First Symptoms

2019

Silk, mohair, wool,
rubber, polyester 

170 × 236 cm
66⅞ × 92⅞ in.


First Symptoms is a series of six works tracing the phases of migraine — prodrome, aura, attack, post-drome — through pattern, material, and colour. The works move between pulsating and quiet, disruptive and relieving, following the rhythm of a condition Saksi has lived with since childhood.

The visual sources range from natural systems and scientific illustration to fractal geometry and the structure of nerve cells. Repeating patterns break apart and reform. Textures shift between dense and transparent, soft and abrasive. The works approach migraine not as subject matter to be illustrated but as a visual logic — one that the eye experiences directly.