EVERETT — The thing about art shows at Snohomish County’s community colleges is that you’re more likely to see documentary, educational and ground-breaking work than you would in neighborhood art galleries.
Don’t miss the current exhibit at The Russell Day Gallery in the student union building at Everett Community College.
In the show “Deterioration,” up until Feb. 5, artist Daisy Patton has digitally altered and colored her MRI brain scans into an ongoing series (currently at 35 pieces) she has printed since 2010, when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Patton earned her master of fine arts degree from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Tufts University and is now participating in a two-year residency at RedLine, an arts organization focused on community, social justice and arts education in Denver.
“A scan of the deterioration of my brain is turned into a beautiful object, a decorative relic, which is a choice I’ve made as to how to represent this aspect of my body,” Patton said. “Each scan set has its own color scheme. Red appears as part of the design in scans that have new lesions, which denotes the progression of the disease.”
It may sound scary, but Patton, a beautiful young woman of 33, is first an artist. She works in a variety of media, including photography and painting.
The artist refuses to be defined by her degenerative disease, though she has educated many people about MS over the years. An invisible illness, it eventually could decrease Patton’s cognitive and physical abilities. For now, a monthly infusion of medication has mostly slowed the deterioration, and staying out of the heat keeps her feeling better.
“My husband and I are looking at moving to the Northwest,” she said. “I like the rain.”
Patton’s neurologists supply her with CDs of her periodic brain scans, and the doctors have taken an interest in her work, which includes views from various angles.
“I like the tension created by the unsettling reality of the disease and the beauty of the prints,” she said. “These brain scan prints are kind of self-portraits, but I am much more detached than I would be if they were prints of my face.”
As time goes on, the series component of the work will become richer, Patton said.
“Digital manipulation of these scans is a way of exerting some control over this slowly debilitating illness.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.
If you go
Everett Community College’s Russell Day Gallery, 2000 Tower St.; open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, noon to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays; www.everettcc.edu.
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