"Neuro - defragmentation" is one of the latest additions to my ink series that aims to raise awareness about the invisible symptoms of chronic illness and in specific of Lyme disease. The artwork is realized on 9" x 12" Canson paper using ink pens.
As a a Lyme sufferer, I learnt to use art as therapy in order to cope with pain or other disturbing symptoms such as : burning under the skin, muscular pain, bone pain, numbness, weakness, chronic fatigue, etc.
If you read my blog before you may remember that I touch the Lyme topic quite often. One of the "perks" of having chronic Lyme is that you get to experiment neurological symptoms like brain fog, headache, cranial nerve palsy, and/or lancinating pain and so on...
Not to mention that each new MRI reveals more white matter on your brain! Yes, Lyme produces other abnormalities that are similar to those seen in MS (Multiple Sclerosis)!
Ink is a new medium for me, as I start using it only a few months ago. So far I was in love with the acrylic paint! Today's ink drawing aims to illustrate one of the most annoying neurologic symptoms: brain fog and memory-loss.
This combination of symptoms made it impossible for my brain to remember a face in full. No matter how hard I try to picture a full face, I get only a partial view of it. My brain only remembers parts of someone's face, like pieces of a puzzle that I relentlessly try to place back together without any luck.
"It's not a big deal!", you'd say. "A lot of people have to deal with Alzeihmer or other conditions that affect their memory". I agree with you. It is not a big deal. It is just nerve wrecking for me not to be able to remember the complete faces of my close ones! Yes, it is something I can live with, but it doesn't make it less annoying.
Thus today's drawing is my attempt of putting back together fragments of a familiar face, to reorganize the neural connection with the hope that by practice I could do better next time. That I could remember a bit more and more details.
I tell myself that the brain is like a muscle, if you don't work it, you lose it. So I push myself daily, so I can increase my "Lyme functionality", cause Lyme life is totally different than what I knew before getting sick.
What do you do to sharpen your brain and memory? What are the exercises you do for your mental fitness? Jigsaw Puzzles, Sudoku, crosswords?
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That's interesting. I had no idea the memory issue was a side effect. That must be incredibly frustrating. I would certainly say that is a big deal! It has a negative impact on your quality of life.
But the art you're producing is still really awesome!
Thank you so much for your feedback and appreciation of my art!