Sad Reflection

This evocative painting was created by Emma Harper, an art student, who at the time was sixteen and had suffered for five years from M.E. She attended Waddesdon Church of England School in Buckingham. She wrote of her work, which was intended to capture the misery and heartache she felt as a result of M.E. that:
 
 
"...I wanted to express, by means of this self portrait, what I experience but is not seen by the outsider. Although I may look pale and tired, this never reflects the depth of the exhaustion that engulfs me at times...throughout the three phases, the body language and facial expression are also used to express the distress, misery, loneliness, and helplessness felt. An example of this is the distorted and withered hand and the tortured face of the final phase."
 
 
Reproduced by kind permission of Emma Harper and Waddesdon Church of England School in Buckinghamshire.

Scottish Charity Number-SC 034122.