Happening today - finishing photographs taken at George Washington Birthplace National Monument
In 2016, Xiomaro’s daughter, Jessica, died from an accidental drug overdose after years of struggling with borderline personality disorder. BPD is a mental health condition characterized by pervasive patterns of instability in emotions, self-image, behavior, and interpersonal relationships. People with BPD often experience intense mood swings, impulsivity, and a persistent fear of abandonment, which can make it challenging to maintain stable relationships and function in daily life.
An artist and poet, Jessica’s 30”x30” painting titled My Iron Lung (2015)—inspired, in part, by Radiohead’s song by the same name—is a metaphor for her drug use as a way of feeling normal amid chronic mental illness. The violent imagery includes an actual rubber hose representing the lungs together with the words “chain saws” and “Fight Back” appearing in the center from collaged newsprint. The work will be reproduced on a panel and exhibited as a father-daughter diptych with Dead Blue Jay (2016), a photograph by Xiomaro created as part of a commission from the National Park Service.
Both works were specially requested by Cameron Le Roux, the coordinator for The Art of the Brain, presented annually by Mount Sinai in collaboration with the Dana Foundation during Brain Awareness Week to draw global attention to brain disorders and research. The show presents a traveling exhibition from Emotions Matter, a non-profit that raises awareness of BPD, advocates for better mental health care, and provides services to individuals and families impacted by BPD. The artwork is created by BPD sufferers and their families.
The father-daughter diptych is not part of the traveling exhibition, but was on view in 2017 for Emotions Matter’s debut show at Fountain House Gallery in New York City. As explained by Le Roux, she “stumbled upon” the works on the Emotions Matter website and
I thought the pieces themselves, and the artist statements for both, were so incredibly impactful and important. Iron Lung viscerally illustrates a struggle that is all too common in the BPD community, coping through substance use, and yet rarely ever highlighted, while Dead Blue Jay is a beautiful and heartbreaking expression of the profound loss often experienced by family members of loved ones affected by this disorder. Given our audience will be healthcare workers, researchers, trainees, as well as the general public, I think that having representation of experiences with BPD like Jessica’s would be truly invaluable. Beyond bringing awareness to substance use in BPD, these works convey such powerful messages that I’m sure would resonate with so many who pass through Mount Sinai every day.
Six out of every 100 people will develop BPD in their lifetime with between 50-80% also having a substance abuse disorder. The impairment in functioning is as great as that due to bipolar disorder. Yet, BPD, which is at least as prevalent, gets only one-tenth the funding of bipolar disorder from the National Institute of Mental Health, the lead federal agency for research on mental disorders.
All photographs are available for exhibition and purchase. Contact Xiomaro
Emotions Matter’s BPD Art Show in 2022 was covered by Rosanna Scotto on Good Day New York (Fox 5). For more information about Emotions Matter visit www.emotionsmatterbpd.org.
Any image or text or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever – including any and all uses in connection with artificial intelligence technology – without my express written permission. Violators will, and have been, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Xiomaro logo by Azul Burger. Photos of Xiomaro by Barbara Cittadino.