Because pain is not visible, people often discount, or simply don’t believe, a person’s suffering; if seeing is believing, artist Kyrianna’s show at ScienceWorks underscores the reality of pain

By Art Van Kraft for Ashland.news

A unique and occasionally startling art exhibit is on display at ScienceWorks Museum. The paintings are the work of local artist Kyrianna, who says her portraits are designed to illustrate people’s chronic pain or illnesses, conditions that she says are often hidden.

Her installation of portraits, titled “Chronic Conditions Through the Lens of Nature,” is on display at the museum’s STEAM Gallery through the end of April. The gallery will host a reception for Kyrianna from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24.

Kyrianna calls her work therapeutic, chronic condition portraiture. She uses images of people surrounded by a variety of flies, beetles, mushrooms, thorns or other creatures or plants to achieve her goal. 

Primarily working one-on-one with people living with chronic conditions, Kyrianna creates surrealist watercolor portraits while also exploring a range of mixed media, installation and performance art. Her work focuses on disability, incorporating themes of feminism, intersectionality, psychology and nature.

“I use a lot of native plants and insects that are represented here in the portraits. I chose many portraits based on their botanical illustrations. The mushrooms in one portrait are from this area and they are parasitic and grow out of trees.”

Living with pain

The artist said she knows firsthand about chronic pain and its elusive nature. 

“I’ve had pretty severe chronic pain since I was 12, so I started self-portraits to visually articulate that to people. The pain I have is invisible and I look like a very able-bodied person in their prime,” she said. “I can’t show people what I feel like, so painting became a way to express the pain. It wasn’t supposed to look pleasant or pretty. We’re visual creatures, and I think people can use a visual metaphor to attach to other people’s afflictions.” 

Kyrianna said she uses nature as a metaphor. 

“I use a lot of native plants and insects that are represented here in the portraits. I chose many portraits based on their botanical illustrations. The mushrooms in one portrait are from this area and they are parasitic and grow out of trees.”

Speaking of a specific portrait, she said, “This person has a chronic fatigue condition, so I thought the mushrooms were a good metaphor of sapping her energy.” 

The person she’s describing is her mother. 

“My mother has chronic fatigue conditions, so I thought this was a really good metaphor for that condition because this shows something sapping from her and she looks really fatigued. There are lot of these metaphors throughout my work,” she said, “having a connection between the natural elements and what’s going on in the human body.” 

Insect as metaphor

One striking painting illustrates a man who was in a car accident.

“He had a lot of lasting pain from that and he was telling me about this constant overstimulation, like buzzing, that he felt. We came up with cicadas because they’re so loud and they can be quite overstimulating.

“I don’t come up with all the ideas on my own. I want to people to feel like they have authentic representation of their symptoms; I came up with my own as well,” she said.  

One of Kyrianna’s favorite paintings is on display. “Blackberries,” she said, illustrates what it’s like being trapped in a thorny blackberry bush. 

“Blackberries grow all around the Pacific Northwest and they are a great metaphor for being stuck in a berry patch. You know it isn’t easy to move around without getting poked. Lots of types of chronic pain get worse with movement. You can see how trapped this person is in the painting. It’s a self-portrait,” she said.

Getting others to believe

The artist said she paints to help victims of chronic pain, but in a unique way. She said one of the greatest hurdles faced by pain sufferers is the outright disbelief from others that any such condition is even being experienced. Kyrianna said she knows a great deal about invisible, chronic pain herself.  

“Developing a chronic condition takes away the agency you have over your own life. It’s confusing, often painful, maybe embarrassing at times,” she said. “I have a lot of days where I can’t stand or sit for a long time so, I can have trouble cooking for myself or even getting dressed some days.” 

“It’s called a dynamic disability, meaning it’s not the same every day. It’s very unpredictable. A lot of people experience conditions like that.”

‘Blown away’ by artwork

Liz Koonce, exhibits coordinator at ScienceWorks, said Kyrianna’s work has something important to say to the the museum’s younger visitors.

“We have an open call on our website where artists apply,” Koonce said, “We like to focus on things that have a bit of a science bent. But art is such a big part of what we do here that we are open to alternatives. When we saw Kyrianna’s work we were blown away by some of her artwork. It is such a unique way to talk about chronic illness, and I think it’s super important to expose kids to that in a way that’s not scary but actually kind of beautiful.”

Kyrianna works locally.

“I have a tiny cabin in Talent where I spend my time mostly painting. My parents are both psychotherapists. “They’re very good with feeling, and I’m supported that way,” she said. 

The artist charges a $500 minimum starting cost for a portrait. Her website is kyrianna.art.

“I started a support group for people with chronic conditions when I was living in Tacoma, Washington,” before she moved back to Rogue Valley, she said. “I use social media to find clients and word of mouth. I’ve been painting portraits for a decade now.”

More common than you might think

Kyrianna cited a study done in 2017 that she says found that “Over 60% of adults live with at least one chronic condition. Maybe that’s you, your parent, your child or maybe your best friend, but they’ve never told you.” 

“In our culture there is rarely space to talk about pain or discomfort. I want to change that,” she said.

As part of “Chronic Conditions Through the Lens of Nature,” ScienceWorks is inviting guests to participate in a hands-on “Body Scan” activity in which visitors are encouraged to reflect on how sensations and emotions “live” in different parts of their bodies and to associate colors with those feelings.

A template is provided for guests to color their own self-portrait and take it home.

ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, go to scienceworksmuseum.org.

Art Van Kraft is an artist living in Ashland and a former broadcast journalist and news director of a Los Angeles-area National Public Radio affiliate. Email him at [email protected].