Art exhibit depicts transition from life to death

By Ayall Sagi
Staff Writer

On a hospital bed Karen Lavellee Norton sat, feeling that she was no longer seen and no longer human. "My experience in the hospital was very unpleasant and dehumanizing," Norton says.

While practicing Tai Kwon Do, Norton hurt her leg and it seemed like nothing more then a minor injury. The leg started to hurt so Norton went to a doctor. After a brief operation, the doctor gave her medication and advice and assured her that the injury was nothing big.

While teaching in her art class at Cornell University in New York, Norton suddenly felt ill and short of breath. She immediately went to the hospital, where doctors told her she had blood clots in her legs, which had moved to her lungs. If she had gone to the hospital any later, she would have died.

It took Norton six months to recover.

While at the hospital, Norton realized the beauty of the transition between life and death.

From this experience, she developed a new style of self-expression, which enabled her to assemble enough photos for her own art show, "Natura Morta." The exhibit opened Tuesday and will run through Feb. 9 in Creative Arts Buildings One and Two.

"I wanted to take pictures of patients somewhere between life and death," Norton said. In her artwork, Norton looks for the transition between the two.

She reached back in time and looked at pictures of people with illnesses in the 19th century. "Medication wasn't accessible, and illness was seen as immoral," Norton said. "At this time, people who had these diseases were powerless."

"People with illnesses became invisible to people without them." Norton pointed out that "this is something like what the elderly feel."

Norton has created a collection of digital collages to show people the "beauty, but repulse of illness." She uses poems and pictures to send her message.

An example Norton used is a picture of a woman with a disease that left a pattern on her skin like tiny quilted waves.

She said that although the woman's skin did not look human, it was still beautiful.

Beauty in life and illness is featured in the digitally constructed exhibit.

The collection starts with pictures of a dead apple tree that Norton used to play on as a child. Also included in these images is a poem written by Annie Dillarey, a poet who inspired Norton to pursue her newfound interest.

From there, the exhibit shifts to pictures of a fetus. Each picture represents something different. Norton feels that this is showing the transition between worlds. She has some pictures with monkey fetuses to show how close they are to humans. In other pictures, Norton refers to them as "little alien guys" to show how different, but beautiful they are.

This leads into the main exhibit.

"Natura Morta," which can be translated from Latin to mean "Still Life" or "Dead Nature," is a collection of self-portraits and X-rays of Norton that are used to show that she existed, even as she was dying.

"It's like going from good health to a mortal position," she said.

Norton said she hopes her entire exhibit will help people realize that sick people still exist and are still part of society.

"We stop realizing the people, and we just start turning away. Photography can be used to confront those feelings," she said.

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Art exhibit depicts transition from life to death

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