Emily Laackman
I came to Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in 2024 to recover from the effects of a non-traumatic brain injury caused by anti-NMDA receptor autoimmune encephalitis. My experience is still a fog due to ongoing memory challenges tied to the disease, but it brought me closer to my normal state than I imagined possible. Art therapy and other therapies I received helped remind me of what I used to take so much joy in. I continue to recover with the help of Shirley Ryan AbilityLab therapists, and I also do art projects at home as part of my cognitive recovery efforts. I use a variety of materials in my different pieces, including photography, disco tiles/mixed-media, and plaster/painting on canvas. My art is an extension of myself, both in the joy that it brings me when making it, as well as the pieces themselves. Creating art is extremely cathartic, and the resulting pieces reflect vulnerable sides of myself that I am proud to produce and share with the world.
Layers of Resilience 11”x11” (framed)
Blue Lagoon 17.75” x 25.75” (framed)
Pebbles on Pebbles (Breakfast Adorned) 20.75” x 24.7” (framed)
When Blue Dreams, Red Remembers 49” x 31” (framed)
Shibuya Crossing 17.75” x 25.75” (framed)
Lonesome Cowboy 9” x 25” (framed)
Mjúkur Brún (The Soft Edge) 49” x 37” (framed)
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