Table of Contents
Jordyn Dreyer is a practising artist, an unapologetic croissant enthusiast, and she’s been living with diabetes for 5 years.
Meet Jordyn Dreyer, a 27 year old lecturer and the Programme Manager of the BA Visual Communication Design Honours at Red & Yellow School of Creative Business.
What’s the one thing you wish you’d known when you were diagnosed with diabetes?
I wish I’d known that I could never really be a “small bag girl” again. Those micro mini purses simply don’t work when you need to carry insulin, needles, snacks, and medical supplies everywhere you go. It sounds light-hearted, but it’s one of those quiet, practical shifts that reminds you that diabetes comes with you into every space.
More than anything, I wish I’d understood how many decisions people with Type 1 diabetes make in a single day, and the mental fatigue that can come with that. It’s not just about managing blood sugar — it’s about constantly thinking, planning, and adjusting.
That invisible labour is something I wish I’d been gentler with myself about from the start.
Can you tell us about how diabetes has influenced your art?
Diabetes began influencing my creative practice during my Honours year at university. I started creating digital work and zines that asked questions about how diabetes is communicated visually, particularly through medical and health PSA posters around the world. I became interested in the subliminal messaging embedded in these visuals, and how stigma, fear, and oversimplification often shape the way chronic illness is represented.
When I moved into my Master’s degree, this inquiry became more focused. My practice began to centre on addressing Type 1 diabetes stigma, while also reflecting on my own personal journey and how I’ve grown since diagnosis. I started working directly with my medical data — information collected from devices I use every day — and used it as a launchpad for exploring different artistic forms.
Diabetes through the medium of ceramics
Ceramics became a key medium during this time. I was looking for an outlet that could help me process some of the experiences I’d gone through in the years following my diagnosis, including the emotional highs and lows that accompany living with Type 1 diabetes. As part of my research, I began investigating clay for its therapeutic qualities, particularly its capacity to hold time, repetition, and care.
From there, I started translating medical data into physical artworks. For example, I explored how three days of medical data could be represented as a single ceramic vessel, using dots or sculptural marks to signify how many times I pricked my finger in a day. I also worked with radial graphs of blood sugar levels through wall installations, layering coloured shapes on top to represent the emotions I experienced during those periods. I also explored making these very clinical representations of life with diabetes (medical labels) in something very tactile to see how I could make these objects feel human. These works allowed me to explore whether correlations might exist between data, form, and feeling — and how lived experience can be made visible through material.
If you could change one thing about diabetes, what would it be?
The mental fatigue is one of the hardest parts. Even when everything else in my life is busy or demanding, I still have to make space for diabetes — to accommodate it, care for it, and manage it alongside everything else.
Diabetes requires constant attention and decision-making, and no matter where I go, it comes with me.
What would you say to a person with diabetes who is struggling?
I would say that you don’t have to navigate diabetes alone. For me, the biggest game-changer was finding a community of other people living with diabetes. Connecting with others who understand what life can look like with Type 1 diabetes — across different experiences and eras — has been truly life-changing.
A support system can be a space for accountability, encouragement, and practical help — from managing medication and supplies to coping with the mental fatigue that comes with this condition. My advice is simple: build your support system, don’t be afraid to reach out, and accept help when it’s offered. You don’t have to carry it all alone.
What makes your life sweet?
Time in the studio. Freshly baked croissants. The smell of sunscreen on a hot summer’s day. Intellectually stimulating conversations. Art that shocks me. Polka dots. A really good red lipstick.
Connect with Jordyn and her work here:
Discover more from Sweet Life
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
