Fourth Migraine Art Competition

By Matthew V. Gale

"Did you say pig, or fig?" said the Cat.

"I said pig," replied Alice; "and I wish you wouldn't keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly: you make me feel quite giddy."

"All right," said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly: beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.

The Duchess's vanishing Cheshire Cat is one of the curious phenomena which identified Lewis Carroll as a migraine sufferer. The vanishing "quite slowly" bears comparison with the gradual advance of a scotoma in the field of vision; and his use of these effects, in the story and in the original drawings, provides something of a precedent for the works submitted to the 4th Migraine Art Competition, jointly sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim and the British Migraine Association.

The Competition provided an enormous variety of impressions and styles, as the entrants sought to express their migraines. Like Lewis Carroll, many had chosen to depict the peculiar physical and visual hallucinations which herald the headache itself. Thus there were interrupted self-portraits and landscapes; works with pieces cut away, others with bits stuck on. Other entrants concentrated on the food, lights or noises which trigger attacks, and the feeling of isolation and victimization, interrupting social activity.

The different problems depicted were matched by an extensive use of materials ranging from pen and ink, via watercolour and acrylic, to collage and heavy impasto. Each problem and the material chosen for its depiction clearly reflected the individual entrant, and although some betrayed an artistic training, they by no means overpowered the directness with which the other, less skillfull, entrants expressed themselves.

Drawing migraines in their various stages is an act of communication sometimes more eloquent than words. The competition brings these efforts together, as a bank of information for the medical profession, and so that fellow migraineurs can recognize the experience of others. Entering the competition is therefore extremely important in itself, and the awarding of prizes to some, should not be seen as undermining the value of the rest.

In approaching a decision, the panel, of Dr. Marcia Wilkinson, John Liddell, Derek Robinson and myself (as this year's visiting judge), attempted to select those works that most successfully achieved a balance between the two terms of the competition title - 'Migraine' and 'Art'. This search turned away some of the extremely skillfull work, as well as the less so. Nonetheless a considerable number of works survived this process, and it was only after some debate (and refreshment generously laid on by Boehringer Ingelheim), that a group of six pieces could finally be selected. These maintain that balance between the vividness of the subject depicted (distortion of vision, pain, or consequences of migraine), and the means used to express it.

The inadequacies of attempting to judge between such works are obvious; these appeared to us to be the most successful, but, perhaps more importantly, their variety reflects that of the submission as a whole. Those passed over by the prizes should prepare, perhaps, for the next Competition!

References

Gale MV. Fourth Migraine Art Competition. Migraine Newsletter December 1987; (no. 4): 5-6.
Nicola U, Podoll K. L'aura di Giorgio de Chirico. Arte emicranica e pittura metafisica. Mimesis, Milano 2003.

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