Following its inaugural showing at DaDaFest International 2022, we’ve been delighted to see continued appreciation in 2023 for Mark Peachey’s ‘Keep Clear’ project.
Keep Clear, is an autobiographical photography exhibition which was supported by St Helens Libraries in partnership with DaDa as part of our 2022 festival programme, and documents the artist's experiences of Covid-19 and shielding.
It has since toured venues throughout Merseyside, with one of its pieces, ‘Rehab Exercises’, also recently selected for inclusion in the Liverpool City Region Photography Awards Exhibition at Open Eye Gallery. ‘Rehab Exercises’ furthermore received a commendation in the awards’ Portrait category, which recognises ‘how we learn about something through human context’ asking ‘what are the stories a face can tell?’.
Reflecting on his commended artwork, Peachey tells us:
“I wanted to get my experience as a disabled person living with the after-effects of Covid-19 to a wider audience.
I think many people with long-term health issues will empathise with the experience of self-treatment. Because I already have severe asthma, Covid-19 hit me especially hard and so daily rehab exercises to help strengthen my lungs are especially important.
So little is known about the long-term effects of Covid that many people get a bit of help and then are left to pick up the pieces of recovery alone.
That was partly the point of my photograph, to convey the daily routine of doing these exercises as part of the slow grind of getting better. But I also wanted to channel my experiences in a positive way and found photographing them to be therapeutic. It restored a sense of control.
People with disabilities are often made to feel like a nuisance and I wanted to show that having a disability can fuel your creative expression, that your experiences are just as interesting and worthy of attention as people who don't have disabilities.”
Discover all the artists selected for the Liverpool City Region Photography Awards Exhibition over on Open Eye Gallery's website, and find out more about Keep Clear in our Events archive:
https://openeye.org.uk/whatson/2023-liverpool-city-region-photo-awards-winners/