The pursuit of hope and meaning
November 2012
Inspired Lives: Discovering Life in Imagination is an exhibition that shares the original voice of suicide survivors through a series of large-scale art installations.
Inspired Lives originated from a mutual interest in the subject of suicide and suicide prevention between artist Mic Eales, poet Jessica Raschke, and Dr Erminia Colucci, a lecturer and research program coordinator at the Centre for International Mental Health, University of Melbourne.
Mic Eales and Dr Colucci had started to organise arts-based initiatives about suicide. It was during one of these events that they met Jessica Raschke, who also had an experience of suicide. They quickly found common ground. All of them had observed the silence around the issue of suicide and as creative individuals felt strongly that art could bridge a gap in understanding and ultimately promote hope and provide inspiration. In 2009 Dr Coluccci invited me to join the project as curator. At the time I was actively involved with communities affected by the Black Saturday bushfires, coordinating post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide prevention seminars. While the seminars were well attended by people who wanted to support the communities affected by the bushfires, we were unable to reach those who experienced the fires first hand and were at risk of suicide themselves. There are times when words fail us. Through my experience in the visual arts and arts management I’d seen situations where art had, through the material form, naturally facilitated conversation.
The initial step in developing the exhibition was to look for other contributors to the project. In one month we had 30 expressions of interest from artists working in various mediums and art forms, including writers, actors and musicians. We felt this was a substantial number of people willing to share their stories about suicide. One of the respondents was Konii C Burns. It was immediately apparent that there was a strong aesthetic and thematic connection between Konni C Burns and Mic Eales’s artwork. Both artists draw on personal narrative and symbolism to explore the psychological and spiritual crisis of suicide and its damaging after-effects. Their imaginative and immersive large-scale artworks use found objects and materials of the natural world to give shape to painful emotions. There was a beautiful synergy between these two regional artists in their approach to materials and scale. Mic Eales’ practice involves interpreting the personal experiences shared by others. His collaboration with Baden Offord and Jessica Raschke opened the exhibition up to include other stories.
It was an exhibition that was greeted cautiously by funding bodies and galleries. We were turned down time and time again; on occasion we received offers of support that were contingent on diluting the focus on suicide or on presenting suicide using a medical model rather than the subjective approach we were advocating.
In 2009 I approached The Dax Centre, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes mental health and wellbeing by fostering a greater understanding of the mind, mental illness and trauma through art and creativity. Given its collection (the Cunningham Dax Collection) I knew it was a unique organisation with a history of staging challenging exhibitions. It was a space that had exhibited art that acknowledged difficult emotions and experiences. I felt it would be best placed to grapple with the complexities of the exhibition. After thorough consultation with the Director, Eugen Koh, and the exhibition advisory committee, we were invited to exhibit Inspired Lives as part of a pilot access gallery program.
The exhibition does not offer advice or solutions to the complex and often overwhelming phenomenon of suicide. Instead it shines a light on the moment/s when people feel suicidal. The journey each artist has taken is very personal and, in some cases, the battle against suicide is ongoing. Inspired Lives aims to capture ‘frames’ in the experience of individuals who have been dealing with suicide at one point, or at several points, in their life. The four artists included in this exhibition are people who have travelled through emptiness and unspeakable pain; they have attempted suicide and survived. Their artworks express despair as well as good fortune. Each artist continues to find the inspiration to live. For them and those who struggle with suicide there is no doubt that artmaking plays a pivotal and transformative role in their pursuit of hope and meaning.
Henry David Thoreau wrote, ‘Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?’ The personal narratives of the artists who have a lived experience of suicide and have shared their story affords us a better understanding of this complex phenomenon. We can find ways to talk about suicide. We need to if we are to go some way to ending the desperate silence that puts lives at risk.
Inspired Lives: Discovering Life in Imagination shows at The Dax Centre, Kenneth Myer Building, The University of Melbourne, Royal Parade, until January 11.
Image: Konni C Burns, Atrabilious: Depression of the Spirit, 2008, Charcoal on paper, 160 cm (h) x 20m (w) or parts thereof
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