This has been a powerful, hope inspiring project. To get to know this beautiful girl and have the opportunity to visually free her from the restrictions her little body has placed on her has been life changing.
I first came to know of 5 year old Tahliyah when her mum connected with me prior to their move from Adelaide to Melbourne. Jacqui shared with me about her beautiful daughter and the challenges of her unknown condition.
Several months later Jacqui messaged me about wanting a Story Art creation for Tahliyah. A photographic composite that would free Tahliyah from her limited mobility and metaphorically give her ‘wings to fly’.
Tahliyah is unable to walk, unable to speak, but despite this her smile lights up the room and her joy radiates past her physical needs. At 6 months doctors began to figure out that something wasn’t quite right physically with Tahliyah. But to this day her condition remains largely undiagnosed. Part of her diagnosis is Mitochondrial disease however this is only part of the story this little girl is still undergoing numerous tests to try and establish what exactly is going on in her young body.
In planning Tahliyah’s Story Art piece, I asked Jacqui to share with me Tahliyah’s loves, which included animals and her dog Macey. Building from this I came up with an idea to free Tahliyah from the chair, from her restrictions, and create an image with her in the air. I imagined butterflies carrying her through the sky, representative of her family and friends that lift her up and carry her in reality. I wanted her dog in the image looking up in awe next to her mobility chair that was to be left behind in the scene.
View more about Tahliyah's Story here: http://storyart.com.au/tahliyahs-story-free-to-fly/
