PROGRAM Highlights
September 18, 2024
On August 28th, the HEAL Program hosted the first Art and Medicine show of the academic year, highlighting artist Miranda Fae’s work titled “Living Proof”. Joined by Dr. Purush Rao from the Division of Pulmonary Medicine and Ted Meyer, HEAL’s Artist-in-Residence, Miranda’s artwork created a thought-provoking conversation about illness and artistic expression. Miranda’s captivating artistic creations center around the adversity and strength that cystic fibrosis has brought her. Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at a young age, Miranda started using art as an outlet to express herself. In 2011 when she was told that she needed a lung transplant, her art became centered on lungs. She recalls feeling an overwhelming sense of fear as her illness advanced and she felt more like she was drowning—a feeling that people with cystic fibrosis are familiar with. One of her pieces, “Underwater Lungs” beautifully captures the depth of this feeling as it portrays a set of lungs in the ocean.
When asked about the meaning behind the title of her work, “Living Proof”, she described it as a loaded title that carried a lot of meaning for her and medical professionals. “Living Proof” is a nod to her perseverance and how far it’s taken her amid the struggles of her illness. It also acknowledges the perseverance of medical professionals as their efforts have kept her and her art alive.
One of her pieces, “Untitled”, was created using IV bags. Miranda first thought of this concept for an art piece during a hospital visit in which she noticed the way the IV bag looked under the light; she described that in an odd way it “registered as beauty”. Using traditionally stigmatized items—specifically medical items, such as IV bags—is something that has become a pattern in Miranda’s art. Her artwork attempts to transform the trauma or anxiety that is typically attributed to these items with positive feelings. Miranda’s artwork demonstrates resilience and is a testament to the beauty that can live at the intersection of art and medicine. To learn more about her impactful art, watch our event recording linked below.
Alumnus Jonathan Chou, Book Release
Keck School of Medicine alumnus, MIT psychiatrist, and lecturer in the Narrative Medicine Program, Jonathan Chou, is also an accomplished poet. His debut poetry collection, Resemblance/與, won the 2023 Alma Book Award and is now on bookshelves. Resemblance/與is a spare, lyrical, and beautiful refraction of memory while exploring the 228 Incident of 1947 and White Terror period in Taiwan’s history. Chou’s collection seems to understand that memory isn’t about remembering, but about standing in place as Browning once said of the lyric poet, who “digs where he stands.” Resemblance/與 seems to say, “Finally we stopped looking/for a way out,” instead preferring to unravel in place.
M.S. in Narrative Medicine
Learn more about the Narrative Medicine program today! Narrative Medicine is a clinical practice, a method, and an academic field of study that centers individual and community stories in the service of health and social justice. Narrative Medicine works in a range of settings as a tool for building community, developing a practice of self-reflection, and becoming open to other points of view. Join us for an information session!
Upcoming Events
Visions & Voices
Opulent Mobility – Opening Event and Panel Discussion
09/25/2024 | 12pm | Mayer Auditorium
Opulent Mobility is a vibrant group exhibition at the Hoyt Gallery that spotlights artists whose works answer this question by reframing and recalibrating conventional approaches to disability and chronic illness. The opening will include a conversation at the Mayer Auditorium featuring curators A. Laura Brody and Anthony Tusler, artist Patricia Fortlage, and occupational therapist and Limitless Dance co-founder Debbie Wang, moderated by USC professor Julie Van Dam. They will address the pertinence of disability art practice to disability ethics and aesthetics.