Art as a Beacon: Navigating life after a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.

00:57:13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNVt2lC_u5o

Sintesi

TLDRThe event featured Torrance York, a fine arts photographer who shared her journey with Parkinson's disease through her photographic work and public presentation. Hosted by the UVA Center for Health Humanities and Ethics, the discussion explored how art and humanities play a role in medicine, particularly focusing on York's unique use of imagery to process her diagnosis. Her project involves capturing everyday moments and medical imagery, reflecting her inner thoughts and emotions post-diagnosis. A significant part of the presentation included discussions on vulnerability and acceptance, the therapeutic value of art, and the importance of dialogue about chronic illness. York's project has been featured nationally and internationally, highlighting her determination and the role of creativity in understanding and presenting her disease. The event concluded with a Q&A session addressing artistic process, interactive audience participation, and the impact of this work in healthcare environments.

Punti di forza

  • 🎨 Art as a medium for coping with chronic illness, particularly Parkinson's.
  • 📚 'Semaphore' symbolizes signaling through photography about personal journeys.
  • 🧠 Creative expression aids in understanding and managing Parkinson's disease.
  • 💬 Importance of dialogue about taboo subjects related to health conditions.
  • 🔍 Art can encourage reflection and understanding of difficult life changes.
  • 📸 Everyday items captured in photos reflect deeper emotional experiences.
  • 🔦 Artistic vulnerability invites deeper connection with the audience.
  • 🖼️ Exhibiting art related to illness promotes awareness and empathy.
  • 🌟 Participation in art can improve mental well-being and health outlook.
  • 🎶 Multi-sensory art, including music and poetry, further enriches health benefits.

Linea temporale

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The event kicks off with Brad Worrall introducing a special event sponsored by the Center for Health Humanities and Ethics and the Department of Neurology. He welcomes residency applicants and Dr. Donna Chen. She is a professor involved in multiple departments at UVA and is instrumental in the new fusion lab initiative that fosters collaboration among various fields to enhance community well-being.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Dr. Donna Chen introduces the main speaker, Ms. Torrance York, a fine arts photographer and educator. Ms. York, diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2015, began a photographic project to capture her perspective following her diagnosis. Published in 2022, her work is exhibited widely and aims to foster discourse on living with Parkinson's.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Ms. York starts her presentation expressing gratitude to the organizers. She shares personal connections to UVA and discusses her project, which includes a book showcasing her artistic journey with Parkinson's. Her images reflect internal and external changes post-diagnosis and the quest for understanding and acceptance.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Ms. York delves into her photographic process, influenced by personal experiences and emotional connections. She discusses using photography to process memories and understanding her father's impact. Her work includes landscapes titled with GPS coordinates to signify personal connections to places and experiences, as she seeks to understand Parkinson's

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    Her journey with Parkinson's becomes a central theme as she uses photography to cope and communicate her experiences. Art becomes a medium to express feelings of uncertainty and adaptation. York shares how her project started, focusing on adaptation and acceptance, and explores what these concepts look like through different images and perspectives.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    The narrative continues as Ms. York becomes deeply involved in the exploration of everyday items, turning ordinary objects into symbols of her experience. She uses scientific imagery, like MRI scans, to express and document her condition artistically. Her work involves a juxtaposition of medical and personal symbolism to bring depth to her project.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    Showcasing her work, Ms. York discusses the emotions captured in her photography, using props and real life situations to convey feelings and experiences tied to Parkinson's. She engages with the audience, encouraging them to share interpretations of her photographs, linking these back to themes of balance, change, and perception in her life.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:40:00

    Ms. York continues to explore personal themes through her photographs, juxtaposing humor and gravity. She highlights how simple objects and scenarios can represent complex feelings associated with living with Parkinson's. The discussion includes audience interpretations, adding layers of meaning to her work, emphasizing the subjectivity of art.

  • 00:40:00 - 00:45:00

    The session evolves as Ms. York discusses her creative process and the symbolism in her photographs. She focuses on the themes of measurement and progression, explaining the deeper meanings behind her artistic choices. The discussion broadens to include how her Parkinson's symptoms influence what she captures through her lens.

  • 00:45:00 - 00:50:00

    Ms. York reflects on the therapeutic and transformative role of art in managing Parkinson's. She discusses the impact of creativity on well-being, referencing studies linking artistic activities with health benefits. Her work illustrates personal growth and adaptation, suggesting art's potential in medical contexts to enhance patient care.

  • 00:50:00 - 00:57:13

    In conclusion, Ms. York summarizes her journey and invites questions from the audience. The Q&A session covers the reception of her work by healthcare providers, personal reflections on her project, and the role of vulnerability in art. She emphasizes art's importance in healthcare settings and encourages integrating creative outlets into medical care.

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Video Domande e Risposte

  • What is the main focus of Ms. York's photographic project?

    Ms. York's project focuses on exploring her personal journey and adaptation after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

  • How does Ms. York integrate her medical experiences into her art?

    She combines photographs of everyday items with medical images, like MRIs, to communicate her experiences and emotions related to living with Parkinson's disease.

  • What was a significant theme in Ms. York's presentation?

    A significant theme was the exploration of vulnerability and the way it is captured and communicated through art, which Ms. York uses to connect with the audience.

  • How is art beneficial to individuals living with Parkinson's according to Ms. York?

    Art can serve as a therapeutic tool, helping individuals manage symptoms by fostering creative expression and providing a medium to explore personal experiences.

  • Why did Ms. York choose the title 'Semaphore' for her book?

    She chose the title 'Semaphore' to symbolize the signals and messages conveyed through her imagery, akin to semaphore communication.

  • What does Ms. York hope to achieve through her photography project?

    She aims to foster a greater understanding of living with Parkinson's and encourages dialogue including often taboo subjects about the disease.

  • What were some of the challenges Ms. York discussed in relation to her art project?

    Ms. York discussed challenges like dealing with her symptoms during outdoor shoots and how measuring daily activities helped her manage Parkinson's.

  • How does Ms. York describe her approach to capturing images related to Parkinson's?

    She describes it as capturing personal experiences and everyday life to represent the emotional impact of her Parkinson's diagnosis.

  • What impact did creating the book have on Ms. York?

    Creating the book helped Ms. York better manage her condition, providing a reflective process to understand and communicate her experiences.

  • What technological tools did Ms. York discuss using for her project?

    Ms. York mentioned using a long lens for photographing the moon and playing with light in her photography.

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Scorrimento automatico:
  • 00:00:51
    As you get settled in your seats I want to welcome you to
  • 00:00:54
    this special event. I
  • 00:00:59
    am Brad Worrall, one of the faculty here. I'm excited to
  • 00:01:02
    introduce this event sponsored
  • 00:01:07
    by the Center for Health Humanities and Ethics and the
  • 00:01:10
    Department of
  • 00:01:14
    neurology. - - And we enter the
  • 00:01:17
    department are really excited by this collaboration. I want
  • 00:01:19
    to offer a special
  • 00:01:22
    welcome to our residency applicants visiting us from
  • 00:01:26
    across the country. Welcome.
  • 00:01:31
    I'm not going to introduce Doctor Donna Chen will
  • 00:01:35
    introduce our speaker.
  • 00:01:38
    Donna is a professor in the UVA Center for Health
  • 00:01:40
    Humanities and
  • 00:01:43
    Ethics. The Department of Public Health sciences and
  • 00:01:45
    the Department of psychiatry.
  • 00:01:48
    As the list suggests, she wears many hats here at
  • 00:01:52
    UVA. The program today is one of the first offerings
  • 00:01:55
    from the new fusion lab
  • 00:02:00
    of the UVA Center for Health Humanities and Ethics.
  • 00:02:03
    That Doctor Donna Chen is spearheading along with other
  • 00:02:05
    stakeholders. The fusion
  • 00:02:09
    lab is to bring together practicing artists, clinicians
  • 00:02:11
    ,
  • 00:02:14
    community partners, scholars and scientists
  • 00:02:17
    to collaborate, on collaborative
  • 00:02:19
    efforts. To foster health and
  • 00:02:25
    well-being in our community and build knowledge in this.
  • 00:02:28
    With that I will turn it over to Dr.
  • 00:02:31
    Chen. » DONNA CHEN: Thank you Doctor
  • 00:02:33
    Brad
  • 00:02:34
    Worrall. Welcome everybody to a special partner
  • 00:02:36
    presentation.
  • 00:02:40
    As he said,
  • 00:02:46
    I am Donna Chen - - here in
  • 00:02:49
    person. To learn from photographer and
  • 00:02:54
    educator Ms.
  • 00:02:57
    York. The structure of today' s program, this entire room is
  • 00:03:03
    mic■ed. So if you have any conversation they will
  • 00:03:06
    be projected onto Zoom for millions to hear. Fair
  • 00:03:10
    warning. All of our speakers have completed
  • 00:03:15
    conflict of interest statements with disclosures.
  • 00:03:18
    to be claimed for this event. The information
  • 00:03:20
    for that is at the bottom of the
  • 00:03:22
    announcement. That you
  • 00:03:26
    saw come here or to get to - -. It's also on the medical
  • 00:03:30
    center website and the neurology
  • 00:03:34
    website. When the time comes for Q&A we will be sitting up
  • 00:03:36
    front. Please
  • 00:03:38
    raise your hand, you don't need to bring your microphone
  • 00:03:40
    because you will have
  • 00:03:43
    one. The zoom audience, please post your questions to
  • 00:03:46
    the Q&A.
  • 00:03:50
    On Zoom and we will state your question out loud for the
  • 00:03:52
    audience
  • 00:03:54
    here. Now I would like to turn it over to Doctor
  • 00:03:56
    York.
  • 00:03:59
    Ms. York. A fine arts photograp
  • 00:04:01
    educator, visiting us from Connecticut. Ms.
  • 00:04:03
    York
  • 00:04:05
    earned a degree from Yale and
  • 00:04:08
    a M.F.A degree from the Rhode Island school of
  • 00:04:11
    design. Resident artist of
  • 00:04:13
    the - - art center, one of the most well-respected people
  • 00:04:17
    in our program. In
  • 00:04:20
    2015 as Ms. York was diagnosed with Parkinson's
  • 00:04:22
    disease, about four
  • 00:04:25
    years later she began her photographic project - -
  • 00:04:29
    growing her perspective after receiving
  • 00:04:32
    diagnosis. Part of the ongoing projects, she
  • 00:04:35
    gathered images into a book with the same name published
  • 00:04:37
    in
  • 00:04:42
    2022. Of course, currently on exhibit at the -
  • 00:04:46
    - Museum
  • 00:04:49
    - - images have been exhibited nationally
  • 00:04:52
    and internationally and have won
  • 00:04:58
    multiple awards - - along with links to related publications
  • 00:05:00
    and -
  • 00:05:03
    -. It was named by favorite book of
  • 00:05:06
    2022 by the online
  • 00:05:09
    photography magazine -
  • 00:05:13
    -. In her artist statement about her work, Ms.
  • 00:05:18
    York says with summer
  • 00:05:22
    - - impact. The
  • 00:05:24
    images, I consider what it means
  • 00:05:28
    to receive life altering
  • 00:05:30
    information. What does acceptance look like?
  • 00:05:33
    Post diagnosis,
  • 00:05:36
    everyday items and this experience takes on new
  • 00:05:40
    meaning. It informs my to do list each
  • 00:05:44
    day. Simple tools now represent a challenge
  • 00:05:47
    and uncertainty. As I look around
  • 00:05:53
    me the branches of trees -
  • 00:05:58
    - acknowledging signals and adaptation. Often holds the
  • 00:06:02
    key for me.
  • 00:06:09
    Life - - [Low audio] to
  • 00:06:13
    follow. I want to foster a greater understanding
  • 00:06:16
    living with Parkinson's disease and
  • 00:06:18
    encourage dialogue that includes the often
  • 00:06:23
    taboo subjects - - [Low audio ] this project
  • 00:06:28
    is relevant, also connect with others whose journeys
  • 00:06:31
    require both patience and perseverance to move
  • 00:06:37
    forward. Throughout Ms. York's
  • 00:06:39
    career she said photography allows her to connect
  • 00:06:41
    with people, places and
  • 00:06:44
    experiences. This past summer, Ms. York
  • 00:06:47
    presented at the world's Parkinson's conference. We
  • 00:06:52
    are delighted to welcome you today.
  • 00:07:02
    »
  • 00:07:09
    TORRANCE YORK: - -
  • 00:07:12
    [Low audio] Donna, thank you. I guess I will start with
  • 00:07:14
    thanking
  • 00:07:18
    the organization, the partners here today.
  • 00:07:26
    - - [Low audio], Dr. Donna Chen and the Center for
  • 00:07:29
    Health Humanities and Ethics. The department of neurology,
  • 00:07:31
    the
  • 00:07:33
    particular division of Parkinson's - - [Low audio].
  • 00:07:35
    That
  • 00:07:38
    also
  • 00:07:42
    the bridge - - [Low audio]
  • 00:07:46
    tomorrow at
  • 00:07:49
    11:00 AM - - [Low audio]
  • 00:07:53
    version of this
  • 00:07:55
    talk but it's a very special day to be here. I'm excited
  • 00:07:59
    to share. I do not
  • 00:08:01
    get the opportunity to talk about
  • 00:08:05
    this often except when I go to see them for my problems or
  • 00:08:07
    concerns.
  • 00:08:11
    So I - - [Low audio]
  • 00:08:16
    to be in this particular venue is because my father who died
  • 00:08:21
    when I was six was an undergraduate
  • 00:08:24
    at UVA and also went to medical school. I think he
  • 00:08:28
    graduated in
  • 00:08:31
    - -
  • 00:08:33
    [Low audio] Talk about this project and make it into a
  • 00:08:37
    book. And to share how the work itself
  • 00:08:41
    has been an example of art impacting my life.
  • 00:08:46
    The questions I have been requested to answer,
  • 00:08:53
    a couple months into this project
  • 00:08:56
    . - - [Low audio] My Parkinson's
  • 00:09:00
    symptoms to the value of - - [ Low audio]
  • 00:09:15
    looking at an
  • 00:09:17
    opportunity to reflect and
  • 00:09:23
    connect. These images represent - - [Name?] one of
  • 00:09:25
    the artists I've always
  • 00:09:29
    appreciated. With abstract imagery and then this picture
  • 00:09:31
    - -
  • 00:09:39
    [Low audio] is an image that is often - -
  • 00:09:46
    [Low audio] of life. - - [Low audio]
  • 00:09:52
    This is an
  • 00:09:56
    opportunity for you to see my art. I'm asking you
  • 00:09:59
    here to be present and connect with
  • 00:10:08
    me. In making this work, ultimately this
  • 00:10:11
    book, I spent a great deal of time considering my process
  • 00:10:13
    and
  • 00:10:15
    asking why and what I have
  • 00:10:19
    found. Previously I recognize
  • 00:10:22
    connecting with various objects. I'm going to share
  • 00:10:24
    relative - -
  • 00:10:32
    [Low audio] in 1994 was looking
  • 00:10:36
    at how memories and pictures connect. This is
  • 00:10:41
    a picture from the radio that may - - [Low audio] your
  • 00:10:43
    memory, understanding who
  • 00:10:45
    my father actually was when speaking
  • 00:10:48
    to people. I always thought this would be a - - [Low audio
  • 00:10:50
    ] and it turns
  • 00:10:52
    out it is him holding
  • 00:10:55
    a hunting - -
  • 00:10:57
    [Low audio] photography and from a video he shot, this is
  • 00:10:59
    my
  • 00:11:01
    little brother, I mean my
  • 00:11:05
    big brother Zoom using
  • 00:11:08
    the same one. He also went to UVA.
  • 00:11:13
    Also connecting with subjects like
  • 00:11:29
    in person some of
  • 00:11:35
    the work, I was looking at the landscape and cultus - -
  • 00:11:39
    [Low audio] the landscape was an emotional, happy
  • 00:11:44
    place. - - [Low
  • 00:11:51
    audio] Starting
  • 00:11:54
    in 2001 I started titling my
  • 00:11:56
    landscape work with the GPS coordinates, where I was when
  • 00:11:58
    I took the
  • 00:12:01
    picture. It's not just the idea of connecting with nature
  • 00:12:03
    but
  • 00:12:06
    also the content of the specific place. And what does
  • 00:12:08
    that mean?
  • 00:12:13
    An abstract - -
  • 00:12:18
    [Low audio]
  • 00:12:22
    died in a car accident and
  • 00:12:25
    so this - -
  • 00:12:33
    [Low audio] here is
  • 00:12:36
    one of the examples - -
  • 00:12:39
    [Low audio] this is the more
  • 00:12:43
    recent landscape, I think 2019 or
  • 00:12:47
    2017. Here is an
  • 00:12:51
    example of my - - [Low audio] I shot and public
  • 00:12:54
    parks. In this case, it's a public park in my community so
  • 00:13:00
    for this work - - [Low audio]
  • 00:13:12
    for medication, looking at
  • 00:13:16
    an artwork provides me to focus on something outside of
  • 00:13:22
    myself. - - [Low
  • 00:13:27
    audio] The container for the idea or
  • 00:13:28
    the experience it represents. The place where we put it
  • 00:13:33
    where I can look at it and someone else can look at
  • 00:13:36
    it. In terms of
  • 00:13:42
    content, - - [Low audio]
  • 00:13:45
    Parkinson's. A neurodegenerative
  • 00:13:48
    disorder that progresses over time,
  • 00:13:51
    what's happening biologically is dopamine
  • 00:13:55
    making cells. So I decided to play with the
  • 00:13:57
    formula. Over 10 million
  • 00:14:02
    people worldwide were living with Parkinson's and - -
  • 00:14:08
    [Low audio] as donors that I was diagnosed in 2015 and
  • 00:14:10
    began the project in
  • 00:14:16
    2019. Looking at it helps me work through my
  • 00:14:18
    diagnosis. What does acceptance look like? I
  • 00:14:20
    thought if
  • 00:14:23
    I could visualize and picture that is that maybe
  • 00:14:25
    I could live it more. I could 've
  • 00:14:28
    been focus
  • 00:14:30
    on development - -
  • 00:14:35
    [Low audio]
  • 00:14:37
    I found I was photographing on certain
  • 00:14:41
    days.
  • 00:14:44
    I broke my
  • 00:14:48
    healing 2020 but the bruise moved around my foot.
  • 00:14:51
    Nature.
  • 00:15:02
    Objects and experiences from daily life.
  • 00:15:12
    Toys - - [Low audio]
  • 00:15:21
    light.
  • 00:15:30
    I combine these images with medical.
  • 00:15:33
    - - [Low audio]
  • 00:15:37
    This is one way I
  • 00:15:40
    was allowed to view my MRI showing I
  • 00:15:42
    did not have the brain tumor, confirming I had Parkinson's.
  • 00:15:44
    The
  • 00:15:47
    colors don't mean anything but I thought it was a more
  • 00:15:49
    beautiful way of looking at
  • 00:15:52
    it. This shows my bulging discs.
  • 00:15:58
    I also - - [Low audio] six phrases in
  • 00:16:00
    the book, this one here, is it my
  • 00:16:02
    DNA? Balance itself is a goal .
  • 00:16:06
    And I turned towards the sunday
  • 00:16:17
    sun. - - [Low audio] Challenges.
  • 00:16:19
    The project started in
  • 00:16:22
    a workshop. I was taking - - [Low audio] about finding
  • 00:16:24
    your vision.
  • 00:16:29
    We rest in this assignment to
  • 00:16:32
    contribute to the adjectives to describe
  • 00:16:37
    ourselves. We mixed those up and I caught - -
  • 00:16:42
    [Low audio] so I was playing with
  • 00:16:44
    her this tube of paper. Because I wanted to
  • 00:16:48
    know - - [Low audio] paper were unrolled. I
  • 00:16:50
    shot - - [Low audio]
  • 00:16:55
    absent okay now I remember that image. And said
  • 00:16:57
    let me look at the light at the end of this
  • 00:17:01
    tunnel. Then I started playing with the light table,
  • 00:17:05
    this cloth. It turned into this picture which I
  • 00:17:09
    see as sort of - -
  • 00:17:12
    [Low audio]
  • 00:17:18
    as I said in my
  • 00:17:22
    artist statement, at the beginning, that period
  • 00:17:26
    of anxiety, something as beautiful
  • 00:17:28
    like this branch of a cherry blossom. Took on the meaning
  • 00:17:30
    of the dendrite.
  • 00:17:33
    - - [Low audio]
  • 00:17:37
    Dendrite. When I came across this
  • 00:17:42
    wasps nest on my
  • 00:17:45
    walk I said this is cool, let me see what these insects
  • 00:17:47
    could do.
  • 00:17:49
    Then I saw a look like a - - [Low audio]'s face with a
  • 00:17:51
    gaping open
  • 00:17:53
    mouth. I connected it with the way I was
  • 00:17:57
    feeling, particularly the uncertainty.
  • 00:18:05
    - - [Low audio] RMA, this is a branch grown into a fence.
  • 00:18:09
    My husband found this when trying to clear the perimeter,
  • 00:18:11
    our fence. I
  • 00:18:14
    said wait, don't do
  • 00:18:16
    anything. I need to shoot that. - - [Low audio]
  • 00:18:21
    He told me he saw this
  • 00:18:23
    possum in the yard and the coatings have got into it. I
  • 00:18:25
    said okay I'm going
  • 00:18:27
    to shoot that. Sadly thinking
  • 00:18:32
    about decay, death. I tried to picture in a way that looks
  • 00:18:34
    peaceful.
  • 00:18:38
    This picture is
  • 00:18:41
    made with
  • 00:18:45
    - - I
  • 00:18:48
    like using toys - - [Low audio ] things like that. I was on
  • 00:18:50
    my way to the doctor's
  • 00:18:53
    office thinking I only get to see her 2 to 3 times a year,
  • 00:18:57
    what do I want to say? As I was
  • 00:19:00
    walking I noticed - - [Low audio] when
  • 00:19:06
    I walk - - [Low audio] so coming up without term
  • 00:19:09
    felt like, that name felt
  • 00:19:14
    important. And with a way to communicate with her. When I
  • 00:19:19
    came home - - [Low audio] Tory is that I
  • 00:19:21
    had taken this concern out of me and placed it somewhere.
  • 00:19:23
    And I
  • 00:19:26
    could look at it. I'm showing you this,
  • 00:19:30
    after the - - [Low audio] a talk with
  • 00:19:32
    Parkinson's. - - [Low
  • 00:19:38
    audio] Someone sighed well
  • 00:19:41
    you know that's an angel, don' t you? And I hadn't seen
  • 00:19:43
    that.
  • 00:19:47
    So this - - [Low audio] give me little rewards like that.
  • 00:19:49
    I kept that keeps giving.
  • 00:19:56
    So this - - probably knows a lot about Parkinson's and its
  • 00:19:58
    symptoms but I want to share some
  • 00:20:02
    of them that some don't have experience
  • 00:20:07
    with. I don't have much of a trimmer, at best. Not as
  • 00:20:09
    often. Rigidity and stiffness , slow lists
  • 00:20:12
    of movement. That was my primary
  • 00:20:16
    complaint. Difficulty with fine motor stand ready,
  • 00:20:21
    difficulty with balance and walking and lots of postural
  • 00:20:24
    reflexes. So
  • 00:20:26
    you know feeling stable and upright isn't always the case
  • 00:20:28
    .
  • 00:20:31
    And nonmotor symptoms, anxiety or
  • 00:20:39
    depression. Learning a lot about
  • 00:20:44
    brain health through my curiosity, support group - - [
  • 00:20:47
    Low audio] aspirations for taking better care of myself.
  • 00:20:49
    I think I needed to
  • 00:20:53
    relax more and destress.
  • 00:20:55
    So there is a bubble bath.
  • 00:20:58
    - -
  • 00:21:08
    [Low audio] Looking out the representing - - [Low audio]
  • 00:21:12
    this picture is
  • 00:21:17
    what I think of as optimistic because of
  • 00:21:21
    light but the steam from
  • 00:21:23
    making tea, making tea is my favorite time of the day.
  • 00:21:25
    This usually happens twice.
  • 00:21:27
    Learning about
  • 00:21:29
    neural plasticity I wanted to show the importance of that
  • 00:21:33
    by grabbing something new. I decided
  • 00:21:38
    to - - [Low audio] in water.
  • 00:21:43
    And it sprouted. I placed it in a
  • 00:21:45
    bowl and I know you have seen this picture but it took on
  • 00:21:47
    new meaning for
  • 00:21:50
    me. I photographed the ball several times empty. When I
  • 00:21:52
    put the sprouted being
  • 00:21:54
    in their it took this form. It looks like someone in
  • 00:21:56
    allonge,
  • 00:22:03
    holding - - [Low audio] things take on their own light
  • 00:22:06
    and away as I work with them in this
  • 00:22:10
    project. So that is my title, the title of the book is
  • 00:22:15
    semaphore because it is communicating like
  • 00:22:20
    Morse code but Zoom communicate to
  • 00:22:24
    each other or to shore. So for me, my
  • 00:22:28
    imagery is a way to communicate out
  • 00:22:34
    but also as I mentioned, I felt - - [Low audio] showing
  • 00:22:37
    me something so that signals in
  • 00:22:40
    and finally dopamine is a neurotransmitter so that is
  • 00:22:45
    the signal in the body and - - [Low
  • 00:22:50
    audio]. This book
  • 00:22:52
    is called - -
  • 00:22:56
    [Low audio] and it is the epigraph of the
  • 00:22:59
    book. I went back in this book because David
  • 00:23:01
    Bell has
  • 00:23:03
    Parkinson's and had surgery about two years ago. So I
  • 00:23:05
    said
  • 00:23:08
    before someone - - [Low audio] let me reread the book. I
  • 00:23:10
    found this at the
  • 00:23:12
    end and it very well describes the process. Making
  • 00:23:14
    the
  • 00:23:17
    where, what I'm noticing from the work. Teaching me
  • 00:23:19
    something about myself and investing that knowledge in
  • 00:23:21
    the next
  • 00:23:26
    step. So,
  • 00:23:42
    I feel like the book is almost like a sentence
  • 00:23:48
    or paragraph, images as words. Each image
  • 00:23:52
    takes on, gets a new vocabulary meaning.
  • 00:23:56
    So I wanted to see, I thought it would be fun to see how
  • 00:23:59
    that language is read by you all. So I wanted to
  • 00:24:02
    go to asking
  • 00:24:04
    the audience, what does this difference mean to
  • 00:24:07
    you? There's no wrong answer.
  • 00:24:09
    Do I have
  • 00:24:12
    a person - - [Low audio] there 's about eight images here.
  • 00:24:15
    We are going to have those - - [Low audio]
  • 00:24:17
    »
  • 00:24:20
    SPEAKER: Thank you, for me as a strong representation of
  • 00:24:22
    light
  • 00:24:25
    shining through an object. Whatever that object may be.
  • 00:24:26
    For
  • 00:24:31
    me it has changed a few times but I think some positivity
  • 00:24:33
    shining through.
  • 00:24:39
    »
  • 00:24:42
    Ms. YORK: In my initial thinking I was trying to
  • 00:24:46
    figure out how I'm supposed to stand. Every time I
  • 00:24:47
    go there like put your shoulders back, ribs down. I'
  • 00:24:49
    m
  • 00:24:53
    like, you know, trying to contort myself. And the idea
  • 00:24:55
    of doing
  • 00:25:00
    it in the light is putting optimism on it. This
  • 00:25:04
    isn't - - [Low audio]
  • 00:25:27
    » SPEAKER: This makes me think
  • 00:25:29
    of some of
  • 00:25:32
    the challenges that come with, clearly
  • 00:25:38
    those are - - [Low audio] harder to do.
  • 00:25:42
    » SPEAKER: - - [Low audio]
  • 00:25:46
    They are. » SPEAKER: They are?
  • 00:25:48
    » SPEAKER: I know.
  • 00:25:52
    » Ms. YORK: Okay this is
  • 00:25:54
    a fun
  • 00:25:57
    one. We
  • 00:26:03
    have - - [Low audio] from yesterday some going to call
  • 00:26:09
    on - - [Name?]. » SPEAKER: Thank you.
  • 00:26:12
    It
  • 00:26:16
    gets me a sense of precariousness, and
  • 00:26:21
    Imbalance.
  • 00:26:24
    It makes me anxious but I am not sure
  • 00:26:27
    why. >> Ms. YORK: It does also represent anxiety to
  • 00:26:32
    me. When I was looking at, it was cool that I could
  • 00:26:35
    get this. It's one of
  • 00:26:38
    those Zoom you build dexterity
  • 00:26:43
    with. Somehow I have
  • 00:26:48
    managed to - - [Low audio]
  • 00:26:54
    favorite toys from childhood. It was not only to think about
  • 00:26:56
    balance but also feeling respectable.
  • 00:26:58
    I had recently been at my child's school where I was
  • 00:27:00
    working
  • 00:27:04
    a video, I had lunch there and was walking across the
  • 00:27:05
    cafeteria thinking why am I holding this tray with a
  • 00:27:07
    weight
  • 00:27:10
    on it that could easily spell and I'm going
  • 00:27:13
    to be - - [Low audio] in this case - - [Low audio] even
  • 00:27:16
    though no one was looking at
  • 00:27:18
    me. That was my interpretation. I'm showing
  • 00:27:22
    this and ask someone what they think and
  • 00:27:25
    they say well I see this face that's holding
  • 00:27:29
    me. And I hadn't seen that originally.
  • 00:27:33
    But that's like my flash, the light of my
  • 00:27:36
    ceiling and - - [Low audio]
  • 00:27:37
    yeah. » SPEAKER: It's so funny, my
  • 00:27:39
    impression
  • 00:27:43
    is exactly the opposite. I find this very
  • 00:27:45
    serene. » SPEAKER: When I first looked
  • 00:27:47
    at it I thought it was almost loading.
  • 00:27:57
    » SPEAKER: Because the light
  • 00:27:59
    is
  • 00:28:04
    falling off - - [Low audio] so I
  • 00:28:11
    do find that softness to be - - [Low audio]
  • 00:28:16
    exactly. Our Australian
  • 00:28:17
    Shepherd. » Ms. YORK: Will always
  • 00:28:20
    understand me.
  • 00:28:23
    This one is also one of my favorites.
  • 00:28:30
    Anybody want to tell me their thoughts?
  • 00:28:38
    All right.
  • 00:28:40
    I will tell you what I was thinking.
  • 00:28:45
    This
  • 00:28:49
    is a ice frozen in our dogs bowl outside.
  • 00:28:52
    I wanted to play with the idea of
  • 00:28:55
    freezing riches one of the symptoms we complain about and
  • 00:28:58
    Parkinson's. We can't quite - - [Low audio] just feel
  • 00:29:00
    frozen.
  • 00:29:03
    So I was playing with that. I put it on
  • 00:29:12
    it, I put it - - [Low
  • 00:29:14
    audio] and the texture of the ice. I took two pictures
  • 00:29:16
    like this.
  • 00:29:18
    The third picture I took was the same and ended up liking
  • 00:29:23
    it, feeling more like head. - - [Low audio]
  • 00:29:27
    » SPEAKER: It's interesting to
  • 00:29:29
    me you put on a
  • 00:29:30
    mirror because my reaction looking out it was to make
  • 00:29:35
    sense of it before presenting it, was like a mirror not
  • 00:29:39
    showing a reflection. Because
  • 00:29:40
    this - - [Low audio] you look into the mirror and it's
  • 00:29:42
    facing
  • 00:29:45
    out. That's kind of what I
  • 00:29:49
    thought. » Ms. YORK: It is
  • 00:29:51
    obscuring. - - [Low audio] Is certainly
  • 00:29:54
    a - -
  • 00:30:00
    [Low audio] and disconnecting . How about this one?
  • 00:30:08
    » SPEAKER: For this picture the first thing that came to me was a - - [Low audio] that people use in physical therapy . I did
  • 00:30:18
    it was - - [Low audio]. For me after I had my stroke, - - was so optimistic because it meant I could get out of the
  • 00:30:30
    wheelchair and walk with someone holding me. Rather than being on a wheelchair. That was my first and only
  • 00:30:37
    of this image until, nobody else could say, no one saw a gait belt and her images.
  • 00:30:47
    » Ms. YORK:The truth of the matter is that the tape measure
  • 00:30:51
    measure. I was 54 when I took the
  • 00:30:55
    picture which - -
  • 00:30:58
    [Low audio] but it is the sense
  • 00:31:02
    of measuring every day are taking - - [Low audio]
  • 00:31:04
    movement is hard to forget about. As you move all of the
  • 00:31:06
    time.
  • 00:31:09
    So that taking - -
  • 00:31:12
    [Low audio] it can also measure progress. But for me
  • 00:31:14
    it started
  • 00:31:17
    with measuring steps when I had
  • 00:31:22
    a frozen shoulder. I was like
  • 00:31:25
    oh, my - - [Low audio] it's my Parkinson's on the left side.
  • 00:31:27
    So.
  • 00:31:32
    I think there's just two more pictures here. For
  • 00:31:38
    the - - [Low audio] anyone want to take this one
  • 00:31:43
    on? This is where my - - [Low audio] comes in.
  • 00:31:49
    I was playing with
  • 00:31:53
    the idea of healthy concentration and dissolving
  • 00:31:55
    concentration. So that was one way to
  • 00:31:59
    show not having enough dopamine in my
  • 00:32:02
    brain.
  • 00:32:09
    This one's really - -
  • 00:32:10
    [Low audio] » SPEAKER: Well, this is
  • 00:32:12
    uncertainty.
  • 00:32:18
    » TORRANCE YORK: Right? You
  • 00:32:20
    don't know where the horizon line is.
  • 00:32:23
    It is uncertain. If there is a possibility looking at it as
  • 00:32:31
    peace. I was very stressed out having to take a
  • 00:32:34
    rectangular picture with gauges on either side of the
  • 00:32:35
    book. As you can
  • 00:32:39
    see - - [Low audio] there. They just - - [Low
  • 00:32:43
    audio] propping it. To me that ended up
  • 00:32:46
    being the perfect, getting a - -
  • 00:32:52
    [Low audio], this idea of consciousness and the
  • 00:32:54
    water setting - -
  • 00:32:56
    [Low audio] » SPEAKER: It looks like
  • 00:32:57
    infinity to me.
  • 00:33:00
    » TORRANCE YORK: Infinity
  • 00:33:04
    - - this is when my oldest friend
  • 00:33:13
    - - I made this book and one way of using
  • 00:33:21
    vocabulary is - - [Low audio] so each one has its own
  • 00:33:25
    meaning and then comparing together you have
  • 00:33:28
    a new one. I'm going to share a couple of my favorites.
  • 00:33:37
    This is an ice cream on one of those markers for snow - -
  • 00:33:39
    [Low audio] backwards in
  • 00:33:43
    there. The haptic
  • 00:33:46
    on in the distance as the
  • 00:33:49
    neighbors light that happens to be showing the shape of the
  • 00:33:51
    - -
  • 00:33:53
    [Low audio] because of the
  • 00:33:58
    focus.
  • 00:34:02
    The whisk on the left is one of the hardest tools to
  • 00:34:04
    use. One of those moments when I realize why my mixing
  • 00:34:06
    batter
  • 00:34:10
    anymore? I kept asking - - [ Low audio] to mix the
  • 00:34:15
    batter with that sundial on
  • 00:34:18
    the right, I count - - [Low audio]
  • 00:34:21
    hours. I chose to
  • 00:34:25
    do this moment of cutting a Brussels sprouts. That sort
  • 00:34:30
    of partner moment before you cry - - [Low audio] I had a
  • 00:34:32
    lot
  • 00:34:36
    of pictures of cutting Brussels sprouts - -
  • 00:34:41
    [Low audio] there are no days off - - [Low audio]
  • 00:34:48
    says. These two together. On the
  • 00:34:51
    left is - -
  • 00:34:54
    [Low audio] test we were
  • 00:34:58
    doing. And of course it blood and the Band-Aid got saturated
  • 00:35:00
    and then I took it off
  • 00:35:02
    and thought that's kind of interesting, let me take a
  • 00:35:06
    picture of that. This on the right is
  • 00:35:09
    a canopy
  • 00:35:12
    bed. To me it represents the idea of the nuance
  • 00:35:16
    between two things. Like a laser and
  • 00:35:19
    experience Parkinson's or
  • 00:35:22
    aging? Is that memory in a dream where did that
  • 00:35:26
    happen? And then,
  • 00:35:28
    further, not just about sequencing. I'm going to show
  • 00:35:30
    you these
  • 00:35:33
    images and then group them together so
  • 00:35:37
    you can - -
  • 00:35:50
    [Low audio] it kind of changes when you see it
  • 00:35:53
    together. Is it my DNA?
  • 00:36:00
    - - [Low audio]
  • 00:36:04
    There. I just have one more thing.
  • 00:36:11
    I tried to - -
  • 00:36:22
    [Low audio] the last picture in the book is on the right
  • 00:36:24
    and it's a
  • 00:36:27
    Orion. I wanted to end on a strong note. I wanted to
  • 00:36:30
    , I kept thinking about Orion as a hunter, he is - - [Low
  • 00:36:32
    audio] and it
  • 00:36:36
    turns out this here is
  • 00:36:42
    called Bellatrix, a female warrior. Dad's - -
  • 00:36:48
    [Low audio] here, this
  • 00:36:51
    shows talks, I did not make up the Bellatrix thing. That
  • 00:36:53
    I have the opportunity
  • 00:36:57
    to request
  • 00:37:00
    to find - - [Low audio] because it was
  • 00:37:03
    very difficult. Many pages I had to come down to, only 67
  • 00:37:05
    favorites.
  • 00:37:09
    Which is what it looks like on the wall
  • 00:37:19
    there. And then the current - - [Low audio] like a mind map
  • 00:37:21
    where there's - - [Low audio] and the other is coming
  • 00:37:27
    off. It's so fun to be in the space around my work. And
  • 00:37:36
    it's up for four months so I hav lots of time. K. You might
  • 00:37:39
    think publishing a book about a personalized experience
  • 00:37:41
    would be - - [Low audio] but I found the opposite to be
  • 00:37:42
    true. I
  • 00:37:46
    found I could better manage the work. There were many
  • 00:37:48
    studies I
  • 00:37:51
    discovered that connect Parkinson's and creativity.
  • 00:37:53
    This
  • 00:37:56
    one has a lot
  • 00:37:59
    of information. Including this
  • 00:38:01
    one where it says artistic applications are associated
  • 00:38:03
    with the
  • 00:38:07
    risk of, a reduced risk of Parkinson's
  • 00:38:09
    disease. It did not matter, they
  • 00:38:11
    said, if you did one or the other but as
  • 00:38:13
    your older that seems to be
  • 00:38:16
    an important impact
  • 00:38:19
    on whether you - -
  • 00:38:24
    [Low audio] 82 percent of people in a small group that
  • 00:38:26
    they question two
  • 00:38:30
    at Parkinson's could easily come up with silver
  • 00:38:32
    lining. That's what I find to be
  • 00:38:35
    true in - - [Low audio] itself . The
  • 00:38:39
    online Parkinson's group I men as well - -
  • 00:38:42
    [Low audio] and I
  • 00:38:44
    think that idea of feeling positive about something
  • 00:38:46
    related to
  • 00:38:49
    your illness definitely helps you
  • 00:38:55
    manage. So then books, about popular culture, in
  • 00:38:58
    popular culture by these - - [ Low audio] continue to
  • 00:39:00
    reinforce
  • 00:39:04
    the idea that being creative, impacting your
  • 00:39:07
    physical health can impact your brain
  • 00:39:10
    health. From your brain on
  • 00:39:15
    art, how art transforms us. I learned about the field of
  • 00:39:17
    neural art which is a transmitter study about how
  • 00:39:19
    the
  • 00:39:21
    arts and experience can medically change the body,
  • 00:39:26
    brain and behavior and how this knowledge has translated
  • 00:39:28
    into open
  • 00:39:35
    Health and
  • 00:39:40
    well-being. - - [Low audio] In Connecticut. And I heard
  • 00:39:42
    - -
  • 00:39:48
    [Low audio] talk about how valuable - - [Low audio] is to
  • 00:39:49
    our health and
  • 00:39:52
    well-being. I find when I'm in
  • 00:39:56
    nature, the things I'm attracted to are quite
  • 00:39:59
    remarkable. This is something I came across one day.
  • 00:40:04
    It is an egg that fell out of
  • 00:40:06
    a tree. Fell out of the nest , presumably after a bird was
  • 00:40:08
    born.
  • 00:40:11
    But look at the picture in
  • 00:40:14
    there. I had nothing to do with that.
  • 00:40:18
    The - - [Low audio] left in this egg to me looks like a
  • 00:40:20
    profile of a
  • 00:40:22
    bird. So I found this quite logical.
  • 00:40:24
    I kept photographing in different ways. And I wasn't
  • 00:40:26
    quite satisfied.
  • 00:40:30
    One day I put my camera in the computer, turned
  • 00:40:33
    my back and was now - - [Low audio] the inside and my dog
  • 00:40:35
    ate
  • 00:40:38
    it. - - [Low
  • 00:40:40
    audio] This
  • 00:40:51
    subject. So to summarize, my life
  • 00:40:54
    changed when I learned I had Parkinson's. I made this work
  • 00:40:57
    to examine and understand how my life changed and
  • 00:41:00
    in turn, my life was changed by doing
  • 00:41:04
    so. With - - [Low audio] greater understanding of the
  • 00:41:08
    experience of living with Parkinson's and
  • 00:41:12
    encourage dialogue would include taboo subjects about
  • 00:41:17
    the illness - - [Low audio] prognosis of my Parkinson's.
  • 00:41:19
    Thank you.
  • 00:41:32
    Here is the book. It is this size, not very large.
  • 00:41:45
    » SPEAKER: For
  • 00:41:48
    Q&A I'm going to go ahead and call on
  • 00:41:50
    people so Torrance York can focus on answering
  • 00:41:54
    questions. Brad is monitoring
  • 00:41:58
    the trend for Q&A so if there are questions there he will
  • 00:42:00
    say them out loud so we can hear
  • 00:42:03
    them.
  • 00:42:04
    » SPEAKER: I didn't have a
  • 00:42:07
    chance to ask
  • 00:42:11
    yesterday but as a Parkinson's - - [Low audio] a lot of
  • 00:42:13
    times patients will bring artwork, poetry, things like
  • 00:42:17
    that. And at the moment it
  • 00:42:20
    can seem, it's appreciated but at the
  • 00:42:23
    same time it's like thank you for your patience for waiting
  • 00:42:25
    . Whatever. But I find
  • 00:42:27
    it brings a profound change to
  • 00:42:32
    the day and sort of hopes we center what we are trying
  • 00:42:37
    to achieve in this - - [Low audio]
  • 00:42:42
    how receptive your Parkinson's care provider has been to
  • 00:42:46
    you. Bringing in our work if you have? Or do you think
  • 00:42:50
    they would be receptive? » TORRANCE
  • 00:42:52
    YORK: I actually ended up having several doctors. One
  • 00:42:54
    would
  • 00:42:56
    move for the next would take maternity leave. So I did
  • 00:43:00
    have a chance to see about four
  • 00:43:02
    different neurologists that I was making this
  • 00:43:04
    project. They did - - [Low audio] but I didn't bring it
  • 00:43:06
    to later.
  • 00:43:11
    After showing it
  • 00:43:13
    to them they would like to want to participate in our
  • 00:43:13
    support
  • 00:43:17
    group? So I realize they appreciated it but we didn't
  • 00:43:19
    go through every
  • 00:43:22
    page. Claire - - [Name?] was the first
  • 00:43:27
    doctor that I settled on working
  • 00:43:32
    with. Had since moved to the University of California at
  • 00:43:34
    Irvine, where our son decided to go to college.
  • 00:43:37
    So when I dropped
  • 00:43:41
    him off I just looked and there was an email. Next
  • 00:43:43
    thing I know were over her house and I'm showing her the
  • 00:43:43
    book and she is
  • 00:43:48
    thrilled. To see what I have come up with. From this
  • 00:43:50
    exploration. I feel like it' s been
  • 00:43:53
    appreciated but it is too long to have one conversation
  • 00:43:57
    about. But I think it locates the
  • 00:43:59
    doctors where I am in my process.
  • 00:44:02
    And I think that's good as
  • 00:44:08
    well. It's cool that people bring that
  • 00:44:11
    vary. » SPEAKER:
  • 00:44:15
    Wonderful. Fantastic photographs.
  • 00:44:17
    I'm wondering if you could comment on the cover of
  • 00:44:20
    your book? It's another gorgeous photo of a moon.
  • 00:44:24
    » TORRANCE YORK: So I like photographing the moon in the
  • 00:44:30
    morning when it is setting. So it's actually about
  • 00:44:34
    5:30 AM, 6:30 AM. I had rented a long lens in order to
  • 00:44:36
    capture
  • 00:44:38
    a closer picture of the moon. Lo and behold, the first
  • 00:44:40
    couple
  • 00:44:45
    of nights, it was a full moon with all overcast. So I'm
  • 00:44:47
    taking this picture shooting it through a tree in the front
  • 00:44:49
    of our
  • 00:44:50
    driveway. To me the moon
  • 00:44:53
    itself is kind of about the passage of time and cycles of
  • 00:44:58
    life. And then it's also a light that I'm looking at
  • 00:45:00
    through something that I'm experiencing. Those are the
  • 00:45:02
    two
  • 00:45:06
    reasons that I shot that
  • 00:45:12
    element. » SPEAKER: This is kind of an
  • 00:45:14
    aside
  • 00:45:18
    but when you are talking about going to
  • 00:45:27
    the doctor transferred is your limited amount of time
  • 00:45:29
    It made me actually
  • 00:45:32
    think, do people feel that way when they come to see
  • 00:45:37
    me? And do I give them that opportunity? I hope I
  • 00:45:40
    do. » TORRANCE YORK: Yeah, I think
  • 00:45:42
    we
  • 00:45:45
    all feel invited to complain about
  • 00:45:47
    our problems when we come to the doctor. It's precious
  • 00:45:49
    time.
  • 00:45:54
    I find it
  • 00:45:57
    very impressionable so I imagine your patients feel
  • 00:45:59
    comfortable without. » SPEAKER:
  • 00:46:02
    Is this, I know a little bit about
  • 00:46:04
    it. This was not an overnight project.
  • 00:46:08
    So you had to make some decisions early on that have
  • 00:46:14
    lasted no to maternity. Or as long as the book is around.
  • 00:46:16
    Looking
  • 00:46:19
    back. What would you do differently? And what you
  • 00:46:22
    reorder the shots? Is there
  • 00:46:27
    anything, and he cut you would reconsider based on what you
  • 00:46:30
    have learned from what you've gotten back from this process?
  • 00:46:31
    » TORRANCE YORK:
  • 00:46:34
    I think all those thoughts about what I
  • 00:46:37
    would change, I don't think I would change the
  • 00:46:40
    sequence. It's kind of perfect even though I did not
  • 00:46:44
    initially make it alone. But I
  • 00:46:49
    think that all of the new ideas I want
  • 00:46:54
    to continue the series. The book is finished, I don't
  • 00:46:55
    know if there will be two or one or what
  • 00:46:59
    but I picked to similar
  • 00:47:02
    beams. If I could change one
  • 00:47:05
    thing it would be the stress that causes me to have to
  • 00:47:09
    determine a permanent
  • 00:47:13
    position. In God, you're
  • 00:47:22
    thank God, my husband asked the question, - - [Low audio]
  • 00:47:24
    it was much
  • 00:47:25
    harder to commit to an exhibit.
  • 00:47:27
    » SPEAKER:
  • 00:47:30
    Just to say, therapeutically, you got to a
  • 00:47:33
    point where it was
  • 00:47:37
    not oh, I want to do this, can I do it? But, I've got to
  • 00:47:40
    get this done. That changed
  • 00:47:42
    your mindset which is also what the whole thing is
  • 00:47:47
    about. As you changed your mindset about how Parkinson's
  • 00:47:50
    was going to affect you in your
  • 00:47:54
    daily life and I saw that, I think we all saw that when
  • 00:47:58
    that switch flipped in the book
  • 00:48:01
    process. » TORRANCE YORK: Yeah,
  • 00:48:04
    I feel that this is my strongest work I've made. It
  • 00:48:06
    has a
  • 00:48:09
    mission, other jobs I've had had a mission. But, I feel
  • 00:48:10
    like
  • 00:48:13
    I am the authority of my own experience. So I have more
  • 00:48:17
    confidence talking about it than something more
  • 00:48:22
    abstract. » SPEAKER: So
  • 00:48:28
    I will take the opportunity to ask a question. One of the
  • 00:48:30
    things that came about
  • 00:48:37
    several points, - - [Low audio ] what you said is the
  • 00:48:41
    desire to engage and interact but also the notion of
  • 00:48:43
    vulnerability. Of exposing yourself.
  • 00:48:47
    And as you sit here in front of you know, including people
  • 00:48:49
    online over
  • 00:48:54
    100 people who are largely strangers to you, what
  • 00:48:58
    is the how do
  • 00:49:00
    you reconcile that experience of vulnerability with what you
  • 00:49:04
    do now? » TORRANCE YORK:
  • 00:49:08
    Generally when making art if you don't
  • 00:49:11
    put something meaningful into it it does not
  • 00:49:14
    resonate. What I discovered in doing this project
  • 00:49:16
    is I needed my
  • 00:49:19
    vulnerability. I needed to explore that to invest in the
  • 00:49:21
    work.
  • 00:49:24
    I feel that I did and it's been so
  • 00:49:26
    rewarding. Whereas I'm the kind of person
  • 00:49:29
    previously, I never wanted people to watch me learn
  • 00:49:32
    something. I was a gymnast that as a child, all about
  • 00:49:35
    getting that perfect 10 or
  • 00:49:39
    something. I don't play tennis so I don't play tennis.
  • 00:49:42
    I say sorry all the time. If I do play tennis I'm hitting
  • 00:49:44
    it everywhere.
  • 00:49:46
    From a person who hated to share my vulnerability
  • 00:49:48
    previously
  • 00:49:53
    it felt to make it, I was kind of ashamed and feeling
  • 00:49:57
    vulnerable. Now I feel like I need to explore the
  • 00:49:59
    vulnerability and its point of departure. It's what makes
  • 00:50:01
    the work resonate and
  • 00:50:05
    valuable. So I have changed my view on that. Thank you
  • 00:50:07
    for the question.
  • 00:50:11
    » SPEAKER: There is an online
  • 00:50:16
    question, Colin asks I would imagine that before and after
  • 00:50:19
    doctors appointments, bringing feelings of anxiety and
  • 00:50:21
    hopefully
  • 00:50:24
    some relief as you take stock of the progress of the
  • 00:50:26
    disease. Do you notice such feelings
  • 00:50:29
    impact what you photograph and how you photograph?
  • 00:50:32
    » TORRANCE YORK: You think
  • 00:50:37
    he means how that anxiety changes things around the
  • 00:50:39
    visit? » SPEAKER: Maybe. He's asking
  • 00:50:42
    , before and after. Do you
  • 00:50:45
    feel that there is a difference in how you are
  • 00:50:47
    looking at things? » TORRANCE YORK: Recently
  • 00:50:50
    I started being a part of
  • 00:50:52
    studies. Now if you like a petri dish.
  • 00:50:56
    And I had to
  • 00:50:58
    then decipher is this reaction I'm
  • 00:51:01
    having here, is that dyskinesia? I didn't know I
  • 00:51:03
    had dyskinesia
  • 00:51:06
    yet. Some ways, those appointments are alarming a
  • 00:51:08
    little bit.
  • 00:51:12
    But usually when I see the doctor it
  • 00:51:15
    is affirming that I'm slowly progressing. So that is the
  • 00:51:18
    good news. I started taking,
  • 00:51:22
    we have - - [Low audio] and summer of
  • 00:51:25
    2022. That really changed the ability
  • 00:51:30
    to see that Parkinson's, I don 't present as much, my
  • 00:51:33
    symptoms. So that really took me back in terms of my
  • 00:51:35
    alarm this.
  • 00:51:39
    And I appreciated the doctors treating that so I do feel
  • 00:51:41
    relieved. » SPEAKER:
  • 00:51:46
    One step further, which was
  • 00:51:53
    since then, how is the way you shoot where the subject
  • 00:51:54
    matter that resonates with you , has that changed? Like do
  • 00:51:57
    you find yourself looking
  • 00:52:02
    for things for being more attracted to vulnerability for
  • 00:52:03
    example? You've always been attracted to light, that hasn'
  • 00:52:05
    t changed at all. Though
  • 00:52:08
    it's more how do I do this now than ever
  • 00:52:11
    before? » TORRANCE YORK:
  • 00:52:13
    Each
  • 00:52:18
    doctors appointment, it's hard to say that specifically.
  • 00:52:20
    But I do see shifts
  • 00:52:25
    as my symptoms change or as my experience to my medication
  • 00:52:29
    changes. I'm going to
  • 00:52:31
    take
  • 00:52:36
    - - » SPEAKER: Am curious about
  • 00:52:38
    the name, Semaphore. How did that come
  • 00:52:41
    about as encapsulated what that means to you?
  • 00:52:43
    » TORRANCE YORK: So I
  • 00:52:46
    was in my car again, listening to a book on tape. Listening
  • 00:52:51
    to handmaid's tale. I had never read
  • 00:52:54
    it but my son was reading it in school so
  • 00:52:57
    I thought this would be a good way to talk to him. Let
  • 00:52:59
    me listen to him. At one point
  • 00:53:03
    Margaret Atwood said bodies were hanging on the wall like
  • 00:53:07
    a Semaphore. That was a very ominous image that these
  • 00:53:12
    people who try to escape were then hanging as an example and
  • 00:53:15
    a signal not to mimic
  • 00:53:19
    them. So that embodied that
  • 00:53:24
    sense of horror, really. Which I connected
  • 00:53:28
    to. But also power. Power in the same
  • 00:53:34
    - - [Low audio]. So that brought me to how I felt. I
  • 00:53:36
    mentioned, I was signaling and receiving signals.
  • 00:53:40
    But the word, while I did not know it. And I had to look it
  • 00:53:42
    which was kind of a
  • 00:53:44
    challenge than for an
  • 00:53:46
    audience. You want to buy a book that's called something
  • 00:53:47
    that's not a common word.
  • 00:53:54
    I ended up feeling that he was an appropriate challenge
  • 00:53:56
    because I want people to understand something new from
  • 00:53:58
    looking at it. » SPEAKER:
  • 00:54:00
    Donna does not get to do the last. There is one more in
  • 00:54:02
    the chat.
  • 00:54:05
    Based on your experience with this photography, do you have
  • 00:54:09
    thoughts on how your art and other arts might be fully
  • 00:54:11
    integrated into
  • 00:54:14
    the healthcare you and all of us
  • 00:54:18
    receive? » TORRANCE YORK: Well I think
  • 00:54:20
    there
  • 00:54:22
    should be galleries in hospitals. And there aren't
  • 00:54:27
    any but I think the opportunity to put work on
  • 00:54:33
    the wall that a community of people who are patients,
  • 00:54:34
    doctors, they can enjoy it together. That's one
  • 00:54:36
    opportunity.
  • 00:54:44
    I think that now, particularly, that there is an
  • 00:54:46
    understanding through neuroarts and the studies out
  • 00:54:50
    there, how beneficial it is even physiologically to look
  • 00:54:53
    at art, even. As well as to make
  • 00:54:55
    art and they are talking not just visual. They are using
  • 00:54:57
    poetry,
  • 00:54:59
    etc. That is something you
  • 00:55:06
    can encourage, doctors can encourage patients to do as a
  • 00:55:08
    way of connecting with themselves,
  • 00:55:11
    connecting with those sort of creative force. Being in the
  • 00:55:13
    flow of this is amazing.
  • 00:55:16
    You can feel that same way when you're
  • 00:55:22
    just coloring I think I would encourage that as an
  • 00:55:24
    opportunity. » SPEAKER: Great, thank you for
  • 00:55:26
    that
  • 00:55:29
    last question and thank you all for attending and
  • 00:55:32
    participating today in our conversation, special thanks
  • 00:55:34
    to Torrance
  • 00:55:37
    York.
  • 00:55:43
    If you want to continue this conversation she will be at
  • 00:55:44
    the center of Belvidere tomorrow from 11 AM to 12:00
  • 00:55:46
    PM. Books will be available
  • 00:55:50
    there to look through. If you want to purchase, Torrance
  • 00:55:54
    York will be available at 12: 00 PM to do a book
  • 00:55:55
    signing. New Dominion books also has some signed copies
  • 00:55:57
    for
  • 00:56:00
    sale. Some last housekeeping words, this is our final
  • 00:56:02
    Medical Center Hour for the fall semester. We have a
  • 00:56:04
    great
  • 00:56:07
    schedule next semester. Stay tuned for announcements.
  • 00:56:11
    And the neurology round will continue on its regular
  • 00:56:13
    schedule next week. Thank you.
Tag
  • Art and Healthcare
  • Parkinson's Disease
  • Photography
  • Vulnerability
  • Chronic Illness
  • Creative Expression
  • Medical Humanities
  • Art Therapy
  • Patient Experience
  • Public Presentation