Author: Lilly Nguyen
Published September 24, 2022
“A unique art show in Newport Beach last weekend sought to promote awareness of epilepsy and to empower individuals living with the neurological disorder that causes seizures.
Held at the Marina Park Community Center, “1:26 The Art of Epilepsy” was hosted by the Hidden Truths Project, founded by Dr. Julie Thompson-Dobkin. She describes epilepsy as an invisible disability.”
…
“Beckemeyer was first diagnosed in 2011 when he was 22, after he had a seizure in the passenger seat of his mother’s car while they were on their way to a nephew’s birthday party.
He’s since had two surgeries to address his epilepsy that removed 3 millimeters of his brain. The operations, after which he had to relearn to walk, speak, read and write, allowed him this week to say he’s been seizure-free since August 2018.
Zach Beckemeyer holds one of his artworks, “Blue-jay in a Cherry Tree.”
Beckemeyer said he found art by accident in 2017 but that it has since become a therapeutic in ways that he hadn’t expected for him both physically and mentally.
So, Beckemeyer printed out a few T-shirts, sold them and said that the sales gave him the confidence to keep going. He said he would frequent local cafes every morning, order coffee and draw in a small sketchbook until he started experiencing tremors and struggled with his mental health. So, he took a break from that ritual.
It wasn’t until the last two or three years that he picked up a pen again and completed a drawing every day, he said.
“I just realized, wow, this feels great. This is nothing I’ve ever experienced. The only thing I’ve ever experienced of that nature that really made me feel comfortable was playing my drums and playing my guitar,” said Beckemeyer, who added with a laugh that his apartment walls are too thin to even consider playing his drums today.
“The thing with artwork is that it was helping out the physical problems I was having, such as the shakiness and the tremors. But all of my perspective … it was a deep concentration on an entirely new universe and … it was some kind of a high that I got out of it,” said Beckemeyer. “Before then, all I did all day was smoke marijuana and cigarettes. But when I realized how much of a better feeling [art gave me] … that completely cut me out from smoking anything.”
He creates his artworks first by pencil, then by Sharpie pen and then he’ll scan the image into Adobe Illustrator to add color. He said drawing makes all the negative thoughts about his situation, about challenges he’s facing, evaporate.
“I was not expecting this to turn into anything more than a hobby,” Beckemeyer said of his art being selected for the exhibit. “I feel less like a grain of sand in a beach more like a stone that’s rolling around on top of it.”me and to not be controlled by the disease process, but to use it for their own personal development and expression,” Millett said. (Nguyen, 2022)
Epilepsy can be a debilitating condition. Even if medication works, the fear and anxiety of breakthrough seizures is still there. Restrictions are set in place too for people on epileptic medication, restricting their daily life. The outlet of art is a beautiful way to lessen the burdens of epilepsy. Taking steps forward in providing for the epileptic community does not always have to mean find a solution or cure for the condition. It can sometimes just mean finding ways to make this community feel supported and engage in pleasurable activities without the fear of their condition. Making the space for people in suffering to experience “a deep concentration on an entirely new universe and … it was some kind of a high that I got out of it,” (Nguyen, 2022) is truly important. In design, we sometimes get caught up in designing for the solution when when sometimes people just want something for the journey.
Reference
Nguyen, L. (2022, September 24). Artists bring “hidden truths” of epilepsy to light in art exhibition at Marina Park. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2022-09-24/artists-bring-hidden-truths-of-epilepsy-to-light-in-art-exhibition-at-marina-park
