Trigger Warning: Assault, ableism, queerphobia, violence
Australian artist Solomon Kammer’s exhibition at Ames Yavuz gallery in Singapore, Give It Up explores their experience as a queer person with chronic pain who was medically assaulted when seeking treatment. By talking about these issues in Kammer’s paintings, the exhibition speaks out about sub-par practices in queer healthcare, especially when it comes to their sexual and reproductive health.
It also calls for professional accountability and more scientific research for queer health, all while making sure that patients everywhere know and have the tools to navigate similar circumstances of medical violence. This is why Solomon Kammer’s exhibit Give It Up is relevant to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Reduced Inequalities and Good Health And Well-Being.
Paintings in the exhibition are the culmination of Kammer’s long and hard battle with endometriosis, which they were diagnosed with in 2015. This prompted them to discuss steps to evict their uterus at 27 years old, which was met with blatant dismissal from their gynecologist. The doctor’s biases pushed her to recommend that Kammer return to her in three years since she believed that anyone with a uterus would desire to have biological children.
“The doctor was more comfortable sending me home untreated to live in agony, be admitted to hospital frequently for unmanageable pain and internal bleeding, allowing my mental health to deteriorate and losing the ability to participate in my own life, than letting me take an action that would cure my disease because it would forfeit an organ that happens to be capable of doing something I’ve never desired it to do,” said Kammer in an interview with Russh Magazine.
On top of their endometriosis, Kammer had to fight long and hard for an accurate fibromyalgia diagnosis, and they were also recently clinically diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). During these processes, they were constantly scrutinized, coerced, mistreated and misdiagnosed, prompting them to create a body of work which reflects on these experiences.
Kammer’s work in Give It Up can be summarized in their piece Subject, where they painted their close friend and disability advocate Jamila Main lying on an altar-like examination table, with people observing her almost medically. Ames Yavuz gallery interprets the piece as Kammer’s way of symbolizing the medical world’s treatment of marginalized bodies, where they have been stripped away of their individuality for all to gawk at. Yet, the painting’s subject, Main, gazes directly at the audience, defiantly challenging their practices as she does in real life, all for a future of better queer healthcare.
Solomon Kammer’s Give It Up is a poignant and urgent commentary on the failures of the medical system, particularly for queer individuals seeking competent and compassionate care. Through evocative paintings that merge personal and collective experiences, Kammer confronts medical bias and the lack of agency often imposed on marginalized bodies, especially people living with disability, illness and trauma. This exhibition not only highlights the critical need for reform in queer healthcare but also advocates for increased accountability, empathy and research in the medical field. Give It Up powerfully encourages viewers to consider the importance of a healthcare system that respects and serves all individuals equitably.
Find out more about Give It Up and other initiatives by Solomon Kammer on their website www.solomonkammer.com or Instagram @solomonkammer.