A Companion
2022
Collaboration with Janine Soenens
‘A Companion’ tests ways in which we can encapsulate a relational experience through a process led approach exploring notions of presence and absence in relation to intimacy.
This collaboration stemmed from a shared experience of living with autoimmune disease, chronic pain and fatigue, through a creative exploration of intuitive subtle communication.
Through weekly meetings, Daniella (based in London UK) and Janine (based in Lima, Peru) attuned into each other’s experience by sharing virtual space and doing automatic drawing together. After this process they developed small wearable objects that evoked the presence of the other, with the intention of creating a felt sense of companionship.
Daniella and Janine are childhood friends, they’re both artists with experiences of migration and chronic illness.
A Companion was funded by the Unlimited and British Council Micro Grant scheme.
Collaboration with Janine Soenens
‘A Companion’ tests ways in which we can encapsulate a relational experience through a process led approach exploring notions of presence and absence in relation to intimacy.
This collaboration stemmed from a shared experience of living with autoimmune disease, chronic pain and fatigue, through a creative exploration of intuitive subtle communication.
Through weekly meetings, Daniella (based in London UK) and Janine (based in Lima, Peru) attuned into each other’s experience by sharing virtual space and doing automatic drawing together. After this process they developed small wearable objects that evoked the presence of the other, with the intention of creating a felt sense of companionship.
Daniella and Janine are childhood friends, they’re both artists with experiences of migration and chronic illness.
A Companion was funded by the Unlimited and British Council Micro Grant scheme.
Daniella Valz Gen
Acompañante (for Janine)
A paper weight for the heart with hand dyed recycled fabric
using herbal remedies and automatic embroidery. This small
weighted object tangentially explores the idea of touch by
riffing on the soothing effects of a weighted blanket.
Janine Soenens
Apachurrarte (for Daniella)
“Since I can’t fully close my hands at the moment I took a mold of how
I'm able to squeeze in clay, so Daniella can somehow “grab my hands”.
