Liliana Zaharia: On a scale from 1 to 10

Liliana Zaharia is a fine art photographer, interested in the everyday life, identity and belonging. Her latest multidisciplinary project, 'On a scale from 1 to 10' explores the representation of physical pain.

'On a scale from 1 to 10' explores the representation of physical pain through a series of photographs, videos and interviews informed by personal experience. Artist Liliana Zaharia is working in collaboration with Psychotherapist Irina Petreanu to draw on the experience of pain in order to explore a variety of means of expression. Through a lack of narrative, the body of work proposes a more perceptual approach to pain, closer to a poetic form of expression rather than a documentary style approach.

Calling into question the existing vocabulary for expressing the intensity of pain in the medical community, the title suggests the most common phrase that one will hear on a hospital bed: 'On a scale from 1 to 10, how bad is your pain?'. The insufficiency of the scale (as well as personal inability) in expressing the complex feeling of an episode of pain, formed the basis of the exploration. Tension or weakness, spasm or numbness, the contradictions in body episodes also explore the unseen, psychological impact such as anxiety, depression, shame, that can contribute in making pain an intrinsically personal and isolating experience.

Both domestic and public spaces appear in the imagery to construct re-imagined situations and explore the boundaries and connections with the environment. The videos and images relate to the experience of pain and underline the emotional dynamics through a performative form, while the audio tracks explore the psychological effects on a more personal level. The viewer can observe and relate to the visual representations without any recognizable health condition and the subject remains open to interpretation and questioning.

Liliana was selected following a callout from Free Space Project, London and was commissioned to create this online exhibition. Her live talk with Jennifer Gilbert was recorded and will be uploaded to the website very soon. You can view the exhibition online here until 12th October 2020. 

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