Jessie Ngaio Smith is prescribing connection, ritual and reflection in Magical Prescriptions | Midsumma Festival | Meat Market

In Magical Prescriptions, Jessie Ngaio Smith becomes a doctor of a different kind, offering ten-minute, one-on-one appointments where she listens, honours silences, and responds with a personalised artwork. Drawing on her own journey of chronic pain, misdiagnosis and dehumanisation in the medical system, Ngaio Smith uses the project to explore connection, intuition and ritual. We sat down with her to talk about where this unusual work began, what it asks of her and why she believes our systems of care need to be reimagined from the ground up.

Ngaio Smith’s experiences in the medical system, along with her time in the aged care and disability support sector, pushed her to look for the humanity that hides in a classic doctor’s appointment. "I was thinking about the strange, sad absurdity of us trying to source support and healing within the tight confines of a 15-minute bulk billed doctor’s appointment. I was also studying for my Certificate in Aged Care and Disability Support which was depressing and it forced me to recognise how broken and under resourced our systems of care are," she tells me. "I wondered to myself if art might offer something which feels so lacking in a doctor’s appointment; a connection that is wilder and weirder. It has been my experience that we are suffering, and it can be incredibly difficult to find someone who will actually listen and sit with the discomfort of witnessing suffering."

For seven years, Ngaio Smith lived with a debilitating chronic pain condition that meant she could not complete even half an hour of painting without being in immense pain for a week. Her visits to doctors and specialists left her feeling dehumanised in traditional medical settings, which ended up shaping the intent, tone and structure of Magical Prescriptions. "I went to numerous medical professionals looking for answers. Medical misogyny is a massive problem, women’s pain is not taken seriously and I faced many professionals who talked down to me, gaslit me and told me my suffering was not real or was due to me not trying hard enough with the exercise regimes I was given. When I finally received an accurate diagnosis of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and surgery that changed my life, the surgeon said mine was one of the worst cases they had operated on. Up to that point my suffering had felt invisible. It took seven years to get the diagnosis and surgeries, and around three more years after that to get on top of my chronic nerve pain," she recalls.

"I spent so much of my life searching for information about the mental health and social struggles I had. I also spent thousands on therapy and it wasn’t until I understood myself as autistic that I finally discovered peace and self-acceptance. Autistic women are greatly under-diagnosed and none of the psychologists or psychiatrists I saw, ever clocked me for neurodivergent."

"Now I believe that nobody knows more about our own health, bodies and struggles better than ourselves, and that our systems of care need to be radically re-imagined. 

Magical Prescriptions is my first attempt at making art that questions these systems and seeks connection with others who are experiencing invisible suffering. It is also a flirtation with ritual and the idea of art as a magical practice."

Given its intimate nature, it’s no surprise the show is designed for one person at a time. Performances like this can be unpredictable, sometimes tender and sometimes confronting, and Ngaio Smith is preparing herself for all possibilities. "When I ran a test of this project with friends and colleagues, I was moved by the things that were shared and it made me realise that I had to ensure that the space is private, safe, and that I maintained confidentiality about everything I was told," she explains. "I am learning how to deeply sit with people’s stories while I am in character as The Doctor, but when I remove this "mask", this is my ritual of stepping out of the workplace and leaving them behind, as they are not mine to carry, merely to temporarily hold space for."

But if anyone get stuck for words or is unable to speak for whatever reason, Ngaio Smith is ready to acknowledge and incorporate the silences to fulfill The Doctor’s role. "Our bodies are poetic and they speak so much of what our words cannot say. I think a lot on something my Butoh Teacher, Yumi Umiumare said that how we live in a world where everything is too rational and so she is interested in art that explores other ways of being and seeing because leaning into our truest, weirdest selves can be so liberating for others," she says. "I am curious about the liberation that comes from trusting in intuitions and the things that we can perceive when we slow down and breathe."

At the end of their appointment, audience members will be offered a personalised artwork made by Ngaio Smith during their session. While she is an established and talented artist, creating a piece during a ten-minute time slot was initially a little stressful. "I got really nervous making the artworks at first. My hand was shaky and I worried that the whole thing was a bit silly. But when I shut off my worrying mind and let my hands and gestures respond to what was being shared with me, I was able to listen on a deeper level by moving with the words and feelings that were raised with me," she tells me.

"I feel that the take home object is an artefact that might help the person reflect on their problems in a way that is a little different. I want to learn about the ritual, humour and playfulness that comes from engaging with art objects. Some of my initial test subjects reported back that the artworks really helped them so who knows!" Ngaio Smith laughs. "My instinct is that people are pretty magical so I hope that the prescriptions guide them to discover that about themselves, and allow them to connect to their own intuition and inner compass."

MIDSUMMA MINUTES – QUICKFIRE FIVE



1. A song I could listen to on repeat forever is Fineshrine by Purity Ring
2. One object I can’t live without backstage is essential oils to help ground me when I’m freaking the fuck out.
3. My favourite word is 
“Rewild” because it's not just an important ecological principal, but a way to heal ourselves.
4. Something unexpected that brings me joy is when there is good news about the environment because most of it feels like doom and gloom.
5. If I could live one day as someone else, it would be ... do I have to chose a person? I’d love to be a dolphin or a vulture because I would love to speed through the ocean or ride the thermals in the sky.

Show Details

Venue: Meat Market, 2 Wreckyn St, North Melbourne

Season: 29 - 31 January | Thurs - Fri 5 - 7.30pm, Sat 4pm - 6pm (1:1 appointments)
Duration: 10 minutes
Tickets: $30 Full | $25 Conc
Bookings: Midsumma Festival

Primary Image credit: Eff Pan 
Secondary image credit: Acrylic on canvas by Jessie Ngaio Smith