The FootNote Gallery

Ouch! I have broken my foot...

 

I ran fast as a kid and broke my leg twice! 

I ran as an adult and broke my leg once!

Of course loving sport meant I I had multiple leg injuries! 

This time,I slipped and broke my leg again! 

 

So I know that there is a foot-brain connection. Good foot health is also good mental health... But what does that mean?? 

 

The foot-brain connection

. I have made foot-brain art over the years and it is now becoiming a collection (see gallery tour above - more art to be added soon). Two works, called 'The Sandal' and 'Walking Seven Heavens' take art from a sensory mental exprience to an exploration of walking in surreal and spiritual worlds.

 

I'm not a medical practitioner, but this is what I have learned. The foot-brain connection is constant exchange of sensory information between the soles of your feet and your central nervous system. Your feet contain roughly 200,000 nerve endings that feed your brain a constant stream of data about pressure, texture, and position, and that input directly shapes balance, movement control, and even memory. Every step generates data about pressure, incline, texture, and temperature, and that data travels up through peripheral nerves to inform balance, movement, and spatial awareness in real time. Threr questions remain with me and i am exploring this through my art and writing:

 

1. When the foot is damaged, what does that mean for our mental health

2. When the feet are not bare, do and do not touch the ground, grass, sand, soil or the water in clean lakes, rivers and oceans. What does that mean for our mental health?

3. What is the -spiritual about movement and how does that effect our mental health?

 

I have become increasingly interested in the known and unknown interconnections between the body, movement, the earth beneath our toes. Everytime I have a break or a sprain, Mattisse's dancers and swimmers come to mind... Frida Kahlo's bedroom, and the paintings she made in her bed also invoke memory and inspiration and thought.

More about these works

I'm making pastel works to bring ease to others and myself.

I am developing new works on these themes and will dedicate a new digital gallery called "Foot Gallery" on this website. Here you will see my previous and current work around feet and movement. I think this will prove to be fascinating portfolio of work. I'm excited to learn new things about healing, nature, the joy of movement and what I gain through my lack of movement. I'm convinced there is something positive in every situation. I hope you enjoy the journey with me too. 

This pastel painting is called "Vanishing Point" and is the first of my current work for the "Foot Gallery". 

 

Art helps us to see and feel the world differently, It brings beauty to our living and working spaces with every glance bringing continous pleasure. I believe that art has a restorative and healing impact. I make work to explore the world and my inner landscape

 

Saba Khan