#Women@Mandela - Her work and personal story are closely connected, and both are helping to shift how we understand invisible illnesses, through the power of art.
Micaela holds a Master of Arts from Mandela University and leads the University’s postgraduate Graphic Design programme.
Her research and creative work explore how visual storytelling can make hidden experiences, like living with chronic illness, feel real and relatable.
In her master’s project, Visual Narratives Portraying the Lived Experiences of Women with an Invisible Illness, Micaela turned her focus to endometriosis, a painful, often misunderstood condition.
Drawing from her own diagnosis and the voices of other women, she used design and art to bring their stories to life in a way that challenges how society and the medical world view this illness.
“I never planned to make my work about something so personal,” she shares. “But after I was diagnosed, I saw how powerful it could be to use my own journey, the pain, the confusion, even the moments of beauty, to help others understand what this condition is really like.”
Her work brings together different fields: art, design, health, and feminist thought. She wants to make complex, often ignored information easier to understand, not just with facts, but with emotion and connection. More importantly, she wants to give a voice to women whose health concerns are often brushed aside.
For Micaela, visual storytelling isn’t just art, it’s empowerment. “When you take something invisible and turn it into something people can actually see, you take control of your story,” she says. “You’re not just surviving it, you’re owning it.”
In the classroom, she encourages her students, especially young women, to tap into their own lives when creating meaningful projects. She helps them blend personal experience with solid research so that their work not only feels real but also stands strong in academic spaces.
“Our lives hold valuable knowledge,” she says. “When students realise the power of their own stories, it changes how they see themselves and their work.”
But her advocacy doesn’t stop at university walls. Through her art, Micaela helps make endometriosis visible, a condition that can’t be seen in a scan but still causes real pain. By turning those experiences into visual work, she challenges the way doctors and society often dismiss women’s health issues.
Looking ahead, Micaela is planning to take her research further with a PhD, continuing to bridge the gap between lived experiences and academic or medical knowledge. “Getting people to talk more openly about endometriosis is just step one. There’s still a lot of work to be done to make sure women’s health is truly seen, respected, and taken seriously.”
Her message to young women at Nelson Mandela University this Women’s Month is both empowering and compassionate:
“Own the strength in your softness and share authentically. Your challenges, your pain, and your journey are not things that simply ‘happen to you’; they are part of your power. Claim them, shape them, and let them guide you.”