Most people living with a disability are oftentimes overly familiar with medical imaging – those black and white, stark representations of the interior human body. A clinical snapshot of a diagnosis.
A woman named Elizabeth is setting out to change how these medical images are seen by both the medical world and the people whose bodies make up these images.
Elizabeth is turning them into art.
Elizabeth was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 1991, and she has since been diagnosed with quadriplegia due to MS. It’s safe to say Elizabeth has a hefty collection of medical images, mostly MRIs of her brain.
“Inspired by the brain’s ability to change and adapt, my work exists in the spaces between science and art, between society and disease,” shares Elizabeth. “I aim to expand the conventional definition of portraiture by challenging viewers to question what it means to be flawed ― to be human.”
Elizabeth, a former civil rights lawyer who focused on helping people gain accesses to medically necessary healthcare, became an artist after she could no longer practice law. Her mission now is to “challenge how researchers and clinicians see their work and to reshape how patients can come to terms with disease.”
Elizabeth creates her brain scan art on a variety of mediums including silk paintings and copper etching prints. Her artwork is on display in such venues as the National Institutes of Health, Stanford University, Yale University, and the Center for Brain Science at Harvard University.
“I do not work for profit but to advance conversations about what it means to have and to celebrate imperfection of the body,” shares Elizabeth. And at the core of her mission, she aims to “create artwork that invites social engagement and encourages conversations.”