Ebb & Flow

#ebbflow2023

Ebb & Flow is a project aimed at fostering a collaborative exchange of knowledge between artists, researchers, and carers of individuals with dementia. Our goal is to delve into the complexities of uncertainty and the challenges it presents in these three different contexts.  
Over a month using the sea as a metaphor, participants will be invited to use text and/or images to record their experiences of uncertainty in a digital or analogue logbook.

The material collected from this process will be shared with the community through a newsletter and will be the foundation for the creation of an Ebb & Flow card deck. This card deck will be an accessible, interactive tool for us by other researchers, artists and carers to express their thoughts and feelings relating to uncertainty. It will provide a unique and engaging way for individuals to connect with each other and share their experiences in a meaningful and impactful way. The project aims to dissolve hierarchies and create a safe and inclusive space where all perspectives and experiences surrounding the feeling of uncertainty are valued equally and participants can share and learn from each other.

Maria del Mar Estarellas Garcia: PhD student in medical imaging at the Centre for Medical Imaging Computing (CMIC). Her PhD project aims to model the heterogeneity of Alzheimer’s Disease. Painter, neuroscientist and nature enthusiast.

Tatiana Alvarez Giovannucci: Postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease. She is using neuronal models derived from human stem cells to study the dynamics of proteins used as biomarkers of neurodegeneration.

Lucy Steggals: Artist and Integrative Art Psychotherapist. Her practice centers around co- creating  safe human spaces to play, embrace unknowing, have authentic conversations and take risks. She has experience of working on commissions in healthcare settings including working with people living with dementia and with researchers.

We connected over a shared interest in exploring the value of uncertainty in different contexts and became quickly curious about what it might be to embrace, value, make visible and foster a creative exchange.