Artist showcase
she was tributaries (2016)
by Lia Pas
This piece is part of Lia’s Symptomology series, showcasing her “invisible” (non-apparent) ME/CFS symptoms. Hand-embroidered in cotton thread on linen, it was loosely based on a drawing by a Spanish neuroscientist named Ramón y Cajal. As Lia explains, it’s also about “exploring the feeling of how electric my neurology felt when I first got sick with ME/CFS”.
Lia relates the piece to brain fog (which is a layperson’s term for serious neurocognitive* dysfunctions that occur in certain chronic illnesses, like ME/CFS, fibromyalgia and Long Covid). “My experience of brain fog is more like a snowstorm than a fog,” Lia says. “My brain sparks and is too full. Trying to think is like walking against the wind in a whiteout blizzard.”
*neurocognitive: having to do with your brain (neuro-) and thinking (cognitive).
Did you know? You can enter to win a prize pack of prints and postcards featuring the embroidery creations of Lia Pas in our Benefit + Awareness Month prize draw until June 1, 2023!


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