Lost Memories

Sixty-five seconds- that's how often another person is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Since 2008, my grandma has been living through this disease, with her daily life becoming a little harder each passing day. This is something that I feel strongly about. As a bit of a contribution to her, I decided to paint a painting about this as my Caffrey Welles Fine Arts Award project. This painting mostly focuses on symbolism. Below I will explain some of the bigger symbolism elements.

Path of puzzle pieces- This "path of puzzle pieces" represents multiple things. First off, it represents the path of life. Everyone has an invisible road that they walk on during their life that holds memories. Secondly, the path in the painting is made up of puzzle pieces to represent each memory. With Alzheimer's, that path of memories and life begins to fade; the puzzle pieces begin to come apart. For a person with this disease, their memory starts to go away and they begin to forget everything. It slowly becomes worse and worse with time. Basically, this path just represents a person's memories fading.
Woods/trees- In "Lost Memories", the path of puzzle pieces lead to a forest. The representation with the forest does not necessarily mean darkness and fear, but rather being lost. Many people might associate woods or a forest with getting lost. As people with this disease get older, they start to get lost and confused. They might start to confuse people with other people, misplace/hide objects, or even forget simple daily tasks. These woods simply represent confusion.
Forget-me-not flowers- Forget-me-not flowers are the official flower of the Alzheimer's Association. The bright blue flowers are showing a strong mind. The flowers closer to the woods are gray to represent that forgetfulness. These flowers also remind us to never forget those who have been lost.

The overall idea of this painting is that a person who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease walks their path of life until the moment everything starts to get worse. Their memories begin to fade, confusion is the new normal; the puzzle pieces begin to fall apart. The grass and flowers are bright until they start to die. Birds represent life, they begin to disappear. Skies turn gray and dark. All of these elements show the life of a person with this disease getting more difficult and confusing.

Note: While this painting shows more of the negative side of this disease, there is always something good to come from it. There are thousands of people who raise money and awareness for associations to look for cures. There are benefits, walks, and other activities that people participate in. The amount of support that my family and thousands of others have shown is truly amazing.

Lost Memories: The Poem

Day after day

Night after night,

Slowly your world becomes a little more gray.

I see you,

Do you see me?

No, you don't have a clue.

Staring off into space,

I wonder what you're thinking.

I hope you are at least happy in this place.

Faded memories,

Stolen dreams.