2008 Woodie Awards
Fighting AIDS
Emily Burney and Vanessa Veiock - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: 80 Hours
The artist, an Iowa native, contracted HIV in 1996 while traveling in Europe looking to change her life.
"Be careful what you ask for, right?" she wrote in her response to HIV used for the gallery show.
While she's taken classes in art before, she doesn't consider herself an artist but says art is her hobby. Much of the work she does feels unfinished, albeit submitting felt necessary.
"I wanted to give something to this show, even though I feel these pieces could use more time incubating," she writes in her gallery bio.
In participating in the exhibition, she hopes to bring the subject out into the open to eventually dispel the shame that many HIV-positive people feel. She submitted anonymously, stating risks with her job and health insurance as causes for remaining nameless. Her illness has caused her to avoid old friends and communicating.
"I'm creating a shell that's getting hard to break," she wrote. "Friends are blessings that keep me hopeful."
Her e-mail mediator is one such friend.
"My friend is not the 'face of AIDS/HIV' that anyone would automatically pick out," the artist's friend said, explaining that the artist is one of the many people who have contracted the virus through an unprotected heterosexual encounter. "It is unfortunate that she [and others] have to feel self-blame and shame for engaging in behaviors that many people do [or did] without becoming infected. It could easily have been me or you in her shoes."
Continued education and support for people with the virus is crucial to helping change the current attitudes that keep many like the HIV-positive artist anonymous, according to the liaison - who also chose to remain nameless in this piece to protect the identity of her friend. Having the illness is difficult enough even without the stigma that still surrounds HIV and AIDS.
For this HIV-positive woman, art continues to help her deal with the emotional issues and denial still facing her 10 years after infection and - hopefully - spread the message of empathy.
"Be careful what you ask for, right?" she wrote in her response to HIV used for the gallery show.
While she's taken classes in art before, she doesn't consider herself an artist but says art is her hobby. Much of the work she does feels unfinished, albeit submitting felt necessary.
"I wanted to give something to this show, even though I feel these pieces could use more time incubating," she writes in her gallery bio.
In participating in the exhibition, she hopes to bring the subject out into the open to eventually dispel the shame that many HIV-positive people feel. She submitted anonymously, stating risks with her job and health insurance as causes for remaining nameless. Her illness has caused her to avoid old friends and communicating.
"I'm creating a shell that's getting hard to break," she wrote. "Friends are blessings that keep me hopeful."
Her e-mail mediator is one such friend.
"My friend is not the 'face of AIDS/HIV' that anyone would automatically pick out," the artist's friend said, explaining that the artist is one of the many people who have contracted the virus through an unprotected heterosexual encounter. "It is unfortunate that she [and others] have to feel self-blame and shame for engaging in behaviors that many people do [or did] without becoming infected. It could easily have been me or you in her shoes."
Continued education and support for people with the virus is crucial to helping change the current attitudes that keep many like the HIV-positive artist anonymous, according to the liaison - who also chose to remain nameless in this piece to protect the identity of her friend. Having the illness is difficult enough even without the stigma that still surrounds HIV and AIDS.
For this HIV-positive woman, art continues to help her deal with the emotional issues and denial still facing her 10 years after infection and - hopefully - spread the message of empathy.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Kemlyn Tan Bappe
Kemlyn Tan Bappe
posted 11/29/07 @ 9:55 PM CST
Many thanks to Elisabeth Petersen, Face AIDS, Chait Galleries Downtown and the other sponsors for giving artists the opportunity to dialogue on this global issue. (Continued…)
John White
posted 8/26/08 @ 11:03 PM CST
This is definitely an issue that needs more public awareness. Thanks for the article!
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