Megan Denieffe

Let Me Hold Your Hand When I Say This examines emotional burnout among workers in vocational professions. As a teacher within the emotionally demanding environment of education, I noticed a recurring narrative in which burnout is framed as personal self-sacrifice, often expressed through phrases such as “Why did you choose this profession?” and “You brought this workload on yourself.” I recognise a disconnect between societal perceptions and the realities of caregiving work.

I use interviews as the foundation of my multidisciplinary practice, exploring tensions between work and personal fulfilment through open, empathetic conversations about the often invisible fatigue that accompanies teaching. Through sculpture and photography, I visualise the surrender to burnout that causes passion and care for one’s work to be overridden by exhaustion within both the body and the surrounding environment.

“Light still remains, it just might have lost its direction.”