (detail), courtesy of the artist