ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is focused on my life and my body as they interact with chronic illness and healing. At a young age, I was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis, a bladder disease, and was additionally diagnosed with the sexual dysfunctions vaginismus and vestibulodynia after years of being misdiagnosed and not having my pain believed by medical professionals. These dysfunctions, which are characterized by severe vaginal, pelvic, and penetrative pain, were the source of a lot of anger and depression in my early adulthood, and I began to channel those emotions directly into my artwork as a way to productively work through them. In my artistic practice, I utilize digital and analog photography, alternative processes, and text-based imagery to create self-portraits and autobiographical work about the subjects surrounding sex: both in its pain and its pleasure, and my progress towards healing both physically and mentally. I frequently incorporate vaginal dilators and sex toys into my work, showcasing the evolution of something sterile and frightening to comfortable and fun. My work provides an archive of my health and my healing and functions as a means of catharsis, but even more, it opens space for discussion of the taboo topics of female sexual dysfunctions and how they impact relationships with yourself and others.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sarah Eckstine (b. 1998) is an artist from Western Maryland currently pursuing her MFA at Illinois State University, where she teaches photography. She received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2020 where she was the recipient of the Jim Burger ’82 Senior Thesis Project Award and the A. Claire Gaskins Harper ’41 Scholarship. Her work has been featured in Filter Photo’s ‘Back on the Shelf’ exhibition in Chicago, Illinois, the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts annual photography exhibition where she received the 2nd Place Juror’s Award in 2021, McLean County Arts Center, the Midwest Center for Photography, JKC Gallery, a two-person exhibition at the Central Illinois Regional Airport, and in her solo exhibition ‘From The Inside’ at Rachel Cooper Gallery in 2023. She has been published in Shots Magazine, Curious Magazine, Able Zine, Soft Lightning Studio, Fifth Wheel Press, The Luna Collective, and Aeonian Magazine. She was most recently a 2023 resident artist at Mother’s Milk in Newton, Kansas and the recipient of Illinois State University’s Robert W. Small Award and Rhonda Nicol Memorial Book Award.
© Sarah Eckstine