My mom was 37 days in hospital during the second wave of the pandemic. It was comforting to know she was well cared for and safe despite daily health concerns.
This drawing is a metaphor symbolizing the emotions and complexities patients and families experience as they journey from health crises to recovery. Hospitalization, multiple procedures and surgeries can make them feel like their roots have been snapped and they are spinning in the wind.
Tumbleweeds are fragile structures. Its entangled branches resemble the human circulatory system comprised of arteries, veins and capillaries. This red tumbleweed is the colour of extreme emotions associated with passion, love, danger and anger.
When there is lots to process, understand and accept, it is essential to know you are safe and in the hands of highly skilled professionals. Especially when the process is prickly like a thorny plant. Powerless and vulnerable patients and family feel like tumbleweeds tumbling through space trying to find answers, a treatment, a cure. Conditions are compounded with health implications and complex hospital ecosystems. It is easy to become overwhelmed when unexpected situations occur. When a tumbleweed encounters an obstacle, it becomes tangled and trapped. Commitment to quality care and safety protocols may be the difference of unnecessary complications and a healthy recovery.
Bonnie is a visual artist of settler ancestry. She uses a variety of approaches to investigate themes of place, identity and immigration. Bonnie received an Honours Degree in Art Studio and Art History with High Honours from the University of Saskatchewan. Bonnie has been an Artist in Residence at the Grasslands National Park and the Summer Studio Space at AKA Gallery in Saskatoon. Bonnie has had two touring exhibitions with the Organizations of Saskatchewan Art Councils. She has had solo and group exhibitions in public galleries in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario.