Chanika overview present/breath statement by Chanika Svetvilas published on 2022-05-06T19:43:19Z This is Chanika Svetvilas and my artist statement for present/breath. As someone who self-identifies with an invisible disability of bipolar disorder, I search for ways to describe my way of being. My presence of mind fluctuates, meanders, collides with memories and is not always present when medical treatment has pulled me away from myself instead of providing care. I use charcoal to describe my lived experience as a transformative material that in its activated form is used to absorb chemicals after a stomach is pumped from a drug overdose and as a tool that allows me to leave my mark including my mistakes. I use my own voice in text layered and smeared over medical ones juxtaposed with images like a rebus puzzle. My prescription bottle sculptures use humor and whimsy to convey the ironies of the alienation of treatment and healthcare disparities. To disrupt the alienation, I invite viewers to embrace themselves and write a self-affirmation on a reflective speech balloon to share with others as part of a community that is present in the gallery.