{"id":9249,"date":"2022-12-16T14:07:23","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T22:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qualityhealth.org\/wpsc\/?page_id=9249"},"modified":"2024-05-20T12:57:29","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T19:57:29","slug":"art-speaks","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.qualityhealth.org\/wpsc\/art-speaks\/","title":{"rendered":"ART SPEAKS"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

ART SPEAKS<\/h1>\n

Art<\/span> is <\/span>powerful &<\/span> empowering!<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

WPSC\u2019s Addressing Health Equity, Stigma & Bias Workgroup is featuring artwork as a powerful way to connect with patients\u2019 experiences with health conditions.<\/p>\n

Art is not only beautiful, it is a potent medium of expression. Evocative and compelling, it touches the soul and connects in a way no other medium can.<\/p>\n

Featured artwork includes art and poetry by PNW residents. Big thank you to the artists for sharing their compelling pieces with us.<\/p>\n

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Visual Art<\/span><\/h1>\n

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\nART PIECE:\u00a0<\/strong>Black Sheep
\nClick here for a video showing the making of this piece<\/a><\/p>\n

ARTIST NAME:\u00a0<\/strong>Louie Gong
\nClick here for artist\u2019s biography and link to Eighth Generation.<\/a><\/p>\n

ARTIST INFO:\u00a0<\/strong>Louie Gong (Nooksack) is the founder of Eighth Generation. A self-taught artist who was raised by his grandparents in the Nooksack tribal community in northwest Washington, he got his start by painting cultural art on shoes.<\/p>\n

Realizing that creating one-of-a-kind pieces did not provide a sustainable pathway to success, he began applying his artwork to accessibly priced products. His unique style merges traditional Coast Salish art with influences from his mixed heritage and urban environment to create work that resonates widely across communities and cultures.<\/p>\n

Black Sheep is about drawing power from past experiences\u2014 even traumas. It is about self-care.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been thinking about the term baggage, and it\u2019s all wrong. When we think about our past experiences as something we can just put down, we can\u2019t actually heal. The real pathway to becoming stronger and more confident versions of ourselves is to learn to live in symbiosis with our past experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Black Sheep\u2019s body is composed of Louie\u2019s signature wolf-mouth motif, which he uses here to symbolize negative past experiences. It is painted loosely to indicate the frequent movement of and the idea that our past experiences are living parts of us that we can\u2019t simply set down as if they were \u201cbaggage.\u201d<\/p>\n

By contrast, the Black Sheep\u2019s face is composed of highly structured Coast Salish design elements to indicate the self-confidence drawn from the understanding that past experiences make us better equipped to manage whatever lies ahead. \u00a0A few understated sprouts indicate constant growth regardless of what we are experiencing.<\/p>\n

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n

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ART PIECE:\u00a0<\/strong>Bleed Joy<\/p>\n

ARTIST NAME:\u00a0<\/strong>Tahira Naqvi<\/p>\n

ARTIST INFO:\u00a0<\/strong>I am a new artist venturing out to create artwork that speaks to mental health struggles. Childhood trauma is a big factor in my art, which is abstract and comes from the heart. It delves into deep wounds and the quest to achieve joy through self-reflection. I speak through colors and shapes that represent this journey of self-healing.<\/p>\n

When I started on this piece, I did not know what to create, but I knew I wanted to display my pain, my joy, and my journey. So,\u00a0I faced the canvas and decided to just let it flow.\u00a0This piece has chaos, joy and a dark passenger. All representing the struggle between my child and adult selves.\u00a0There is a hot air balloon. When I was little, I always wanted to escape. One day, I took my mom\u2019s large shoe box and tied her red scarf to its four ends, after which, I walked out to our balcony and tried to leap off to go explore the world. Except, my grandfather saved me.<\/p>\n

I have a natural instinct to leap forward and escape. It took cycles of anxiety to create this very personal piece. \u201cBleed Joy\u201d is for everyone dealing with mental chaos and anxiety in their lives. My hope is that, by putting this out there, I will finally heal and find contentment.<\/p>\n

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

ART PIECE:\u00a0<\/strong>Untitled<\/p>\n

ARTIST NAME:\u00a0<\/strong>Munira Leslie Sinclair<\/p>\n

ARTIST INFO:\u00a0<\/strong>Munira Leslie Sinclair was a talented visual artist, eloquent writer & devoted mother to her children, including an adult son with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Much of her artwork was inspired by her struggles through some very difficult times as well as the unrelenting challenges of trying to ensure quality care for her son with special needs, in a system not well set up for patients like him. A passionate patient advocate, she worked to improve the lives of those with TBI through legislation & advocacy training. While she faced adversity & bouts of cancer with fortitude, art was her outlet.<\/p>\n

Leslie passed away on September 30, 2022. Special thanks go to her daughter, Jennifer, who has given WPSC\u2019s Addressing Stigma & Bias Workgroup permission to share these 2 pieces with our audience.<\/p>\n

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ART PIECE: <\/strong>Safe Space<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

ART PIECE<\/strong>: Trapped<\/p>\n

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ART PIECE:<\/strong> Underwater<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ARTIST NAME: <\/strong>Kaycia Ogata
\nClick here for artist\u2019s biography and link to Eighth Generation.<\/a><\/p>\n

ARTIST INFO:\u00a0<\/strong>Kaycia Ogata is a graphic designer and illustrator, living and working in Portland, Oregon. Art has always been a form of therapy for her, as she lived with some depression and anxiety from a young age. Not being able to form the words she needed, she drew them. Underwater was created in remembrance of her mother’s passing when she was a child, and that sense of wanting to retreat deep into the ocean. Safe Space and Trapped were both created at the start of the pandemic, when the entire world locked down, capturing that sense of fear, isolation and uncertainty.\u00a0More of her work – including design – can be found on her website<\/a><\/p>\n

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n

ART PIECE:<\/strong> Freed: Dawning, Lightened, Lifted<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

ART PIECE:<\/strong> Bangau<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

ARTIST NAME:<\/strong> Baacooly<\/p>\n

ARTIST INFO:<\/strong> Baacooly is a self-taught artist hailing from a small town in culturally rich Penang, Malaysia. She creates her art pieces in watercolour with a little mixed media thrown in. Female characters are her preferred subject matters, painted in the surreal style. They are often portrayed as seemingly lost in thought. She draws inspiration from her own experiences in life and whatever is tugging at her heart the most when she is working on her creations. Rather than explain her thoughts behind each piece, Baacooly prefers for her audience to draw their own conclusions & conjure their own stories when they view her paintings. More of her work can be found on her website<\/a><\/p>\n

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ART PIECE: <\/strong>Beauty in Sharp Pain<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

ART PIECE: <\/strong>Body and Mind<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

ART PIECE: <\/strong>Feel See<\/p>\n

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ART PIECE: <\/strong>Simplicity of Complexity<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

ARTIST NAME: <\/strong>Marc\u00eda A.<\/p>\n

ARTIST INFO:\u00a0<\/strong>None submitted<\/p>\n

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Poetry<\/span><\/h1>\n

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EVERYTHING CHANGES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everything is touched<\/span>
\nby the sea of time.<\/span>
\nWe are life forms<\/span>
\non the shore<\/span>
\nof existence.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nNo matter how you try<\/span>
\nto be immovable,<\/span>
\ntime moves you.<\/span>
\nIt caresses you,<\/span>
\nlulls you,<\/span>
\nembraces you.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nJust as you\u2019re buoyed<\/span>
\ninto a comfortable slumber,<\/span>
\nit snatches you,<\/span>
\npulls you out<\/span>
\n& swallows you.<\/span>
\nIt swirls you around<\/span>
\n& sucks you in.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nThen,<\/span>
\njust as suddenly,<\/span>
\nit floats you,<\/span>
\nbreathless,<\/span>
\nonto its surface.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe winds of change<\/span>
\ncalm to a whisper.<\/span>
\nYou feel it<\/span>
\ncushioning you,<\/span>
\nas you lay<\/span>
\nadrift<\/span>
\nwith your face to the sky.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nThen it stirs,<\/span>
\npicks you up,<\/span>
\ncarries you<\/span>
\non a wave;<\/span>
\npushes you forward,<\/span>
\nraces you<\/span>
\nback to shore<\/span>
\n& deposits you,<\/span>
\ngently,<\/span>
\nonto the sand.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nGlistening in the sun,<\/span>
\nyou catch your ragged breath. And settle down.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nBefore long,<\/span>
\nyou\u2019re feeling the breeze<\/span>
\non your face,<\/span>
\nlooking up at the stars<\/span>
\n& thinking:<\/span>
\nI could stay like this forever.<\/span>
\nYou inhale the stillness\u2026<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nThen it wakes you<\/span>
\nfrom your reverie.<\/span>
\nIt foams<\/span>
\nat your feet,<\/span>
\nkissing your toes,<\/span>
\nnudging you.<\/span>
\nIt teases you<\/span>
\ninto motion.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nSlowly,<\/span>
\nyou move to the tide\u2019s rhythmic touch,<\/span>
\nsway to its hypnotic gyrations<\/span>
\n& join,<\/span>
\nagain,<\/span>
\nthe dance of life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

Tomorrow becomes today.<\/span>
\nToday becomes yesterday. Yesterday is but a memory.<\/span>
\nDid we remember to live in today?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2020 Anita Sulaiman<\/span><\/p>\n

POEM TITLE:\u00a0<\/strong>Everything Changes<\/p>\n

ARTIST NAME:\u00a0<\/strong>Anita Sulaiman<\/p>\n

ARTIST INFO:\u00a0<\/strong>Anita Sulaiman is Principal Consultant and Executive Coach at IBEX Consulting, whose areas of expertise include strategy, leadership development, marketing and change management\/business process re-engineering. Anita is also a culture coach specializing in cultural competency and cross-cultural communication. Helping individuals and organizations excel in a global world is a passion.<\/p>\n

Anita stays at the forefront of efforts to improve patient safety, serving on advisory groups and committees for organizations including the Washington Patient Safety Coalition, Foundation for Health Care Quality (Patient & Family Advisory Council) and Washington State Coalition for Language Access. She is Chair of the Addressing Stigma and Bias Workgroup, a partnership between WPSC and the Bree Collaborative, a healthcare non-profit established by the Washington State Legislature.<\/p>\n

Everything Changes was written at a time of emotional turmoil. In the midst of personal upheaval, thanks to the practice of meditation to help with her mental health, this poem about the vagaries of time captures moments of clarity from seeing that change, while invariably very stress-inducing, are part of the ebb & flow of life.<\/p>\n

\n

MOTHER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mother<\/span>
\nYou are & you aren’t her<\/span>
\nYou’ve had to be mother & father<\/span>
\nDid you know – you were the world to me?<\/span>
\nYour eyes the window through which I see<\/span><\/p>\n

Mother<\/span>
\nNot a word to use in vain<\/span>
\nSo why are you my biggest source of pain?<\/span>
\nYou are the reason I am here<\/span>
\nYou are the idea I hold dear<\/span><\/p>\n

What is this figure?<\/span>
\nWe call mother<\/span>
\nWhat is this idea?<\/span>
\nNo other thing comes near<\/span><\/p>\n

She is a hug<\/span>
\nA warm embrace<\/span>
\nSomeone who’s there to kiss your face<\/span>
\nTo hold your hand<\/span>
\nTo wipe your tears<\/span>
\nShe’s there to chase away your fears<\/span><\/p>\n

She is the reason<\/span>
\nYou stand strong<\/span>
\nCan tell the difference between right & wrong<\/span>
\nShe is your shelter<\/span>
\nFrom the storm<\/span>
\nThe well you get your reassurance from<\/span><\/p>\n

At least that’s what<\/span>
\nEveryone seems to think<\/span>
\nThey don’t know yours pushed you to the brink<\/span>
\nPut you down<\/span>
\nAnd cast you out<\/span>
\nAlways wished she could’ve done without<\/span><\/p>\n

Mine gave me a bit of love<\/span>
\nAnd a lot of hate<\/span>
\nServed honey & poison on the same plate<\/span>
\nWas never there<\/span>
\nTo kiss my face<\/span>
\nBut she made sure I always knew my place<\/span><\/p>\n

I had no shelter<\/span>
\nFrom storms or even rain<\/span>
\nWhat I had<\/span>
\nWould drive most people insane<\/span>
\nThere was no one<\/span>
\nTo wipe away my tears<\/span>
\nI had someone filling my heart with fears<\/span><\/p>\n

While you had hugs<\/span>
\nSomeone to hold your hand<\/span>
\nI had to figure out where I stand<\/span>
\nYou always knew<\/span>
\nWhere you belong<\/span>
\nAll I was ever told was I was wrong<\/span><\/p>\n

Wrong to want<\/span>
\nTo ask or to question<\/span>
\nTo live for others – that is my mission<\/span>
\nYou had wind beneath your wings?<\/span>
\nMe?<\/span>
\nWho am I to have needs or feelings?<\/span><\/p>\n

While you had kisses<\/span>
\nA friend & all<\/span>
\nSomeone to catch you when you fall<\/span>
\nI had no right<\/span>
\nTo be happy<\/span>
\nYes, that was what she said to me<\/span><\/p>\n

So don’t tell me<\/span>
\nHow I’m supposed to feel<\/span>
\nYou don’t know what for me is real<\/span>
\nDon’t bother<\/span>
\nTo pile on the guilt<\/span>
\nThat’s the foundation on which I was built<\/span><\/p>\n

All that said<\/span>
\nGood comes with bad<\/span>
\nShe’s the only mother I’ve ever had<\/span>
\nThe person<\/span>
\nWho instilled in me<\/span>
\nAll the good things that to this day you see<\/span><\/p>\n

She taught me<\/span>
\nThrough trial by fire<\/span>
\nHow to prevail & always aim higher<\/span>
\nYes, I suffered<\/span>
\nA million cuts<\/span>
\nI also have the biggest heart of hearts<\/span><\/p>\n

Mummy<\/span>
\nIf you only knew<\/span>
\nAll the love I have in my heart for you<\/span>
\nTo me<\/span>
\nYou gave birth<\/span>
\nYet for some reason<\/span>
\nYou don’t know my worth<\/span><\/p>\n

I am<\/span>
\nPure love<\/span>
\nA blessing<\/span>
\nA gift from the Lord above<\/span>
\nThat is what babies are<\/span>
\nNot a thing comes close<\/span>
\nNot even by far<\/span><\/p>\n

Today<\/span>
\nI make peace<\/span>
\nWith all that was, will be & all that is<\/span>
\nI can’t forget<\/span>
\nBut I forgive<\/span>
\nYou were only doing your best to live<\/span><\/p>\n

In return<\/span>
\nThese things I ask<\/span>
\nNo more pretenses<\/span>
\nTake off your mask<\/span>
\nIt’s time<\/span>
\nLet go<\/span>
\nSet yourself free<\/span>
\nFrom who you think you’re supposed to be<\/span><\/p>\n

I am trying<\/span>
\nTo do the same<\/span>
\nLife is too short<\/span>
\nFor anger or for blame<\/span>
\nI hope you see<\/span>
\nThat just like you<\/span>
\nI am human<\/span>
\nI’m doing my best too<\/span><\/p>\n

All my life<\/span>
\nThrough all the hurts<\/span>
\nI’ve been held to impossible standards<\/span>
\nNow I know<\/span>
\nIt’s clear to me<\/span>
\nThose high bars<\/span>
\nWere what you were made to see<\/span><\/p>\n

On this day<\/span>
\nI hereby purge<\/span>
\nI release<\/span>
\nSo we both can finally have peace<\/span><\/p>\n

From here on<\/span>
\nMay we know<\/span>
\nAcceptance<\/span>
\nAnd a better tomorrow<\/span><\/p>\n

Happy Mother’s Day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Anita Sulaiman 2023<\/p>\n

POEM TITLE:\u00a0<\/strong>Mother<\/p>\n

ARTIST NAME:\u00a0<\/strong>Anita Sulaiman<\/p>\n

ARTIST INFO:\u00a0<\/strong>Anita Sulaiman is Principal Consultant and Executive Coach at IBEX Consulting, whose areas of expertise include strategy, leadership development, marketing and change management\/business process re-engineering. Anita is also a culture coach specializing in cultural competency and cross-cultural communication. Helping individuals and organizations excel in a global world is a passion.<\/p>\n

Anita stays at the forefront of efforts to improve patient safety, serving on advisory groups and committees for organizations including the Washington Patient Safety Coalition, Foundation for Health Care Quality (Patient & Family Advisory Council) and Washington State Coalition for Language Access. She is Chair of the Addressing Stigma and Bias Workgroup, a partnership between WPSC and the Bree Collaborative, a healthcare non-profit established by the Washington State Legislature.<\/p>\n

Mother’s Day is a tough one for me.\u00a0This year, I struggled as I did in previous years. Except, this year, my mother, who recently turned 80, is very ill. Her condition has intensified for me all the emotions tied to her.\u00a0This poem is dedicated to all who can relate.<\/p>\n

Usually, the words just come. I have to scribble quickly & I am done. This time, I struggled. The words wanted to come out, but… Something in me resisted. I had to fight to let these truths out. To give them the light of day felt like giving my pain validity.<\/p>\n

Writing down these words meant staring my trauma in the face. It meant ripping off the plaster.\u00a0In the end, it was exactly what needed to be done. This is validation I needed to gift to myself.\u00a0I am giving myself long overdue permission to feel, to acknowledge. It is what it is. No matter what people say, it’s ok. It’s not right, but it’s ok. With that realization comes release.<\/p>\n

My poems are medicine to me. Sometimes they are light that shows the way – guidance from a place of pure love. Now I can start to heal, God willing.<\/p>\n

This is my art; my outlet; expression from the deeper parts of me. This is my balm; my inspired remedy. This is healing for my soul.\u00a0Poetry, for me, is all that & more. It’s my connection with the Divine. It is divine.<\/p>\n

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n

WHO AM I TRYING TO BE?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Who am I? Who am I trying to be?<\/span>
\nNot myself, anyone but myself.<\/span>
\nLiving in a fantasy to bury the reality,<\/span>
\nMaking myself the mystery,<\/span>
\nA strong facade disguising the misery.<\/span>
\nEmpty, but beyond the point of emptiness,<\/span>
\nFull to brim with fake confidence,<\/span>
\nA guard that will never be broken,<\/span>
\nBecause I broke a long time ago.<\/span>
\nI\u2019m hurting but don\u2019t tell anyone.<\/span>
\nNo one needs to know.<\/span>
\nDon\u2019t show or you\u2019ve failed.<\/span>
\nAlways okay, always fine, always on show.<\/span>
\nThe show must go on.<\/span>
\nIt will never stop.<\/span>
\nThe show must not go on,<\/span>
\nBut I know it will.<\/span>
\nI give up. I give up giving up.<\/span>
\nI am lost.<\/span>
\nI don\u2019t need to be saved,<\/span>
\nI need to be found.<\/span><\/p>\n

POEM TITLE: <\/strong>Who Am I Trying To Be?<\/p>\n

ARTIST NAME:\u00a0<\/strong>Cara Delevingne<\/p>\n

ARTIST INFO:\u00a0<\/strong>Cara Delevingne, actress and model, shares her personal experiences with anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n

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