In 2019, after a rapid decline in my health, I was diagnosed with a rare connective tissue disorder, called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Since my wrists were limp from a neck injury, I taped paper to the floor and used my feet as paint brushes. While I have regained some of my physical capacity since 2019, I still return to this practice as a way of integrating my creativity with how medicalized my life has become.

By creating in a way that is safe for my body, I move with curiosity and joy—states that can feel elusive when chronically unwell—and discover new storylines free from the constraints of injury, illness, and grief. This dance between what is injured and what is free becomes a practice in integrating the painful and sick parts of myself with the colorful and hopeful parts. And for a moment—twirling in my home studio in my pajamas—I move beyond the limitations of illness and am full of the possibility of being alive. With paint on my feet, I document it permanently.

Read my EDS story