By Barbara Miller

COUNTRY: United States

DISEASE: Crohn’s Disease

FORMAT: Sculpture & Cross Stitching

ARTIST’S SUMMARY

The idea behind this artistic concept is that ‘Tic Tac Toe’ is representative of life with Crohn’s Disease (CD). Much like a game, CD is a disease through which there are personal wins, losses and draws. Words like hope, strength, endurance, courage, ache and low illustrate the range of emotion that patients who live with CD experience while on the road from awareness, diagnosis, and ultimately living with a chronic disease. The patient said that while you don’t always win at the game of life or CD, you still have to play.

PATIENT’S PERSPECTIVE

“My sister would always tell me off every time that I hogged the bathroom. When I was told that I had Crohn’s Disease, I knew I was different and special; I was given my own pill case, would often go to the hospital and missed a lot of school. I spent a lot of time reading comics, doing crafts and sitting in the doctor’s office. It was at times unfair but overall I know that as much as this disease has defined me, I have also defined what it means to live with a chronic illness.”

About Perspectives

‘Perspectives – Art, Inflammation and Me’ is an initiative that brings together more than 200 artists with patients in more than 40 countries. Together, they have created a series of paintings, sculptures, photos and other artistic expressions that vividly depict — and help others understand — the impact of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs). Inspired by patients’ stories, independent artists and students from a number of art universities created each piece to help more people better understand the burdens associated with some of these chronic and debilitating conditions. In addition to independent artists from all parts of the world, students from more than 15 universities coordinated by the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Universitat Politecnica de Valencia) were able to add their “Perspectives.”

Select a thumbnail to see an International image and story.

More than 100 unique artistic expressions from ‘Perspectives – Art, Inflammation and Me’ debuted at the 9th Congress of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) in Copenhagen, Denmark February 20, 2014, generously supported by AbbVie.

Select a thumbnail to see a Canadian image and story.