Description

This clothwork representation of a human hand with polyester stuffing was created by co-producer Juliet Eccles for display in the co-curated gallery trail "Nothing Without Us: Experiences of Disability" at the Pitt Rivers Museum, curated by Kyle Lewis Jordan, running from 16th November 2023 - 6th October 2024.

This artpiece - alongside "A Feeling Like Wearing a Glove" and "The Kintsugi Heart" - depicts the embodied experience of Juliet and her brothers Patrick and Christopher, each of whom experienced disablement in their childhoods that was shaped by the medical care they had received.

Community curation: Chris (1970 to 2008) lived with Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva. A debilitating disease where bone forms in muscles, other soft tissues of the body and joints, restricting movement. The first sign is being born with crooked big toes. A surgeon’s brutal intervention to straighten Chris’s toes triggered a flare up that made the surgeon realise his mistake. His words – “Oh my god, what have I done” – resonated in my mothers’ ears. The genetic mutation of the white blood cell travels to where there is a flare up and slowly over the years, your body becomes distorted and encased in bone. - Juliet E, an artist who also happens to be disabled