My partner, Carmen has lived with rheumatism since her mid-forties and over the years this “silent” affliction has progressed, manifesting itself in deformed extremities bringing pain, stiffness and difficulty in many tasks, even simple ones and overflows into feelings of frustration, anger and, moreover, a sensation of constantly being tired, torpid and slow.
More than a million people suffer from this disease in Mexico; 75% are women. Globally it is 100+ million yet there is little diffusion from a personal or artistic standpoint. The hope is that this project will be, in its small way, a voice for those living with rheumatism and “getting on with life”. The intention of this on going project is to document Carmen’s day to day with the disease while maintaining a successful academic career, to bring to the fore both the normality but also the frustrations of daily life of someone getting on with living (as the majority of sufferers do) with no fanfares or recognition of her strength and perseverance.