Pain of Isolation
Click the piece to explore.
Person with generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP)
“When I was first diagnosed and the GPP was so bad all over my entire body, I could not pick up my daughter. Even if she touched me, I would move away because sometimes just lightly brushing up against different parts of my body hurt so badly.”
GPP symptoms can create social stigma for patients during a flare, causing them to isolate from family and friends or
struggle with intimacy with their
partner.1-3
Experiences with GPP are not universal and vary by person.
Designer
“This outfit captures how the symptoms of GPP keep Christine physically and emotionally separated from the people she loves.”
Bart Hess crafted this piece out of reflective foil surrounded by shards of plexiglass to convey the pain of isolation a person
with generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) may
experience.1-3
The reflective foil creates distance, keeping the wearer separated from the rest of the world, while the plexiglass shards represent Hess'
interpretation of the shattered sense of identity that people with GPP may
feel.1-3
Experiences with GPP are not universal and vary by person.