Artist Always

Created by artist Erin Brady Worsham, an ALS patient, the exhibit is composed of eight computer-generated prints. In 1997, Worsham began using a ventilator, which helped her "rediscover freedom and keep living." As part of her new determination, she began drawing again, with each new picture taking anywhere from 60 to 200 hours to complete. Trained as a classical artist and actress before her diagnosis, Worsham has traded her oils, acrylic, and watercolor for the Liberator, special software that allows her to interface with her computer and move the mouse. She now spends hours designing and creating "electronic paintings," using a different medium to convey design and color.

Also as a result of her diagnosis, Worsham's themes are relevant to her changed environment, and her use of perspective concentrates on the central characters in her work. Worsham's work has been praised as celebratory, ironic, joyful, and intelligently thought out. She has transferred much of her humor into her work, making plays on words and adding surprises to her paintings to entice viewers and cause them to think twice about what they are seeing. Rather than focus on disabilities, Worsham hopes viewers of her work can look at people's abilities. She, herself, is a living example of that ability to continue giving form to her creativity and, in turn, inspiring others to do the same.

Thanks to a generous loan of the collection by Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Erin Brady Worsham, the Society toured this exhibit throughout the US from 2003 - 2005. Although confined to a wheelchair and dependent on a respirator and feeding tubes, Worsham "continues to create wonderful, inspirational and amazing art," says Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Director of Cultural Enrichment Donna Glassford.