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Epilepsy:
A Seizure lasts a moment
Dreams last a lifetime |
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Diligent Remedy
Anneke Emily Allan was born in 1979. She was first diagnosed with epilepsy in August of 1995 after a tonic clonic (grand mal) seizure. Anneke's feelings about her seizures are eloquently expressed in her artwork known as the "Locker,"which was installed in an actual locker during a recent art show at her high school. Using such unusual materials as broken eggs, empty pill bottles and a black veil, the Locker's creative imagery and text (entitled "Diligent Remedy") combine to make a strong statement about the impact of epilepsy on the psyche of this young person. The text is reproduced below:
This piece is intended to reflect my feelings on Epilepsy. Being a sufferer of this illness I wanted to express my emotions and my outlook on this situation.
I was diagnosed with Epilepsy when I was 16 after a vicious grand mal seizure. This happened after two months of little seizures called auras. An aura is like déjà vu. You feel like your head is being compressed by a dark shadow and when you think it is about to swallow you up it disappears. This was a very difficult time for me because I thought I was losing my mind until one day the shadow didn't go away. I was talking to my mother one minute then almost a blink of an eye later I was in the hospital and surrounded by doctors.
That experience of the seizure and the feeling of possible insanity (Ha ha ha. It's okay to laugh, I do!) are depicted inside the top part of the locker. The bottom part of the locker represents the medication I must take to suppress the seizures. The medication is a blessing and a grief because the side effects are just as unpleasant as a seizure.
The locker symbolizes my age and the compactness of the area simulates the "trapped" feeling I sense sometimes.
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