You Look Like You by Michael Sreenan is a body of work based on his lived experience of recovering from a brain injury. The work explores the liminal state of recovery, where things have changed but the future is still unknown.
The work is informed by Michael’s lived experience through prompts and diary entries. However, the ambiguous nature of the imagery allows the viewer to reflect on the quiet, often unsettling, transient periods that shape our growth and understanding of ourselves.
The title refers to the hidden element of dealing with trauma - a person may look like themselves but there may be a lot going on beneath the surface. With 75% of people reported to have experienced a traumatic event within their life - death, breakdown of a relationship, illness - the work explores how we can express something that may be hard to put into words.
““Through the process of making this work, I found comfort in nature and finding new ways to articulate what I was feeling, trying to understand or accept. Being aware of my emotional response to light, shape, and subject were key to creating a body of work that was true to my story but would also allow others to build their own.””
