The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
Veronica North
Cincinnati Ohio 45245 United StatesHome 4233 N Gensen Loop unit b County: OH
Cincinnati Ohio 45245-7060 United States
Artist Statement
In my assemblage art, I combine sculpted wire words with physical evidence of the experiences of people like me—who live with chronic illness and disability. I explore the physical and psychological impacts of those experiences and reveal the truths, struggles, needs, and desires that we often carry silently.
Wire phrases making bold statements about our reality are joined by tangible proof of it: medication packaging, medical supply paraphernalia, excerpts from documents related to medical care, scholarly research papers, news articles, and blog posts chronicling our experiences and their impacts.
The wire statements in my work reflect the frustration, sadness, and rage birthed by my battle to have a good quality of life with chronic pain, illness and disability—a battle that is largely due to corporate greed, bureaucracy, and the societal pressures and expectations placed upon people in my situation. The statements articulate my lived and shared experience of chronic illness and disability as a more objective truth—more legitimate than the narratives often heard from healthcare providers, insurance systems, and society. The complex, time-intensive creation of these wire phrases mirrors the complexity and time-consuming nature of life with chronic illness and disability. They are statements grounded in undeniable lived realities, whereas “official” narratives and societal stereotypes often obscure or misrepresent those realities.
These statements are in dialogue with the healthcare paraphernalia in my work—they are a “voiceover” speaking the more objective truth of lived experience that the physical detritus doesn’t communicate alone. With the wire words in place, the paper collaged within much of my work—health insurance and medical documents, scholarly research, patient accounts, and investigative reporting—are reframed as supporting evidence of the truth of my lived experience. The excerpts become proof, of medical gaslighting, bureaucratic red tape, and the corporate greed, inefficiency, and incompetence of health insurance providers.
