The variation of narratives and self-representation within the books challenges the idea of a singular road to recovery, or a universal figure of the ‘recoverist’.

Here in the exhibition area we show six artist books made by Wonderland participants. They include images taken during the project, self portraits taken using Cristina’s method, and pictures from the authors’ personal photographic albums.

Participants took part in an intensive workshop with the artist. Some of us chose to attend a second workshop, and develop our photographic investigations in between times. The project helped us to own our humanity, become more compassionate towards each other and ourselves, and feel less stigmatised by our mental health and substance-related issues and histories.

An essay by Gemma Meek about the artist books, also found in this area, describes them as “a photographic narrative of the participants’ reflections on the process of ‘becoming’. Often a highly individual journey, the variation of narratives and self-representation within the books challenges the idea of a singular road to recovery, or a universal figure of the ‘recoverist’.”