We were lucky to catch up with Priya Rama recently and have shared our conversation below.

Priya, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

My life partner, my husband, is the kindest person I know and his kindness keeps on giving! As a chronic migraine sufferer, I am often missing from family and social events/gatherings, and have to also frequently change/cancel plans. In all the years that we have been married, this man has never complained, rolled his eyes or made any kind of negative/snarky comments regarding my migraines, not even once! Just that alone has been all the support I have needed in dealing with my pain: it’s a kindness that lets me deal with my pain guilt-free! Dealing with chronic pain is very debilitating, but knowing he will be there at the end of it means the world to me.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I paint the images I experience inside my head when a migraine comes on. If you searched for ‘migraine images’, what you’ll typically see is works by migraine sufferers that depict what their pain is like. What my work offers, which makes it unique, is the depiction of a migraine inside the head. When the pain and pressure of the migraine gets underway, my mind is slowly flooded with color, textures, play of light alongside movement. It is like a slow-motion movie that I am able to travel within and get immersed in. What I experience gets translated into my paintings. Of course, I don’t paint during the migraine, but as soon as I begin to feel better, I do: I am able to remember these images and paint at a later time. So, my paintings offer an ‘inside out’ perspective of the migraine experience.

The sharing of my story and art acknowledges this pain experience and offers other sufferers a way out: using creativity
during pain changes how the body feels the pain and can therefore open a path forward. My paintings, a public airing of my pain, in a way, has struck a chord with a lot of people– it offers a validation of their own individual pain experience and lets them connect to my work on a very personal level.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Buy art, support local artists, attend art openings, view art in galleries and art fairs/exhibits, talk to your children about art…art should be a natural and regular part of our lives, not something you rarely engage with. When you buy art, you are buying someone’s creation/thought process, something unique and original, something not mass-produced. So please, support a member of your community!

Have you ever had to pivot?

A few years ago, I made a decision to pivot from my career and studies to focus completely on my art. Like many of us, I was doing too much– I always had a list to get through, and I was never on that list. My migraines worsened, i was over-medicating and had many rebound headaches. I took a year off from my doctoral studies to focus on my health. One day, I decided to paint the migrainal image. Doing so changed how my body felt during that migraine. Needless to say, I didn’t go back to my studies or career. That random decision started what I do now, which is to paint and share my migraine story. I am so glad I had the mental strength to pivot, because doing so has been very rewarding!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.priyarama.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/priyaramaart
• Other: https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/wcdevj3V5sRlvGtXPMGkl81pQF4yyh1l/ https://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/video/video-migraine-family-impact https://stage.iheart.com/podcast/139-the-head-start-embracing-t-68864464/episode/making-space-for-creativity-a-conversation-71028271

Image Credits
Priya Rama