According to the Mayo Clinic, Insomnia is defined as “a common sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or cause you to wake up too early and not be able to get back to sleep. You may still feel tired when you wake up. Insomnia can sap not only your energy level and mood but also your health, work performance and quality of life.”
I have dealt with insomnia on and off for the past eighteen years. It is not fun going through these sleepless periods, but when I do, I try to take advantage of it by making art. One of my heroes is the late Louise Bourgeois who also suffered from insomnia and created countless numbers of “Insomnia Drawings” over her lifetime. I started doing the same except using my camera to try and capture what it feels like when insomnia takes over. I try to recreate and interpret the blur and haziness that encapsulates my mind during these episodes. I use my body as a way to examine my emotional state and what is happening in my mind during this insomniac period.
