Artist Statement

A bandaid is temporary. It feels reassuring in the moment, but over time it begins to peel losing its purpose. This is how hospitals often treat women’s health: offering quick fixes instead of searching for the root cause of pain.

As a woman, I’ve had to constantly advocate for my own health. Each new challenge feels like another battle just to be heard to convince doctors that my pain deserves attention. I’ve spent months pushing for tests, waiting to see specialists, only to be met with dismissive care and ineffective prescriptions. These temporary “solutions” feel like bandaids superficial relief that never heals the wound. I’m grateful my situation isn’t life or death, but I can’t help to ask: What if it was? Or someone, facing the same struggle as mine, but running out of time?

If you are a woman, this might sound familiar: “Exercise.” “You’re fine.” And their favorite “Go on birth control.” One in three women are still waiting for a formal diagnosis, and nearly a quarter have yet to even begin the process often out of fear of being dismissed as dramatic.

With this piece, I invite you to participate in diagnosing the woman on the wall. Each bandaid represents a dismissal, a temporary fix, a failure to listen. Ask yourself: does covering the problem ever heal or does it reveal the cracks in our healthcare system?