The 90 Day Cast

Joëlle Jolivet

When French artist Joëlle Jolivet took a tumble and fractured her spine, she found herself immobilised in a cast for three months. Through her debilitating pain she illustrated a self-portrait marking each day of her long recovery. What emerged is a cast of characters drawn from history, literature, art, architecture and popular culture.

Joëlle’s visual account is an embodied expression of pain and isolation, while also transcending the circumstances through wry humour. The 90 Day Cast is a powerful reminder for many of us who have felt trapped in times of illness and strife, that there can be strength, resilience and humour even in moments of despair.

This book contains mature content and is recommended for older readers.

Read a blog post by Gita Wolf and Joëlle Jolivet  — In a Bind: The 90 Day Cast — to discover how this book came to us by accident, literally.