Chrissy Benninger: Things I Don’t Talk About

Things I Don’t Talk About is a show highlighting life with autoimmunity and chronic illness. 

My body of work, Things I Don’t Talk About, is primarily rooted in my experience living with autoimmune disease and chronic illness. 

Living with autoimmune disease means something is always happening under the surface-pain, exhaustion, brain fog-but most of it goes unseen. These paintings are how I make that visible. Not as an explanation, but as evidence.

Watercolor feels right because I can’t fully control it. It bleeds, breaks edges, melds and morphs. Every bush stroke is an attempt to define a symptom. Every color brings emotional representation and resonance.

There’s no resolution in this work. No recovery arc. Just documentation. This is what it’s like today. It will change tomorrow. And the day after that. There is no cure. Only mitigation.

Ultimately, my work is about living along side chronic illness while accepting the limitations it creates and bringing awareness to the public.