Artist Camille Baker’s new work INTER/her takes her personal experience and those of other women who have had post-reproductive diseases and pain to create a Virtual Reality, sound, and haptic*, fully immersive artwork. The work explores the psychological issues of womanhood, and the sense of self.

INTER/her is based on Baker’s experience and journey through the healthcare system while she was treated for a post-reproductive disease in 2016. The ideas and development of the work emanates from experiencing women’s silence, conflicting information, and inconsistencies in support for women’s health.

Baker was also inspired by the stories she started to hear from friends and family about their reproductive disease experiences, which seemed to be hidden or kept to themselves until she began to speak up about it. Baker wanted the artwork to allow the seeing of the unseen and give insight and emotional awareness of a subject that is little known or talked about.

The themes in the work include issues of female identity, sexuality, body image, loss of body parts, pain, disease and cancer. The work also represents the lived experience of women’s pain and anger, conflicting thoughts through self-care and the growth of disease. Feelings of mortality are explored through a medical process in male-dominated medical institutions and a dearth of reliable information.

The artwork developed out of a layered soundscape of the stories Baker collected and ambient sound design and music with an all-women team. Interaction designer Maf’j Alverez, and concept artist Sarah Büttner helped her create the visual environment and electronics. Fashion designer Bushra Burge worked with Baker to develop the haptic corset worn by exhibition visitors, and sound artist Kat Austen designed the sound experience.

The work is presented inside a physical bespoke tent in the centre of the gallery space with a vulva-shaped opening and seats for participants inside. Each participant is dressed in a ‘haptic corset’ before entering the tent, which is embedded with vibration actuators in different locations on the lower abdomen with different intensities and patterns. Sensations will be felt on the body that are triggered by the stories that will play through the 360 spatialized audio inside the dome.