Emily Damyan’s exhibition for Photo Fringe, The Weight of Silence, explores the stigmatisation of abortion and the emotional difficulties arising from her own abortion. She describes the project as “having been cathartic in processing trauma”—helping her to reclaim her narrative, space, and autonomy. Drawing on this body of work, Emily will outline her approach to this project, and it’s personal and wider impact.

Following on from this, Phoebe Wingrove will lead a panel discussion that explores current attitudes to abortion, how these affect our access to information and services, and our reproductive choices.

The panellists include :

Emily Damyan, From Nottingham, Emily works with photography, sculpture and installation. The Weight of Silence is her most recent project.

Sandy Comber, PhD researcher and lecturer at the University of Chichester. Her current research focuses on the biopolitics of motherhood.

Ash Lipasek, has a background in healthcare. They currently work in Brighton, where they support local women's groups and charities through a trauma-informed approach to recovery.

Content warning: This event includes intimate and medical wording with imagery about abortion, which some may find triggering. There will be a quiet space available if audience members need to take a break. Audience size: tickets have been limited to 40.

How Not to be In the Dark is a series of events and workshops curated by artist Phoebe Wingrove, that originates from her project ‘In the Dark’ which started in 2022 in response to her diagnoses of high-risk HPV and CIN 2 abnormal cells in her cervix. Through this series of events and workshops, Phoebe aims to encourage women and AFAB (assigned female at birth) people to speak about their health, and by harnessing the power of these conversations, raise awareness and build communities where we are confident, knowledgeable and aware of our bodies and mind.

More on the panellists:

Emily Damyan is a British-Turkish artist from Nottingham who works with photography, sculpture and installation. With a background in documentary photography and having worked within the music industry for several years, her practice now explores alternative mediums and creates work that is informed by memory and lived experience. She recently graduated from the University of East London where she received an honorary prize from the dean for her photography and has also been selected as part of the LENSCRATCH Student Prize Top 25 to watch 2024 and featured in the British Journal of Photography.

Phoebe Wingrove is an artist using abstract photography and mixed media to ethically visualise the health experiences of women and AFAB (assigned female at birth) people. Her work serves as a conduit for exploring her own health experiences as well as those of her friends and family. She holds a BA in Graphic Design from Nottingham Trent University, where her design expertise significantly influences her visual creations. In 2022, she completed a PGCE at the University of Brighton, fuelling her passion for raising awareness and creating educational opportunities about women’s health through art. In 2024 her exhibition In the Dark: Vaginismus was featured on BBC News. She lives and works in Brighton, England.

Sandy Comber is a PhD researcher and lecturer at the University of Chichester. Her research problematises dominant, socially constructed ideologies around gender and reproductive labour or - the biopolitics of motherhood. She independently produces conceptual artworks and writes on themes of maternal regret, matriphobia and 'gyno-grief'. She is a PhD Candidate: Addressing 'The Motherhood Penalty' through a techno-biopolitics of ectogenesis

Ash Lipasek works in Brighton, where they support local women's groups and charities through a trauma-informed approach to recovery. With a strong background in healthcare, Ash has previously worked as a travelling medical assistant in the United States, focusing on expanding access to reproductive healthcare services. Their work included facilitating access to abortion procedures and medications, as well as providing direct support during medical interventions.