unframed
pastel, pencil on paper
About the creation
I spend a third of my life in bed with migraines. No amount of “right living,” medical or alternative procedures bring relief, and the pain can get so intense that I disassociate from my body, I simply abandon it.  The Nkisi is a power figure used throughout the Congo Basin in Central Africa. These sculptures known as "power objects" or "charms"  could be human or animal figures that are easily identified by a collection of pegs, blades, nails, or other sharp objects stuck into its surface. I decided to make my own power objects. I ‘will’ my drawings into power objects. I crowd the images with patter, mark, texture, and colour reflecting the malignant hope for migraine relief, the healthy return of a body that has once abandoned me - Marlise Keith