Day 47, 2009 by Jennifer Wilkey
Cold. Sterile. Isolating. For many, a stay in a hospital can be a trying experience, a constant memento mori: the routine blood draws; the IV drip; the confining cots; the intrusive X-rays and medical tests. For Contender Jennifer Wilkey, whose mother and brother have long been affected by illness, visiting hospitals has been an inextricable part of her life. In her series of images, the photographer examines illness from the perspectives of the patient, the visitor, the doctor, the hospital and the treatments.
Take Two, Three Times Daily, 2009 by Jennifer Wilkey
Though the subject of this series is likely the artist's mother, Wilkey doesn't focus on the disease but, rather, the longevity of illness and of the necessary hospital stay, and the emotional and psychological toll it takes. Wilkey, in her artist statement, explains:
Long-term illness is diagnosed through the medical institution, but it is also interpreted in the personal and emotional realms. While enclosed in a hospital room, life in the outside world continues and, in a sense, passes the patient by. Time becomes an element of duality; one that exists in slow motion within the hospital, while it simultaneously hurries by beyond the hospital doors.
Redline, 2009 by Jennifer Wilkey
The resulting body of work is a personal statement on long-term illness and healing, and humanizes the otherwise staid experience by adding the artist's creative touch. Hospital robes and medical receipt paper become tools with which the photographer further weaves a story: fashioning blue pills out of former robes, knitting vital signs onto paper with with red wool or embroidering floral patterns onto an IV bag all serve to indicate a personal acceptance of sorts, while providing a distinct relief from the mundane and often monochromatic setting. "Through the use of monotony, repetition and duration," Wilkey adds, "unusual narratives are constructed that walk a space between reality and the surreal." For more of the artist's multidisciplinary works—including a study on scars and stitches constructed from fabric, wax and thread—head to her site.