You Can See The Progression Of Alzheimer’s Reflected In His Self-Portraits, And It’s Chilling

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.thealzheimerssite.com/cs-self-portraits-progression/?

In 1995, artist William Utermohlen was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. His unique response to this life-threatening situation was to create self-portraits. He did so to understand himself and the progression of the disease in him. Over the span of five years, he created self-portraits of himself that clearly show deterioration in cognition. Patricia, Utermohlen’s widow, explains that it demonstrates an artist’s struggle to come to terms with his mind slipping away slowly.


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From the Youtube link: Published on Jul 9, 2015
When American artist William Utermohlen was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1995, he decided to make the best use of his limited time and memory. He began to use his art to understand himself better – for five years, he drew portraits of himself before he completely forgot how to draw.

Through this unique series of self-portraits, viewers can observe the London-based artist’s quiet descent into dementia. As the terrible disease took control of his mind, his world began to tilt and his perspectives flattened. The details in his paintings melted away and they became more abstract. At times, he seemed aware of the technical flaws in his work, but he simply could not figure out how to correct them.

[DawgHouse]

1. Heartbreaking. I hope for treatment and a cure soon.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. How very sad.

But it is really good to see how this awful disease affects someone's mind and which parts are in play.

I too hope for a cure.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

3. TY, Steve.

My father had frontal lobe dementia.

He was an engineer who could figure anything out. Smart as they come.

He was robbed of his talent and then of himself.


Sucks.

[Omaha Steve]

4. That is where I'm headed too

It has been almost a year since I told the DU about my FTD. Here is that post with great info: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026641619

OS

For those that don't know about my FTD also watch this.

OS

Published on Mar 22, 2013
An 18-minute documentary that chronicles the lives of four families affected by frontotemporal degeneration (FTD).