Dialogue Within  Artist Statement

This past year I have been working on imagery that is based around my epilepsy. Dialogue Within focuses on the dialogue that happens between the inner voice in one's head and the outer voice of one's physical body during a seizure -- what is visually perceived versus what is personally experienced. By using multiple layers of images (15-50) and text, and utilizing the encaustic process as a way to force the layers either more into the background or bring them further into the foreground, I was able to illustrate the full range of the experience.  It represents the different stages one goes through during this time as well as expresses the traumatic feelings that loss of control brings and the fight to overcome it.  The dominant image on top of all the images represents what the spectator views while the seizure is happening and the underlying images represent what one is actually feeling and experiencing and trying so hard in these moments to conceal.