The Unnatural Conversion of Energy

Image description: Charlie is a young white man with short brown hair. He is wearing glasses and white shirt with colorful stripes. He is looking at the camera with trees in the background.

2022

by Charlie Reynolds

Image Description: Four black and white images depict a young man in a wheelchair. There are ghost-like apparitions around his arms and head that display movement. Although the movements are hard to see, they depict the man having a seizure.

Conversion disorder is a condition in which a person experiences physical and sensory problems, such as paralysis, numbness, blindness, deafness or seizures, with no underlying neurologic issues. The brain converts extreme amounts of stress into physical symptoms as a form of defense. Despite living with these seizures for ten years, I have grappled with the issue of how to creatively document my seizures. I wanted to capture the movement and brutal honesty of these events. With the help of some fellow artists, I induced a seizure while burst images were taken and later layered together.

Charlie Reynolds (he/him) is a conceptual artist who explores themes of war, gender, and disability using fibers, installations, and sculpture. During his time at the University of Michigan, Charlie hopes to expand his practice with a specific interest in weaving, hand dyeing, and quilting.