Headache Management Seminar |
| Sponsored by AstraZeneca through an unrestricted educational grant |
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Migraine artwork exhibited at the Pettibone Resort on the River
(November 1, 2003, La Crosse, WI USA)
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At the seminar listeners learned facts and myths of migraines and other headaches. Medications, stress management and exercise benefits were covered by experts from the Gundersen Lutheran Neuroscience Center.
"Piercing Conflict" series of artwork about migraines and headaches by artist Olea Nova was exhibited at the seminar. The images in the artwork have nothing in common with the real personalities behind them... their pain became the prototype for the artwork.
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Migraine in a Split |
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Pill Head
Artwork represents a real dream of a person with a headache. "I had so many pills that I was dreaming - they are growing on my head, like mushrooms, and I was scraping them down," said one victim. |
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Artwork portrays the complexity of migraine symptoms: the vision field is getting smaller, the person may see flashes of light - like shooting stars in front of the eyes - this is how the brain signals the beginning of a migraine. Migraine headaches start at the base of the skull and feel like a spike has been driven inside the head in to the eye. The pain is getting stronger. Light that goes in to the eyes also causes pain which feels like a second spike. All face and skull muscles experience the sensation of being twisted and pulled away. Migraine symptoms also include nausea and photophobia.
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In the Vacuum |
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The feeling of being isolated from the outside world, the desire to be left alone because of pain, fatigue, and exhaustion are the main focus of the painting In the Vacuum. The artwork also reflects a common expression of people experiencing migraine pain, "I want to go to a dark room, not to participate in life."
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To date, the "Piercing Conflict" exhibit has been shown at the Wisconsin Department of Administration Building in Madison, the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Odin Gallery, and at the open house for the neurology department at Gundersen-Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse, WI.
The Tapestry magazine wrote about Olea's "Piercing Conflict" series of artwork in the article "Art & Pain: Migraine" which was published in the October issue of the Tapestry magazine in connection with the Headache Management Seminar.
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