Mak-Mind

Mak-Mind is the brainchild of South African-born Scottish artist-designer-maker and cancer survivor, Renate Kriegler Edwards. Drawing on her background in fine jewellery, Renate seeks to support people in recovery through the therapeutic practices of hand sculpting and making personal wearable symbols.

Mak-Mind primarily seeks to partner with not-for-profit organisations who support people in recovery from any kind of trauma, e.g. abuse, an accident, crime, illness, addiction or a suicide attempt. Such a collaboration enriches an organisation's service to clients, may boost their visibility, impact and/or income from fundraising or grants, and could support them in exploring research questions. Please do get in touch to discuss how Mak-Mind might work with you.

At present, I am partnering with Maggie's on a research project around support for cancer survivors.

Background

It fascinates me how some people recover from trauma and reinvent themselves. Reflecting on the utility and meaning of my craft, jewellery, led to the potential of an amulet to support such transition. I dreamed up a project where I might support people in recovery – at the threshold of their “new life” – to design and craft their own “transitional object” – a silver charm, representing their personal goals and strengths. 

Psychotherapist friends have expressed their appreciation for my concept of a wearable Transitional Object, and the added profound power of making it oneself. But a Mak-Mind charm is even more. It’s a talking piece. It may become a family heirloom – weaving a powerful, potentially narrative-changing story of resilience and transformation into the fabric of the family identity.

Before acting upon my idea, I was diagnosed with stage-3 breast cancer, and I came to know what recovery really is. And how meaningful and powerful Mak-Mind could be – not only in acknowledging individual struggles, but as a means to bring people together and talk about what matters to them, to bring about positive change. Mak-Mind now is more than a dream; it’s my purpose.

Mak-Mind and Cancer

the problem of cancer survival

Upon my discharge from a year of acute cancer treatments, as a relatively young survivor, I felt pressured to re-establish a meaningful and productive life, while feeling lost and punch-drunk. I was surprised to find little support specifically for cancer survivors, when we really do need a hand with readapting – or indeed reinventing ourselves. This “reinvention” is critical for the increasing number of working-age cancer survivors in Scotland, some of whom, if not supported into a productive and fulfilling “new normal”, may become isolated, anxious or depressed, landing back in the healthcare system with side effects and aftereffects that often cannot be treated with medicine. 

the gift of cancer

A traumatic experience often humbles one. Cancer makes us face vulnerability, uncertainty and death, and often causes us to question the meaning and importance of everything. Being patients, we learn patience. It softens our sharp edges; we grow in our compassion and empathy. We reach out to people we may not have engaged before, simply because they have become our peers in a life-changing experience. There are few places as demographically diverse as an NHS service! I believe one could harness this humbling and socially levelling effect of cancer to mobilise survivors from all demographics to look out for each other and build communities. I believe the problem of increasing cancer incidence, across an ever-widening demographic, presents an opportunity to promote tolerance, compassion and equity.

research partnership with Maggie's

Keen to explore this precarious milestone on the cancer journey with fellow survivors, I am partnering with Maggie’s Forth Valley in 2025 for my masters dissertation project.

Based on my theories above, my research questions are:

1. Could we promote individual resilience in cancer survivors through craft-based individual (meaning) making and goal setting within a peer-support group setting?

2. Might a wearable Transitional Object support day-to-day individual resilience?

3. Does the socially levelling effect of the experience of cancer and cancer treatment present an opportunity for cross demographic community building?

For these research purposes, the Mak-Mind workshop is embedded in documentation, evaluation and reflection, and will contribute valuable lived-experience research to the emerging field of cancer survivorship. 

Symbols of Transformation