My drawings are influenced by my work as an occupational therapist and my interactions with patients and their caregivers. In painting on transparent papers, I progressively layer my images to address reoccurring struggles in healthcare that are outwardly hidden or forgotten. With my family members as models, I hope to convey the loss of identity that can occur as degenerative illnesses affect one’s ability to complete self-care or functional movement. The underlying layers represent the obscured sense of self that attempts to overcome those difficulties.
Recently, my drawings have become more personal as they depict my mother’s struggle to care for my father who has Parkinsonism. The life-sized images, which are cut out and mounted to the wall, represent the substantiality of their difficulties and resilience. The trays are used as architectural elements to support my father as he walks, confining his small steps within their framework. My mother bears the sole weight of his mobility, both literally and metaphorically. The resulting layers represent my father’s progressive disappearance from the person my mother recalls, while each wall signifies my parent’s perseverance.
