Lynn Schirmer

Here is my Artist Statement for DIDiva & The Mirror Looks

The pieces in DIDiva & The Mirror Looks make up a loose collection of recent works, some of which refer to formative scenes, others to more contemporary scenarios.  What they have in common is that they are all snapshots of my internal reactions to particular events. The works are multi-figured because I am a container of multiple reactions, not only in a metaphorical sense, but also in an FMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) verifiable sense.

I have a condition called Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). My paintings and drawings visually describe the process and consequences of extreme dissociation.

DID, or as it was formerly and most commonly known, Multiple Personality Disorder, (MPD) is the result of the repeated use of a defensive, disintegrated memory process, usually in response to repeated and/or severe trauma in early childhood. DID is a greatly misunderstood and overly sensationalized condition. In evidence of that fact I give you the most recent Hollywood abomination: The United States of Tara. Hollywood is always quick to exploit the anomalous and DID is particularly defenseless. The clinical community lies prone beneath political and social processes too complex to summarize in an artist statement (although a reductionist might label their driving force a criminal cover-up) and the lay public is woefully under or misinformed. I have even seen editors of prestigious news outlets conflate DID with schizophrenia.  These outrages are a few of the reasons I brought DIDiva to life, at least virtually. The Diva is an alter ego I adopted to help me do what little I could to combat the profligate stigma and misinformation surrounding the condition. Her main soapbox currently resides at the URL DIDiva.com, but she serves me well here too, as an ambassador, and perhaps interpreter.

If The Diva had one thing to say in this venue, it would be for viewers to consider that they share their community with numerous other DIDivas and that in most cases, they would not possess the skill to detect this reality.  Being informed then, is beneficial for all involved.  For those who remain unmoved at this point, feel deprived or even ill-used, go ahead and entertain yourselves. Count the personalities in my artwork; see if you can. I bet you can’t.