Screaming Bath, Mixed media, 2020

Fitted with showerhead, plug, overflow and taps, two red leather chairs are pushed together to form a bath. Displayed in public on a patterned rug, the piece references the trappings of Freud’s couch and a traditional talk therapist’s treatment room.

This work comes out of personal experiences during therapy. Initially starting in chairs facing each other, after several sessions the therapist suggested I lie on the couch and see if that helped me open up. The moment I lay down, I was transported back to being in the bath as a child and the incidents that had happened there. I tried to speak but my throat had started to close, and as I lost all breath I tried to scream but it was as if my own body was trying to strangle me rather than voice those experiences. The session ended immediately.