Tragic

Digital output print on Moab photo rag paper
14" x 28"
AP
2006
 
This piece is one in a series of nine text-based art pieces I made in the format of a Snellen eye chart. Each mini-narrative reflects an aspect of my experience as a patient recovering from 3 surgeries to repair a retinal detachment, which occurred when I was two weeks into my final semester at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I nearly lost my right eye, and had to go to the retinal pathologist every 2-3 days for months, and I was usually the youngest patient by decades. In the  20 years since then, I've become less of an outlier.
 
I got tired of catching people up on the saga of my medical odyssey, and dealing with real or feigned sympathy. It felt like I was constantly having to prevent myself from self-pity while comforting others and convincing them that it wasn't so bad. This eye chart reads, "MY LIFE IS MORE TRAGIC THAN YOURS."
 
Another piece from this series was selected for a group show at The Smithsonian's S. Dillon Ripley Center in 2007. You can read the press coverage from The Chicago Tribune's Weekend Magazine here. 
 
This particular print is a one-off that I made for a show that requested a couple of larger pieces. The standard size for the edition of six is 11" x 22", so I have designated this as an artist's proof.