Natalia Mesa in collaboration with Morenike Magbagbeola, the Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Surgical and Interventional Science (WEISS) at University College London (UCL), The University of the Arts London Post Graduate Community, and a group of people affected by amputation of limbs.
This blog post will be all about the workshop Reni, Simon and I hosted. It was truly incredible to meet the volunteers that showed up and I'm ever so grateful for their time and openness.
The workshop’s focus was to explore the complexity of touch sensation through the interaction of traumatic amputees with prosthetics. The underlying idea is that touch sensation is complex due to its layered nature. The “layers” are mechanical receptors, electrical signaling in the nervous system, chemical interpretation in the brain, cognitive perception, and on top of that, emotional and traumatic levels associated with prosthetics. One aim of this workshop was to present cutting edge technology in self adaptive vibrational feedback for upper limb prosthetics. More importantly, the aim was to listen to patients and learn from their experiences with prosthetics, to better understand the layered needs of people who use prosthetics and are in the process of healing their mind and body.
During the workshop our emphasis was on listening to the patients and talking about the following things:
Their experiences with prosthetics and what they think the best balance of high-tech to non-tech functionality is.
Their experiences with phantom limb pain and how using active prosthetics has changed their symptoms.
How they imagine the different physical and emotional layers of perception.
What their “dream” prosthetic would do.
Conversation was paired with art-making, each participant was mailed the necessary materials and a worksheet that outlined some art therapy inspired exercises. The exercises focused on expressing sensations of physical or emotional pain in the mind and body, taking the pain outside the body on a separate artwork, and then healing those emotions and sensations with new artistic expressions. Each step was made on a separate transparent acrylic sheet in order to then be able to layer each piece over each other and create a layered painting of experiences with prosthetics.
To read the full workshop report, go here: https://www.arts.ac.uk/study-at-ual/postgraduate-study/postgraduate-community/stories/prosthetics-layers-of-perception-natalia-mesa-echavarrias-surge-iii-artist-residency-workshop-report
In a bit of a more personal tone than the official workshop report above, here is the reflection I wrote the morning after the workshop:
"I took last night after the workshop to let my thoughts and feelings settle, but I must confess I was quite touched and happy until like midnight when I started getting sleepy. Now, thinking back to the workshop, the first thing that comes to mind is how nervous I was before I started, and before I had opened my mouth for the first time. And then how relaxed I was at the end. I’m so grateful to Simon and Reni for giving the workshop the professional structure it had, and for being so good at making small talk (I never learned how to make small talk in English).
Anyways, back to what’s important. We introduced ourselves and then Simon passed the baton to me and Reni to lead the session. I asked Reni to talk about her research a bit, and the participants were immediately interested and had things to say and questions to ask. It was getting so practical that I had to steer the conversation back to our planned topics and in the direction of art. I explained the “layers of perception” idea, the biological levels and psychological layers, and then walked them through the worksheet while showing them some examples. At the end, and I’m so grateful for her, a participants said she had autism and that that had been a lot of info, so could I please tell her the first thing I wanted her to do. She also pointed out she didn’t like the body outline provided (I saw this coming) and asked if she HAD to use it. Another participant quickly added to that saying something like “I don’t like the body outline either. It has two arms and two legs and I don’t.” I apologized and smiled and told them to please make the body outline their own, to make it something that reflected them.
We then transitioned into the making part of the workshop - everyone focused on their own work but sustaining conversations throughout. Reni had lots of questions to ask about the prosthetics, we also talked about phantom limb pain, and even talked about mixing colors, finger painting, and using the paintbrush in a variety of ways. Periodically one of us would show what we’d done and explain it. There were humorous moments and more serious moments, everyone shared parts of their trauma in their own way. Conversations frequented the topics of pain, isolation, shame and support systems.
Time from 6.30-8.30 absolutely flew by. When it was time to wrap up we went around sharing what we had painted and why. I made sure to listen attentively, give compliments and thanks, and ask direct but soft questions. Everyone seemed to express themselves honestly and freely, and we covered a range of topics when discussing our paintings. The participant’s artwork showed themes of anxiety, depression, identity changing, phantom limbs, and hope. Most of the participants also painted personal experiences from before their limb was amputated. I was left feeling touched, inspired, lucky, unlucky, and happy. "
