The Weight of Waiting - Group Exhibition at The House of Smalls
About the Exhibition: The Weight of Waiting
A group exhibition, at The House of Smalls in Edinburgh, 7th March - 11th April 2026, exploring the Gender Health Gap, with artwork by 70 women.
The exhibition explores experience of missed diagnosis, misdiagnosis and/or late diagnosis and disproportionate delays in receiving adequate healthcare; together with reference to coping with long term illness and the death of loved ones.
Weight of waiting: The emotional burden, psychological distress, and anxiety that comes from a period of waiting which can also manifest in a variety of physical symptoms and deterioration in physical health.
About the Artwork: Shame. It took so long.
In late 2025, I had my first cervical screening at the age of 34. Nearly 10 years of carrying a quiet shame - tucking NHS letters in drawers, telling myself I’m too busy, I’ll do it another time. Trying to convince myself that there was nothing to worry about but that I also wasn’t ready to face up to the test.
Following screening, my results revealed “severe dyskaryosis”, high-grade cell changes, which were (thankfully) pre-cancerous. I went for a colposcopy and wire loop biopsy In January 2026, which removed 3.21g of my cervix.
The colposcopists at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle were amazing, reassuring and the procedure was over in a few minutes. Knowing about an upcoming exhibition at The House of Smalls before going for my colposcopy and biopsy, I asked if it was possible to weigh the tissue removed. An unusual ask (not a standard measurement for this procedure and the first time this had been requested!) but the colposcopists very kindly sent off the request and provided the results, enabling me to create the piece.
No part of the screening or biopsy was as bad as I’d made myself feel for delaying it. The weight of the time spent avoiding my screening was far heavier, and I hope that sharing my story might encourage someone else to go for their cervical screening.