2019
Hospital cloths, screenprint
From the exhibition “Injection” at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen.
I spoke with a mother who’s child had been seriously ill ten years ago. I asked her how she had experienced this and what thoughts she as a parent had gone through in such a situation.
A few days later I received an email with ten sentences. These sentences became the starting point and the narrative of the work "Thoughts from a mother, ten years later"
THOUGHTS FROM A MOTHER
(TEN YEARS LATER)
ALL THE PRINTED TEXT ON THE CLOTHES
-WITH EMPTY MINDS WE ARE WAITING IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM
-BUT YOU CAN ALSO CHOOSE TO FIGHT, DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE
-I WANT NOTHING ELSE THAN FOR MY CHILD TO BE HEALTHY
-AS A PARENT YOUR MIND BECOMES COMPLETELY EMPTY, WE ARE HELPLESS AND OUT OF THE CHILD'S WORLD
-YOU FEEL HELPLESS WHEN YOU CAN'T SAVE YOUR CHILD
-PREPARED TO DO ANYTHING, BUT CAN DO NOTHING, NO COMFORT WILL REACH. WE CAN HUG
-THE CHILD AND THE PARENTS ARE SEPARATED INTO DIFFERENT WORLDS, NO HELP IS NEAR
-CURSING THE DOCTORS WHO CAN'T MAKE OUR CHILD HEALTHY
-WISH TO KEEP THE WORRY AWAY, ONLY FOR A LITTLE WHILE. A MOVIE ON TV CHASE AWAY THE THOUGHTS FOR A FEW MINUTES NOW AND THEN, ONLY TO CONSTANTLY RETURN
-AS A MOTHER ALL YOU WANT IS TO EMBRACE YOUR CHILD, CONSTANTLY
-I'M SAD
Foto: Johanne Anastasia Stoffersen