The Care Archive

Nanyang Academy Of Fine Arts Unit 6

Project Proposal

Noyona Kenenza Renee Jia Hui Sarita

INITIAL IDEAS

The Assisi Hospice team and the art therapists had laid out a selection of magazine cut-outs for us to choose from in our first activity. We were immediately able to see her character shine through her chosen images.

3 INITIAL IMAGES THAT SISTER EUCHARIA CHOSE DURING THE FIRST EXERCISE AT ASSISI HOSPICE

Keywords: Light & Shadow Sacrifice & Loss Out of Our Control Hands as instrument of care

Her soft, frail hands moved and wove a narrative of helping children in need, giving one’s light away instead of keeping it hidden away inside and seeing hope in the sunset.

INITIAL IDEAS

As a collective, we intend to shed light on Sister Eucharia’s journey and the altruistic life she has spent in service. Sister Eucharia’s mission has led her down a unique path that has exposed her to the deepest shadows of the human condition and it is here where people like her find their calling and shine brightest. Our initial ideas were to incorporate themes of light and shadow into our artwork because of its interdependent nature i.e. one cannot exist without the other. The dual nature of light and dark is paralleled in Sister Eucharia’s relationship with giving and receiving. She provides care unconditionally; finding hope in the darkest of places and providing hope to those who need it the most (for eg. Caring for the children during her mission in Nigeria and the Chinese opium smokers that she provided beds and shelter for).

A PICTURE OF SISTER EUCHARIA

DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROJECT

Cross-culturally, numerous sacred texts have compared sunlight to God’s love, guidance and the blessing of life. Thus, our desired outcome is to create an installation piece that incorporates natural light.

Additionally, although we are working with natural light as a symbol of hope; as a creative element, it is also a force largely out of our control - thus alluding to Sister Eucharia’s unpredictable external circumstances during her mission that she had to learn to work with.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROJECT

However, as our meetings and bond with Sister progressed and deepened so did our concept. We realized knowing Sister is to know her through others. What began as hope, being the line of direction in our work evolved as Sister Eucharia shows her archival photos of the life in service. How the life of service is very unpredictable and one have to be adaptable when doing it.

STORIES FROM SISTER EUCHARIA

Getting to know Sister Eucharia

She joined the family of FMDM as a sister at the age of 18.

Sister Eucharia is a Catholic and was given a name derived from the ‘Eucharist’ which translates to ‘the body of Christ’. It also means Thanksgiving.

She worked in the operating theater, in maternity outpatient care. She worked in the ICU, as an on-call pharmacist in the evenings and in palliative care at the Assisi Hospice.

One of Sister Eucharia’s many purposes was to join FMDM missionary congregation. She wanted to travel to Africa in particular, and had intended to stay for 2 years but stayed on for 13 years, working in providing primary health care.

STORIES FROM SISTER EUCHARIA Challenges in care practices

Sister Eucharia’s brother was diagnosed with cancer in 2009, he started a cancer support group the same year and shared his concerns with Sister Eucharia regarding who would take over the support group after his passing.

Sister Eucharia has honored her brother’s legacy by devoting most of her free time outside of the FMDM to run the cancer support group which has been running for 11 years so far. She accompanies the cancer patients along their journey through remission by hosting meetings once a month. She creates a space for them to reflect on and share their experiences with their illness.

Sister Eucharia helped care and provide beds for opium smokers from China in Villa Francis. She recounted how the nuns wanted to lift the addicts from the dumps and the patients were shocked by the care they received because it was so unexpected.

At the start of her mission in Nigeria, there was only one clinic, no labs and no testing kits. Therefore, she was challenged to adapt quickly and to learn the importance of working with the limited resources. She learned from the locals the value in minimal possessions. ‘They (the Nigerians) always have hope’ she said.

STORIES FROM SISTER EUCHARIA

Values & Advice from Sister Eucharia

Sister Eucharia served in Nigeria. She learned the importance of adapting, embracing/fitting in with the people in order for the Nigerians to accept the sisters.

Sister Eucharia advised us on how we could make a difference in other people’s lives - she suggested we start small, within our class and eventually return to our countries to help those in need. She firmly believes that we can make a difference everywhere we go.

Sister Eucharia’s approach to care is to give unconditionally and without expectation. She understands that whatever she gives to those who are suffering is never lost because by giving, she has also received through service which has deepened her faith and connection to God. She advised us to look to the past with gratitude for it brought us to where we are today, to live in the present with passion for no one knows what is to come and to look to the future with hope.

She reminded us to stay grounded to our roots no matter where life takes us and to make a difference to the places that shaped us. She said that the ties we have to our family and our country are strong and contain immense value and it is important to remember and be proud of where we came from and who our people are. We are the future and we must make the most of it.

ARTWORK STATEMENT

Title: The Care Archives (2022)

Medium: 45 Cyanotypes prints

Dimensions: Dimensions Variable

The Archivers Collective -

Kenenza Michiko Hasan, Noyona Biswas, Renee Yeo, Sarita Abeyesundere, Yu Jia Hui

The mapping of Sister Eucharia’s photographs, letters and hands encapsulates a single extraordinary life. Sister Eucharia is a gentle force to be reckoned with. She has given her life to service since the age of 18 and has shown immense care for others through multiple avenues. We gained an intimate perspective through her personal lens of evocative photographs that showed a creative sensitivity towards the people and places she encountered during her mission. She took great care to identify each person in the photographs and provide invaluable context to each setting in order to create a full and rich picture. We have showcased this archive of care by using her hands; i.e. ‘her instruments of care’ in creating a map. This map is intertwined with the lives and experiences of people she has touched in her life. To know her is to know her through others. Thus, the hands in the cyanotypes reach out and run across the entire body of work.

Since Sister Eucharia’s life has been a journey of both uncertainty and hope, the sunlight that is required to expose the cyanotype prints symbolizes the unpredictability of a life of service as well as the beacon of light that Sister Eucharia has been for others.

The map centers round the two largest prints on the adjoining walls that are placed as milestones of her journey. The left being, leaving home to join the Franciscan Missionary and growing the preliminary branches of her family tree. The other symbolizing the expanding of this family tree around the world and her invaluable work in service. We hoped to bring forth her light to the world and showcase a glimpse into a life of faith, hardship, sacrifice and service. We now pose these questions to each of you, What does it take to live a life of service?

Looking back at your own life, what would your archive of care look like?

Cyanotype Photography Method - using light in the process

Using the experiences and values of Sister Eucharia to create work on her life stories and service.

Using hands as an instrument of care. Zoomed-in pictures of the hands, focusing on abstract texture, lines, and character.

Resembling a map/topography lines using collage photos.

Handwritten notes & photos from Sister Eucharia will be included in the process. A map of Sister Eucharia's life story and journey. Natural light used in cyanotype is uncontrollable. In the journey of a life of service, loss and sacrifice are also uncontrollable elements.

When Sister Eucharia destroyed most of her belongings, she said it is to let go. The outcome of cyanotype also really depends on the weather, we can only control so much.

Artist reference: Barbara Kasten

CYANOTYPE STUDIES NEGATIVE PRINT

TESTING THE NEGATIVE EDIT FOR THE CYANOTYPE PRINTS

CYANOTYPE STUDIES OUTCOME

CYANOTYPE OUTCOME FROM THE NEGATIVE PRINTS

REFINED DIGITAL PROTOTYPE IN THE SPACE

DIGITAL LAYOUT ON THE PANTRY SPACE

LAYOUT OF THE FINAL PRINTS

GROUP REFLECTION

Her manner of speaking was clear and decisive, her mind was undoubtedly razor sharp and it was evident that she had journeyed through countless lives within her lifetime. She was no taller than 5 feet, her energy commanded the entire table.

When the time was up, we held her hands in ours and asked if we could each get a hug. Some of us were moved to tears by the interaction as a whole.

We assured her that we intend to respect her story and create an artwork that encapsulated her life, mission and narrative.

Sister Eucharia is a deeply spiritual and empathic, highly intelligent, and a very grounded person, whom we have so much to learn from. Her perspective of the world and her actions to prove it are an inspiration to all of us.

Cyanotype prints as a medium is something that we tried for the first time. It captured the unpredictability of a life of service. that we want to portray because we can only do so much to plan beforehand.

Overall it was such a good refreshing medium for us to continue our practice with. Cyanotype as a medium teache us to be patience and be adaptable to change.