Conference: Facing Death Creatively in a Pandemic

Location: St Christopher’s, The Centre for Awareness & Response to End of Life, London Date: 12th November 2021 Keynote: Michael Rosen

Marchbank, Celine ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6254-9787 (2021) Conference: Facing Death Creatively in a Pandemic. In: Facing Death Creatively in a Pandemic, 12 NOVEMBER 2021, St Christopher’s, The Centre for Awareness & Response to End of Life (CARE), London.

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Abstract / Summary

Conference: Facing Death Creatively in a Pandemic
Location: St Christopher’s, The Centre for Awareness & Response to End of Life, London
Date: 12th November 2021
Keynote: Michael Rosen

Name: Celine Marchbank
Abstract: The Healing Power of the Creative Process
As a photographic artist, my practice explores the intersections of death, grief, and illness through quiet, everyday domestic spaces. I create work that seeks warmth and familiarity, offering accessible ways to engage with experiences often marked by silence or discomfort.

In this presentation, I will discuss three interconnected bodies of work. Tulip (2016), which documents my mother’s final year of life following a terminal cancer diagnosis, reflects on the intimacy of care and the presence of beauty. A Stranger in My Mother’s Kitchen (forthcoming, 2022) extends this narrative into mourning, using the act of cooking my mother’s recipes as a means of processing grief and rediscovering identity. The third series, created during the first UK COVID-19 lockdown while I was recovering from the virus, explores themes of isolation, resilience, and collective vulnerability (to be published by The Museum of London, 2022).

Through these works, I examine how the creative process becomes a space for healing—transforming loss into expression, fostering connection, and enabling dialogue around death, dying, and survival.

Keywords: Photography, creative process, grief, loss, dying, death, illness, healing

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	creative process, grief, loss, dying, death, illness, healing
Subjects:	Creative Art & Design Health Health > Mental Health Creative Art & Design > Fine Art Photography Creative Art & Design > Photography Health > Public Health
Department:	Institute of Photography
Depositing User:	Celine Marchbank
Date Deposited:	06 Nov 2025 13:01
Last Modified:	06 Nov 2025 13:01
URI:	https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/6224

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