Surface Echoes

Creative reflections on eczema, empathy, and lived experience
Project Overview:

Surface Echoes is a multi-format resource that brings to life the emotional and everyday experience of living with eczema. Developed over three years by Professor Sara Brown and artist Beverley Hood, in collaboration with people affected by eczema, the project reframes powerful quotes from academic research into a printable script, a moving audio recording, and original collage artworks.

These outputs are designed to spark empathy, foster conversation, and make the lived experience of eczema more visible and understood—whether by clinicians, families, educators or peers. By combining art and health research, Surface Echoes shifts these often-hidden voices out of the clinic and into creative public spaces.

Team:

    • Professor Sara Brown – University of Edinburgh

    • Beverley Hood – Artist, Edinburgh College of Art

    • In collaboration with individuals affected by eczema, healthcare audiences, and creative partners

Project Website
Goals & Activities

  • Amplify the voices of people living with eczema in ways that are accessible and emotionally resonant

  • Build shared understanding between patients, clinicians, families and educators

  • Increase awareness of eczema research and its relevance to everyday life

  • Influence future research priorities through creative, patient-informed engagement

  • Workshops with individuals affected by eczema, responding to and shaping script content

  • Creation of a downloadable script and collage artwork

  • Audio recording featuring diverse voices and accents

  • Presentations to dermatology nurses and at health and arts conferences

  • Ongoing use in training, conversation, and reflective settings

Project Outputs

Script & PDF Resource

  • An printable and recored script based on lived experiences and qualitative research quotes—designed for workshops, training, and self-reflection.

     

Original Artwork

  • A series of collages created as part of the project process—informing the script and available for download or exhibition.

[Project Output]Conversations Sparked

  • The resource has already opened space for deeply personal conversations—for example, helping one teenager speak honestly to their parent for the first time.

     

Downloads & Links
Surface Echoes Main Page
Project Blog
ECQI 2025 Presentation