Art & Medicine Archive – 2021
December 1, 2021
Disjointed
by Dena Novak
Dena’s paintings explore hope and fear through her experience of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). Each day holds a unique uncertainty, as the mobility of her body can be variably and unpredictably compromised by chronic EDS. Her physical condition and its accompanying emotional responses could be detrimental to her artmaking, but instead, she has let it guide her, allowing her body’s ability in the moment to determine the outcome of her work.
Event Recording
March 31, 2021
Routine as Repertoire
by Weng-San Sit
Artist-in-Residence Ted Meyer interviews artist Wang-San Sit, and Dr. Pamela Mikkelsen, Orthopedic Clinical Specialist and Assistant Professor of Clinical Physical Therapy “Routine as Repertoire” explores routines that women and non-binary individuals incorporate into their lives as bodies go through transformation or challenges. She explores patients’ diverse routines; from taking medication, to cleaning a wheelchair, meditation, exercise, rest, community building, and so on. Through the sharing of routines, perhaps experiences such as illness, disability, aging, motherhood, and gender transitioning can be viewed beyond the tragic or heroic polarities, and the experiences may exist and be represented in all their complexities.
Event Recording
February 5, 2021
Artist/Patient Works
by Susan B. Trachman
Susan Trachman was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1988 and began stockpiling materials from her various treatments almost immediately. Seven years later she conceptualized her first piece, Order. In Susan’s words, “Having MS, like life itself is unpredictable… we all have something, and dwelling on the things that you have lost or can’t control does not change what is or what will be, but making something of what you have is all that you can do.”