Meet the artist painting the reality of living with endometriosis

Meet the artist painting the reality of living with endometriosis

Endometriosis isn’t something we often talk about, and its effects are rarely shown off in a public way.

Extreme periods, intense pain, bloating, surgeries. None of these things are pretty or easy to chat about. When periods and vaginas are still treated as something shameful, it feels impossible to openly talk about a condition related to both.

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We’ve had people share photos of their bloating, and stories of surgeries.

Artist Ellie Kammer is taking it up a notch.


After struggling to come to terms with how endometriosis was changing her body, Ellie came up with a way to work through her experiences: painting.



Ellie has created a series of powerful paintings of her experience of endometriosis, from days spent in bed to blood stained stomachs.

(Picture: Ellie Kammer)

‘I started experiencing symptoms when I was about 17,’ Ellie tells metro.co.uk.

‘They were subtle but constant symptoms like frequent or painful urination, abdominal pain, painful sex and irregular and lengthy periods.

‘I was often prescribed antibiotics for possible infection instead of being properly investigated, that was if I wasn’t just being told that period pain is normal and encouraged to take some painkillers.

‘I first realised there was something seriously wrong when I was travelling a few years ago.

(Picture: Ellie Kammer)

‘I was walking around the streets of Toulouse and constantly had to ask my partner to find me a toilet because I couldn’t take another step without bleeding everywhere.

‘The bleeding continued for the remainder of our travels.’

(Picture: Ellie Kammer)

After speaking with someone who had endometriosis, Ellie was convinced she had the condition too. She took out health insurance, made an appointment with a specialist, and finally got diagnosed.

Sadly, her health insurance refused to cover her first surgery, as previous complaints to a GP about abdominal pain had made her struggles considered a ‘pre-existing condition’.

She had to suffer for another nine months before she could have an operation to remove the disease.

(Picture: Ellie Kammer)

But when it comes to endometriosis, one surgery is rarely a quick fix.

Ellie now has to manage her endometriosis with surgeries, other procedures, specialty foods, vitamins, probiotics, and contraceptives.

‘It’s consuming,’ she says. ‘I think about it all day every day.

(Picture: Ellie Kammer)

‘I can’t perform even mildly strenuous activities without suffering the consequences.

‘I tried to rearrange by bedroom the other day and after simply pushing a trolley on wheels, moving a clothing rack and picking up a few light things off the floor I became immediately inflamed and riddled with burning pain throughout my abdomen.

‘I feel fatigued all the time so my concentration suffers which means my work suffers.

‘I can’t do anything very efficiently.

(Picture: Ellie Kammer)

‘I’m not able to lift anything over 10kg for the rest of my life due to the type of surgeries I have to undergo.’

So no, endometriosis is not just ‘bad period pains’. It effects every part of Ellie’s life.

The diagnosis and ensuing struggles sent Ellie into a spiral of negative emotions, leaving her feeling isolated and overwhelmed.



She turned to painting as a form of therapy, beginning by painting her own body, then documenting others’ experiences of endometriosis, too.

‘It first came from desperation,’ Ellie explains.

(Picture: Ellie Kammer)

‘I was desperate to free myself of all the emotions I took on after being diagnosed.

‘I had also been painting for a little while and had established that I wanted a career in fine art and had the technical skills, but I never really felt I had something to discuss in my work until the diagnosis.

‘The paintings have served as therapy.. they’ve kept my head above water through the difficult ordeals that endometriosis has dealt me and for me they’re sort of like time capsules.

(Picture: Ellie Kammer)

‘I can look at one of the paintings and remember what I went through at that time and appreciate the beautiful product of those experiences.’

The reactions to her work have been varied. The paintings are deliberately uncomfortable to look at, to hammer home the reality of endometriosis, and many find them too much to handle.

‘They’re so confronting that you have to contemplate what it is about the paintings that makes you feel disarmed,’ says Ellie.

‘It makes you raise questions with yourself like “why am I uncomfortable with this? Why do I love it? Why do I hate it?” That internal dialogue is really special even if the painting is disliked.’

(Picture: Ellie Kammer)

She hopes that her paintings will help those suffering to feel less alone, and to motivate people who don’t have the condition to learn about it.


‘For people with the disease, I urge you to educate yourselves… get second opinions, only see endometriosis excision specialists for your surgeries,’ Ellie says.

‘If you’re not sure whether your surgeon is an excision specialist it’s okay to ask, and if they’re not, it’s okay to seek someone else for your procedure.

(Picture: Ellie Kammer)

‘It can’t be managed with surgery alone, you need to look after your gut health and your mind. Try adjusting your diet, see a nutrition expert who deals with endo patients.

‘If you’re in pain try pelvic floor physiotherapy.

‘I’ve found that people will constantly give me advice. You need to pick and choose what advice to take on. Make sure the source is reliable.’

‘For people that don’t have endometriosis, I hope that doesn’t deter them from learning about it.

‘Endometriosis affects one in ten women so I can pretty much guarantee you will meet someone who has it if you haven’t already.

‘It isn’t simply period problems, it’s a real, painful disease with invasive treatment options and no cure.’

What is endometriosis? Symptoms of endometriosis include: Heavy periods

Extreme period pain that can’t be fixed with regular painkillers

Pelvic pain

Exhaustion and fatigue

Bleeding from the bottom or noticing blood in poo

Pain during or after sex

Pain when going to the toilet There’s no cure for endometriosis, but treatment can include: Anti-inflammatory painkillers

Hormone medicines

Contraceptives such as the combined pill

Surgeries to cut away patches of the endometriosis tissue

An operation to remove part or all of the organs affected by the condition, such as a hysterectomy

MORE: This illustrator’s vulva gallery is a glorious reminder to love your body

MORE: What is it really like to live with endometriosis? 6 women share their stories

MORE: Women with endometriosis aren’t being diagnosed quickly enough or receiving adequate treatment

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