Blooming Headspace - Anni's migraine portrait

What does a migraine look like? This question has been with me for a long time. I've lived with migraine for as long as I can remember – it is a part of me, with everything it means: pain, exhaustion, but also clarity, creativity, and sensitivity.

Some time ago, I began artistically portraying my migraine. I wanted to make visible all the images, colors, and structures that arise within me when I have a migraine attack - the chaos, the layers, the intensity, but also the afterglow, the life after the attack. This is how my first migraine portraits came about: painted busts whose heads dissolve in colorful explosions, crisscrossed by lines, cracks, and figures. Because migraine has many faces. And that's precisely what I wanted to show.

The dark side of my migraine. Migraine portrait No. 5.

A portrait of Anni

But it's not just my migraine that has many faces. What's special about migraine is how different it can be for each individual. Everyone perceives their own migraine differently, experiencing different symptoms and forms. I wanted to make that visible, too.

A few weeks ago, I therefore contacted Anni . Anni is in her mid-thirties, a mother, and speaks on her Instagram channel. With Migraine, you asshole, she openly discusses her life with chronic migraine. Her honesty and strength impress me greatly – she manages to give the condition a face without letting it define her.

I was thrilled that Anni immediately agreed when I suggested creating a portrait of her migraine. Even more moving was her openness. She described to me how her migraine feels – in words that deeply touched me:

"When I think about my brain, I see two sides that constantly overlap: On one side, there is a powerful, creative, sensitive brain. (...) On the other side, there is the migraine, which keeps coming back like a wave. I see withered flowers, broken lines, throbbing energy."

Her description was poetic, powerful, and painful all at once. I immediately saw images before me: two worlds interpenetrating each other – the blossoming, creative, colorful life and the dark, throbbing waves of migraine.

On her Instagram account, Anni raises awareness about chronic migraines. On her website, she also sells some great merchandise for people who suffer from migraine.

From word to image

I began with a watercolor sketch to find the colors that suited Anni: bold tones, flower colors, but also purple, blue, and black - the colors of pain. Then the canvas came into being. First, I applied the dark layers - cracks, broken lines, withered flowers, pulsating forms. This first layer became the foundation upon which everything else grew.

Creation process "Blooming Headspace"

Above this, I placed the bright, the vibrant: flowers, colors, light. Yellow blossoms grow from one of the cracks; on the other side, Anni sits with her children, watching a flock of birds. A small figure floats in the blue waves, surrounded by layers of gold, magenta, and yellow.

I worked with many materials – acrylic paints, texture paste, watercolors, inks, pencils. Each layer represents a facet of migraine: the visible and the invisible, the heavy and the light, what remains and what passes away.

Responsibility and Response

Painting this portrait was a challenge for me. It's about visualizing another person's migraine – their experience, their pain, their inner image. I often asked myself: Am I capturing Anni's vision? Will she see herself in it?

But at the same time, the process was incredibly enriching. Anni's words reminded me that my own migraine is not just a limitation, but also a perspective. It influences how I see, think, and work - not just during attacks, but always.

"Who would I be without my migraine?"

I often ask myself this question. Of course, I'd give up the pain immediately. But migraine shapes my perception, my attention, the way I feel. My brain filters differently, sees differently, thinks differently. It perceives more - sometimes too much, but also more intensely. And perhaps therein lies something beautiful: migraine attacks are the storms that keep coming - but between the storms lies so much color, life, and light.

The colourful side of my migraine. Migraine portrait No. 4.

Outlook

With the migraine portraits, I want to continue working to make the diversity of this condition visible. Every migraine is different, every brain feels differently – and every person has their own story. And perhaps that is precisely the beginning of a new form of visibility: one that not only shows the pain, but also the strength contained within it.

If you live with migraine and can imagine me creating a migraine portrait of you , please get in touch. I want to show how different migraine can look – how it shapes us, but also how much strength and creativity we possess.

You can find "Blooming Headspace" along with other migraine portraits in my portfolio .