Lyme Odyssey - Artistic Activism
“LYME ODYSSEY” - 18” x 40” acrylic on canvas
Raise awareness through art!
Meet the Lyme Odyssey, one of my acrylic works that I am really fond of! I poured my heart and soul into this painting. It has been a real cathartic experience to transfer into the canvas my Lyme journey.
As you can see, it is pretty straight forward. The painting illustrates some of the main chapters that all Lyme sufferers pass through: the pain of not looking sick, denial of treatment and existence of chronic Lyme (in Canada and not only), being told that their symptoms are psychosomatic, the loneliness patients are faced with, the havoc that Lyme does to one’s body, etc.
This painting is part of a series that aims to portray the reality of living with Lyme, hoping that it will raise more awareness and help educate people recognize its symptoms and challenges. It is a shift of perspective as it captures the insights of what it entails to be sick; it offers an objective view of the unseen faces of Lyme disease.
Creating art with purpose is quite a fulfilling feeling! When I started painting years back, I never expected to fall in love with this practice. Little I knew back then that art will be one of my weapons against this infamous illness.
As you may know, I use poetry and art (acrylic painting) to raise more awareness about Lyme disease. Art has the ability to help people cope with their struggle, pain or any other stress caused by a chronic illness.
In my case art plays a double role, it enables me to be pain free and in the same time it allows me to voice the struggle of those Lymies suffering.
Although nowadays it seems that there is a bit more knowledge available online, there is still a cloud of confusion when it comes to such a controversial topic as Lyme disease.
Hoping that you enjoyed seeing this work, I wish you a great week! If you liked it, drop me a comment in the section below! Share it with someone touched by Lyme, it might help him or her see that he or her is not alone in this battle.
If you’d like to see more artworks from this series, or some of my other paintings, check out my FB page. Thank you!