A View From Inside
2011
Ten framed Lightjet photographic prints, each 76x 100 cm
How do we define 'reality'? In order to explore this intriguing question, a set of pictorial conventions have been re-appropriated to represent the experiences of people whose sense of reality does not always coincide with that of others. The ten portrait photographs that make up â??A View From Insideâ?? draw on the principals of eighteenth century portrait painting to give form to some of the unique realities encountered by different people during psychotic episodes. Whilst the people I have photographed here all appear entirely â??normalâ??, their ability to function within society has, to varying degrees, been affected by the experience of a psychotic â??disorderâ?? such as Bipolar or Schizophrenia. Visual, auditory and other sensory phenomena that occur during a psychotic episode contradict accepted notions of what constitutes 'reality', and yet for one person they are absolutely real.
In each photograph the external appearance and the internal experiences of the subject are depicted within a single, formally structured portrait. The aim is not to exoticise the â??unrealâ?? or bizarre perceptual experiences of the people portrayed, but to find a visual language that will provoke discussion and add to our understanding of the experience of mental illness, and of psychosis in particular.
Alexa Wright works with photography, video, sound and interactive digital media. She has worked across the domains of art and science for more than ten years. Most of Alexaâ??s projects involve collaborations with medical scientists and/or people with medical conditions or disabilities. Her work explores philosophical questions concerning human identity and its boundaries. It also aims to raise public awareness of the conditions it references.
Alexaâ??s photographic projects include Opera Interna, a series of digitally manipulated portraits of opera singers, selected for the International Women Artistsâ?? Biennale, Korea (2007), and also shown in â??El cuerpo (con)sentidoâ??, Centro the Historia, Zaragoza, Spain (2008). Her video installation, Cover Story (2008), which investigates the functions of the human face, was part of DaDa International, Liverpool, in 2010. The interactive installation, Conversation Piece was shown at Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast as part of ISEA 2009 and in â??Like Shadows, An Exploration of Shynessâ??, Phoenix Arts Centre, Brighton, UK (2011).
Alexaâ??s works have been shown in a number of other prestigious contexts, including Powerhouse Museum, Sydney (2006); FILE â??07, SESI Art Gallery, Sao Paolo, Brazil (2007); â??The Naked Portraitâ??, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh (2007) and Compton Vernay (2008); DaDa International, Liverpool, (2010) and â??The Definition of Selfâ??, 21_21 Design Sight Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2010).
In 2011 Alexa took part in a residency at The Banff Centre, where she developed the photographic series, â??All Thatâ??s Left Behindâ?? and the video installation, â??Heart of the Matterâ??. She has just completed â??A View From Insideâ?? (2011), a series of photographic portraits of people who experience psychosis that questions our consensual notion of reality. The photographs are accompanied by a book, with essays by Jeanne Randolph and Graham Thornicroft. Alexa is currently working on a single-authored book entitled â??Monstrosities, the human monster in visual cultureâ??, to be published in London by IB Tauris in 2013.
