Terra Dumont, an artist and ME/CFS sufferer from Ōtautahi, Aotearoa (Christchurch, New Zealand), has been long involved with the Chronic Market so I’m delighted to feature her story.
In her words: “My mother is an artist, so I grew up spending a lot of time creating art. As a child and teenager I especially enjoyed doing realistic specimen drawings of insects, spiders and plants.
When I went to university I focused my energy on study, tramping, climbing, alpinism and environmental activism. Art more or less fell by the wayside. Then, on 18 November 2011, my 23rd birthday, everything changed. I came down with a small virus and never recovered. I was diagnosed with ME/CFS about a year later. Since then I have been relearning how to live my life. Re-engaging with art has been an important part of this as I am unable to work and my other pastimes are no longer possible for me.
Part of this journey has been creating a new relationship with art. Realism and illustration takes more concentration than I have and can trigger my anxiety when something doesn’t turn out like I want it to. As such, I have moved towards more interpretive forms of art such as jewelry, linoleum printing, knitting and embroidery. In addition, I have started the practice of nalanda miksang (contemplative photography) which combines three of my favourite things – art, nature and meditation. All my work is inspired by my love of nature.”
Check out Terra’s beautiful work here.