Artist and writer Corina Duyn marked Arts in Nursing Homes Day on 16 May 2025 with the launch of the paperback edition of her most recent publication, In Bed I Cut Words. A powerful and poignant body of work, the book is the latest in Corina’s ongoing artistic response to life with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), a condition she has lived with for 26 years.
Since 2021, Corina has been living in full-time care at Signacare Nursing Home in Waterford, having had to give up her independent life at the age of 59. Yet from her bed, she continues to create – and challenge. In Bed I Cut Words is a testament to her refusal to be silenced by circumstance. The book features a striking collection of Corina’s collages, accompanied by poems, prose, and reflections from fellow artists, writers, and health professionals. It is both a visual and literary offering, and an urgent call to re-examine ideas of home, autonomy, and the creative spirit in care settings.
Thanks to the generous support of Waterford City and County Council and the Irish Hospice Foundation, copies of In Bed I Cut Words will be distributed free of charge to arts and health practitioners, arts offices, and public libraries across the country. The book can also be explored online at www.corinaduyn.com.
Corina’s creative journey began early – she made her first rag doll at the age of ten – and her path as a puppet designer, writer, and visual artist was already well underway when she was diagnosed with ME at 36. As her illness progressed and her physical abilities became increasingly limited, so too did her capacity to engage with her practice in the way she once had. But Corina’s belief that “there is always a way” remained unshaken. When she moved into nursing home care, she put out a call for creative support – and Waterford Healing Arts responded, connecting her with artist Caroline Schofield.
This collaboration led to the groundbreaking 2023 exhibition I Brought the Dream of Flying at GOMA Gallery of Modern Art, Waterford, supported by Waterford Healing Arts and Creative Waterford. The exhibition was later featured at Creative Brain Week at the Naughton Institute, Trinity College Dublin, and it sparked new life into Corina’s work with collage – a medium that allowed her to create from her bed, despite the constraints of her illness.
The original hardback edition of In Bed I Cut Words, designed by David Murphy at Red Heaven Design, grew out of this period. So well-received was the book that the decision was made to publish a paperback edition, ensuring even wider access to this moving and provocative work.
More than a beautiful book, In Bed I Cut Words asks difficult questions. What does “home” mean when it’s no longer a place of your choosing? What happens to the creative impulse in institutional settings? And how can society better support artists – and people – in navigating such profound change?
Katherine Collins, Creative Waterford Coordinator, reflected:
“In Bed I Cut Words is a challenging work exploring the realities of being a creator in a care home setting. It challenges us to consider what it means to be a younger person living in a space that cannot necessarily meet all her needs – to create, to collaborate, to communicate. By supporting Corina’s work and bringing it to a wider audience, we hope to spark a broader conversation about creative expression in all areas of life.”
Claire Meaney, Director of Réalta (which manages Waterford Healing Arts), added:
“It has been our absolute privilege to support Corina’s work over many years. The strength and clarity of her artistic voice is inspiring on its own – but when considered in the context of her many challenges, it’s clear that Corina is a true artist: she quite simply must make art in order to survive.”
Corina’s work reminds us all of the resilience of the human spirit, the essential nature of creativity, and the importance of reimagining care environments not just as places of rest, but of rich and vital artistic life.
Pictured above:
Janet Tobin Martin, Caru Regional Lead
Elizabeth Hutcheson, Arts Producer, Irish Hospice Foundation,
Maeve Butler, Assistant Director, Rèalta and Waterford Healing Arts Trust,
Corina Duyn, artist and author,
Rebecca Ellickson, Director of Nursing, Signacare
Shirley Molloy, Signacare
Katherine Collins, Creative Waterford Coordinator, Waterford City and County Council