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Judith Schossböck
Judith Schossböck is an ex-scientist and neo-artist with severe ME/CFS, severe MCAS, a CSF leak syndrome, and other illnesses. She draws and paints lying down from her bed. For her, creativity is a helpful strategy and passion in the daily fight for survival, but also a possible form of communication with the outside world when other options are limited. Together with her partner Matthias Mollner, she co-founded Black Ferk Studio, which aims to use the means of art for raising awareness for socially neglected topics and groups, as well as complex illnesses.
Links:
Instagram
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Black-Ferk-Studio-Ausstellung-Crash-Foto-23-Teil-1.jpg)
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The Light and the Dark
Mini polaroids on paper
2023
“And some are in the dark, and others are in the light. But one only sees those in the light; those in the dark, one doesn’t see.”
(Bertolt Brecht, The Threepenny Opera)
ME/CFS is often invisible, but most of the time very noticeable for the loved ones around. The darker times are mostly hidden from society, be it du to shame, withdrawal of those affected from social life, or because sufferers are often too weak to document these moments, let alone to express them, as even strong emotions can lead to symptom worsening. This work is an attempt to, despite a precarious existence in a prison of one’s body and brain, hold onto the kind of freedom that remains: the choice to decide about what should be visible.
In “The light and the dark” Judith Schossböck documents her “crashes” and good times with a mini polaroid printer. Most photographs were brightened for the print. The added frames and signs underline the feeling of a moment, but can also be understood as ironic reference: of a situation, in which emoticons often remain the only thing to say. As little visual narratives the polaroids also stand for a liberation from the necessity to always present oneself at one’s best.
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Judith-Schossboeck-Black-Ferk-Studio-Ausstellung-Crash-Foto-55-Web.jpg)
Drawings
Installation view Künstlerhaus Factory
“Besides the time in unusual prisons, periods of torture and a forced robot-like existence, there is also the endless search for ideas and the path that we travel together with other sick friends. While we are connected through pain and suffering, we may not possess the same amount of nails, wounds, or marks, or may even be entirely different animals. But we share the light and the dark, the sad and funny, the crazy and rational, the brutal and gentle, the shocking and calming, and we know: these are often found closely together.”
![Bionic pigs, or: My coffin nail is your coffin nail](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bionic-pigs-or-My-coffin-nail-is-your-coffiin-nail.jpg)
Bionic Pigs, Or: My Coffin Nail Is Your Coffin Nail
Markers and colored pencils on paper
2022
![A tin dove sits on a branch. Its wings flap and it holds a twig in its beak.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Robot-pigeon-or-do-androids-dream-of-electric-peace-doves.jpg)
Harakiri Robot II
Markers and colored pencils on paper
2022
![A tin robot stabs a katana sword into its own belly. Purple flowers flies in the air around the robot.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Harakiri-robot-II.jpg)
Harakiri Robot II
Markers and colored pencils on paper
2022
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ME_CFS-broke-my-body-the-indifference-of-the-world-broke-my-heart.-Christina-Baltais-Foto-1_Web.jpg)
ME/CFS Broke My Body, the Indifference of the World Broke My Heart.
(Christina Baltais)
Oil pastels, acrylic, glitter and googly eyes on paper
2023
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Brain-Brew-Minnie-Foto-1_Web.jpg)
Brain Brew Minnie
Oil pastel, acrylic and glitter on paper
2023
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sorry-to-bother-Foto-1_Web.jpg)
Sorry to Bother
Oil pastel and acrylic on paper
2023
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Froscholi-Foto-1_Web.jpg)
Froscholi
Oil pastel, acrylic, glitter and googly eyes on paper
2023
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Mond-Bild-1-Web.jpg)
Lullaby II
Alcohol markers, acrylic markers, fineliners and colored pencils on paper
2022
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Fragile-Dreams-fertig-Web-2.jpg)
Fragile Dreams
Watercolors and markers on paper
2023
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Schroedingers-Cat-Content-II-Web.jpg)
Schrödinger‘s Cat Content II, Or: Apothecat
Alcohol markers, acrylic markers, fineliners and colored pencils on paper
2022
Where is my mind?
Verschluckt von einem
Gehirnentzündungs-Drachen
jeden Tag 5–20 Mal
Bis nach langem Ringen
(besser gesagt des Nicht-Ringens)
der langen Stille oder Schreie
und unendlichen Stunden
die Kaugummi-artiger
nicht mehr sein könnten
Endlich mein Selbst ein
kleines bisschen um die Ecke
blicken darf
Da ist es wieder
Mit den neugierigen Augen
Die niemals aufhören zu fragen
Wenn man sie lässt
Du sagst mein Gehirn ist verstopft
Ich brauche über-dringend eine Klempner
Einen beinharten Werner
für meine Synapsen
Der die Neurodegeneration
und Inflammation
irgendwie aufzuhalten vermag
Wir wünschen alle
Es wäre so einfach.
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Survivalist-Foto-1_Web-1.jpg)
Survivalist
Oil pastel, acrylic and glitter on paper
2023
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Judith_Schossboeck_Gloworganic_Web.jpg)
Gloworganic
Acrylic gouache on canvas
2022
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Judith-Schossboeck-Black-Ferk-Studio-Ausstellung-Crash-Foto-44-Web.jpg)
Drawings
Installation view Künstlerhaus Factory
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/What_about_hope_Web.jpg)
What about Hope
Watercolors and ink on paper
2022
![A raven wears a pink piglet mask and pink sandals. Lines with fishing hooks hang from the raven's body and pull it in different directions.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Ferkelrabe_Foto_1.jpg)
Raven
Fineliners and markers on paper
2021
![A green beetle with a soldier's helmet on its head marches with a bloody scythe in its hands.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Kaefer_mit_Sense_Foto_1.jpg)
Army of Formication
Pastel on paper
2021
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Queen_of_Hearts_Web-2.jpg)
Queen of Hearts
Watercolors on paper
2022
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Something_is_swimming_along_Web-2.jpg)
Something Is Swimming Along
Watercolors and ink on paper
2022
![A bird holds a red lobster in its long beak and dips it into a pot of liquid. The bird is on a shelf next to the pot.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Hummer_Foto_1.jpg)
Me, Every Night and Sometimes also During the Day, Being Dipped into the Pot of Misfiring Nerves that Burn Burn Burn
Colored pencils on paper
2021
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/In-the-Shadowlands-Foto-1_Web.jpg)
In the Shadowlands
Oil pastels, acrylics and glitter on paper
2023
Funny
It’s funny
How we are more afraid
Of someone’s death
Than their suffering
Maybe because the novelty of the dying
Is harder to suppress?
Maybe because one is so definite
With no change for good
Even though it could also mean that
Things would have changed
For the better
We find this so easy with animals
Maybe because the part of ourselves
That only they knew
Is easier to digest
More vague
And yet it’s okay
To wish a long life
To a lover of it
So human of us to cultivate
Our healthy egoism
To hold on to that only part about ourselves
That is hidden in the brain
Of one specific person
And we don’t want it to die
Even though it is deadly
Like many things in life
(This deadly disease for everyone)
![A path leads through a blue winter forest. Trees with eyes, gnarled hands and arms stand in the snow. Several red candles stand or hang in the trees. A big red human heart hangs on a rope above the snowy path.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Heart_on_a_sleeve_Web.jpg)
Heart on a Sleeve
Gouache on paper
2022
![A three-headed dog has legs and a tail made of roots and wears spiked collars. The middle head is severed. The head of a plant with green leaves grows out of the neck.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Staying_zen.jpg)
Staying Zen
Markers, Fineliners and colored pencils on paper
2022
![Red snakes wriggle out of the open skull of a green figure. The figure has a fried egg on her eye, a black collar with a ring and several earrings. Two puncture needles pierce the skin of the figure and one of the snakes.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Zeichnung_14_05_2022_fertig_klein.jpg)
Self Portrait with Puncture
Acrylic gouache on paper
2022
Bog Characters
2021–2023
Serious illnesses, particularly those affecting the central nervous system, change the core of our existence and affect the brain and body in ways difficult to imagine for many. In order to process this transformation but also to communicate it, Judith Schossböck began drawing in bed from 2021.
“It would have felt extremely strange to depict myself or my emotions as a classic human being. So I invented a frog or bog creature with an open, burning head, green skin and holes, as I could no longer identify with normal skin colour and figures. The red hair coming from the brain are similar to nerves being pulled painfully in many directions.”
Later this figure became a more detailed character, reoccurring as a variation with different accents in various works by Judith Schossböck.
![Red and orange fire jets shoot out of the open skullcap of a green figure. Several black ants are crawling on the figure's head.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Selbstportraet_mit_Ameisen_Foto_1.jpg)
Self Portrait, or I Turn into a Vine Louse
Pastel and marker on paper
2021
![A green figure with red fire rays on its head and black boots on its feet hangs tied to ropes upside down in a spiral construction. Several ants and a snake can be seen on the construction.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Loop.jpg)
Loop
Fineliner and marker on paper
2021
![A green figure with red fire jets on its head rides a bed on rails toward a large hole in the body of a Black Grim Reaper. "Ghost Train" is written on the bed.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Ghost_train_Foto_1.jpg)
A Dark Ride
Fineliner and marker on paper
2021
![A red shrimp on a blue background has two puncture needles stuck in its back.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Lumbar_shrimp.jpg)
Lumbar Shrimp
Acrylic paint on paper
2022
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Blooming_state_of_emergency.jpg)
Blooming State of Emergency
Acrylic paint on paper
2022
![A pink and yellow figure blows a wind from its mouth.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Breath_Foto_1.jpg)
High Pressure
Acrylic paint on paper
2022
![A green figure with red, green, and blue fire jets on its head lies in a bubble bath. Black, pointed arrows shoot out of a shower head at the figure.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Relax_Foto_1.jpg)
Relax
Pastel on paper
2021
![A green figure with red fire jets on its head sits on the edge of a goldfish bowl. Fish and a globe swim in the glass.](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/The_medical_anthropocene_Foto_1.jpg)
The Medical Anthropocene
Fineliner and marker on paper
2021
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Easter-Spirit_Web.jpg)
Easter Spirit
Alcohol markers, acrylic markers, fineliners and colored pencils on paper
2023
![](https://blackferkstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Zitronenvogel_Foto_1-Web.jpg)
When Life Gives You Lemons
Pastel pencils on cardboard
2022