Deirdre Kashdan is a multidisciplinary artist and tutor with a particular interest in creating projects to encourage conversation and storytelling. Her process is often cyclical, with conversation and performance used to explore and develop ideas, or becoming the foundation of the final piece.
She had a twenty-year career in Primary Education but left in her forties to study Fine Art at the Kent in Canterbury where she was awarded a BA (Hons) in 2002.
Three years ago, she founded The Missing Project, a participatory project for women affected by the enduring mental illness of someone they love. Often silenced and isolated by the profound ignorance and stigma still associated with mental illness, she has created events, displays and activities to encourage and help normalise these difficult but much needed conversations.
She describes this as her most ambitious and important project to date, connecting people together, giving them a voice, and acknowledging the important roles they play.
Deirdre remains committed to teaching and learning and is a creative mentor to other artists as well as those wishing to return to art after many years.
She lives in Deal on the Kent coast.
If you wish to find out more about this work, you can visitwww.themissingproject.co.uk.
Presentation: Art as a Catalyst for Conversation
I am an artist and mother of a man who has suffered from schizophrenia for almost 30 years.
Three years ago, I decided to reach out to other women in a similar situation, inviting them to help create something to describe how our lives have been impacted by this devastating mental illness.
Until then, I had never talked to other families who had been similarly affected.
Whether face to face, through direct messaging or social media, initial conversations were full of repeated phrases as people tried to articulate this complicated range of emotions, and the devastating consequences of failing mental health services. We were all suffering from a type of ambiguous grief, where the experience of loss has no clear, definitive resolution or closure, leading to prolonged and complex feelings of sadness, confusion or anxiety.
People expressed their frustration about not being heard, their knowledge often dismissed when decisions about future care are made.
The Missing Project would give people a voice, and an opportunity to connect and create relationships.
Through this presentation, and with reference to activities and events inspired by The Missing Project, I wish to
- illustrate how Art can act as a catalyst for conversation, bringing people together to share individual stories and experiences
- discuss how creative projects can have the potential to highlight important societal issues and help us to find solutions
