Dolley Sen:

Dolly Sen is an artist, writer, film-maker and performer interested in non-consensual reality, outsider-ship, empathy, authenticity and absurdity. The themes in her work are shedding skins and labels to see the heart behind things, challenging the concept and value of normality, making ordinary things extraordinary, flight, finding light in dark places and insisting dreams have more substance and essence than reality. She states that she has been "labelled as 'mad' by society" and that her "work aims to show I make perfect sense"

Coffee Stain Stars- "When I was on a psychiatric ward I drank endless cups of tea and coffee, and although I feel lost in my mental pain, I connected to the other people through the communal act of drinking coffee together. I took a picture of my coffee-stained bedside table and through photoshop turned them into stars, just to prove everything is connected and that you can make stars out of anything."

My Response:

I have recreated this photograph in the dark room by creating photograms. I decided to think about OCD and the repeatedness of the disorder. I used a cup and plate on one of the photograms, picking up and putting them down in the same place which created a different layering of exposure to the light showing a constant touching of the same place. I then sharpened pencils so they were exactly the same length and lined them up, placing the sharpenings in the corner of the paper. I moved the pencils during the photogram which created a faded movement of the hand and the pencils, this is effective in showing the obsession of keeping things in order and symmetry and the compulsion for ordering and arranging. 

I redid my photograms to create a deeper sense of OCD by lining a variety of objects to show the obsessive thoughts of order and symmetry. I think this second set of photograms was effective as it is a more clear response to Sen's work and portrays my theme more efficiently. This is because 57% of people with OCD have an obsession with ordering so more people will recognise this as an example of the mental illness OCD. 

I think the final photogram is the most effective as it creates a clear sense of symmetry due to all the pencils being the exact same size. The pencils represent the obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours that 1.2% of the Uk's population battle with daily with 50% of these cases being severe.