MS patient turns brain MRIs into art
In 1991, Elizabeth Jameson was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which quickly led to numerous brain MRIs, according to SCOPE, a Stanford Medicine publication. For a while, she could not stand to look at images that reminded her of what was happening to her brain.
That changed when a friend urged her to take a community art class. She became passionate about painting, but eventually needed to confront her MRIs. Using a technique called Solarplate etching, Jameson exposes parts of her brain scans to light, which creates an imprint on the Solarplate. She then makes them her own with ink and paper.
"Elizabeth gets fan mail from people all over the world,” writer and collaborator Catherine Monahon said in the article. "Her work makes a difference because it opens up conversations about issues that are typically so private, so taboo and yet so pervasive in our society.”
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Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.