Finding Parkinson's: Doing Battle with My Brain
[Wellesley, MA]: C. David Thomas, 2024. One of 20 copies, signed by all three contributors. A partially autobiographical artists' book about the artist's experience being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2015. He believes the cause is likely due to his exposure to Agent Orange while stationed in Pleiku, South Vietnam in 1969-70. His essay documents his personal journey of alarming symptoms leading to a Parkinson's diagnosis, and he also discusses the effects of Agent Orange on both American and Vietnam veterans as well as civilians living in Vietnam. While U.S. veterans have received substantial medical care and financial assistance due to exposure to Agent Orange, Vietnam veterans and Vietnam civilians have received almost no assistance from their government. His accompanying artwork humanizes MRI images of his brain by layering them with photographic images of his face, artwork, and images from Vietnam. The original artwork on which these digital reproductions are based has been exhibited in multiple galleries in the U.S.A. and Vietnam since 2022.
Two additional essays by Dr. David Rose, a neuropsychologist and educator from Harvard School of Education, and Dan L. Monroe, retired director of the Peabody Essex Museum, are included. These essays discuss normal brain functionality vs. the dysfunctions that occur with Parkinson's, the Vietnam War and effects of Agent Orange, the artists personal involvement in advocating for the Vietnamese people, his commitment to educating people on the effects of Agent Orange, and additional personal anecdotes about the artist.
Unbound as issued with a black ribbon wrapping around the pages. Images are printed on Vietnamese "Do" paper, which was handmade in Dong O Village in Northern Vietnam. Text pages are printed on Rives BFK rag paper. Both text and images are inkjet printed. The loose pages are housed in a lacquer box handmade by crafts makers in Thanh Tri Village near Hanoi. Each box is made in the centuries-old method of using wood covered with coarsely woven silk followed by thirteen coats of lacquer. Between coats of lacquer the box is hand sanded with water sandpaper until the final layer which is done by using charcoal powder and bare hands. The title of the book and an illustration by the artist are adhered to the lid of the box. An additional illustration is pasted down to the interior of the lid. Box is in a black drawstring bag. Box Size: 9 x 12 x 1.5 inches. 45 pages.
An excerpt from C. David Thomas's essay: “In 2015, I went to my primary care doctor because I was feeling increasingly confused by what was happening to my body. I lost my sense of taste and smell many years before but now I began dragging my feet, walking like a duck and my handwriting was becoming smaller and smaller. I put all of these symptoms into www.ebmd.com and it came up that I had a 90% chance of having Parkinson’s disease …
“My life since my diagnosis has been one of day-to-day uncertainty about my cognitive and physical changes. The most difficult thing about having this disease is the uncertainty of the number and type of symptoms I may develop and the speed and intensity of the increase of symptoms ...
"It is believed that 85,000 Vietnamese suffer with Parkinson's. I am sure that this number is far lower than the actual number of victims; some estimates are as high as two million. The effects of Agent Orange are still present today among Vietnam veterans and people living in central and southern Vietnam. ..."
C. David Thomas is a contemporary American painter and printmaker who began exhibiting his work shortly after being released from active duty in Vietnam with the United States Army. He began his military duty in Pleiku with the 20th Engineer Battalion and served as a combat artist and as a soldier. Since then he has returned to Vietnam on many occasions, both as a working artist and as director of the Indochina Arts Partnership, an association which promotes artists' links between America and Vietnam. He is a retired professor of studio art at Emmanuel College.
ARTB/071025. Fine.
Item #38126
Price: $1,800.00