TITLE: Curtains wide open

This photoseries represents a time in my life where I learned about my chronical illness. An auto-immune disease was attacking my kidneys, causing fatique and pain. Besides challenging the relationship with my body, the illness kept me partly homebound and enormously bored. After spending about two weeks in my room I started to make photos again, from my bed. I waited until the sun hit my bed and played with shadows. My body barely being able to hold my hands up; vulnerable, in pain and broken. 'Curtains wide open' is about connecting through our weaknesses and showing the pain that otherwise stays hidden.

AUTHOR: Ilse de Cock (Netherlands)

I am Ilse (hi) and am a multi-faceted fine artist and designer, primarily working with photography, paint, drawing, video and poetry. After studying Industrial Design at TU Delft, I choose to go on a different path in my career. I began carving out my unique style, exploring psychology, the body under stress and the female form. What started as means of sharing my creativity turned into my career, and so here we are. Over the past 2 years I have had the pleasure of experimenting and redefining my focus.