illmarks

this is what long covid feels like [CW: body horror illustration, occasional art nudity]

Exhibits & More

Artist Statement, Bio, and information about exhibit pieces available by request ( illmarks @ nyxmir . com )

How to see more of illmarks, my visualizing long covid project:

Want to host a workshop?

I have developed a disability & chronic illness focused, remote-friendly, workshop on making visual Symptom Maps as part of a study with the University of Washington.

I am looking for partners to host these workshops, including (but not limited to!) disability advocacy groups, other health & care partners, or creative workshop producers. For more information, please email me. (illmarks @ nyx mir . c o m)


Current Exhibits

flyer for "woke, triggered... the art of protest" which has two screaming monkeys, the first dressed as a nazi with Reichsadler eagle on lapel and shoulder, and in a police-like cap. there's an equal sign then the other screaming monkey is wearing an ICE bullet proof vest and a MAGA hat. The caption is "wake up and witness the art!" and the border of the image is collage of newspaper cut outs and the top part of a mouth with tongue out to the side. The NEXT gallery logo is in the bottom corner.

The Art of Protest Exhibit
at Next Gallery
part of 40 West Arts
20026 May 8th-24th
Fridays 5-9pm, Saturdays and Sundays 12-5pm
Opening Reception: May 8th, 5-9pm
Pride Art Crawl: May 9th 6-9pm at 40 West

down angle on the illmarks medical chArt: an interactive, analog paper medical chart is pinned to a bulletin board. The chart has 3 vibrant bookmark art pieces on the front page, on top of medical paperwork. the other side has a sticky note with directions for handling and exploring the documents. the chart is designed is full of 25+ pages of my personal medical information juxtaposed with art showing what they actually feel like. it is now in a beautiful frame -- Brushed aluminum vibes on the top, recessed with smooth clinical white, then another aluminum edge on the bulletin board.
illmarks: medical chArt – an interactive piece of 25+ pages of my medical info juxtaposed with art of what they actually feel like


logo for Decagon Gallery, which is vibrantly colored and has a radiant pinwheel, like a camera aperture or flower.

Human Body Exhibition
Decagon Gallery
“Cover Your Face” (p. 3) and “Spine” (p.1) Photographs

exterior view of the Heralbony Art Prize Exhibition 2025 in Tokyo, whihc has a very large logo and text on the contemporary giant glass window. The building contains stone, sculptural wood panels, and metal and large glasss exteriors, with a ramp hand railing visible in the foreground for access. through the window we can see someone organizing flyers, and the art hung on vibrant blue walls.


HERALBONY Art Prize Virtual Exhibition:
Virtual Tour of the HERALBONY Art Prize 2025 Exhibition

view of a contemporary art gallery. Blue walls with art and descriptions contrast with warm wood tones. Ahead on the left is the illmarks medical chArt
illmarks: medical chArt is ahead on the left

Past Exhibits & Workshops

Logo: Annual Yale University Symposium on Disability and Accessibility which includes four images of hands spelling Yale in American Sign language.

Symposium for Disability and Accessibility at Yale
Artivism from Bedspace / Artivismo desde el espacio-cama Panel
Virtual Emerging Disability Research Day: Crip Creative Ecologies Segment
Wednesday April 8
2:55-3:45 pm Eastern / 11:55 – 12:45pm Pacific

Symposium Attendees: Click here to view presentation materials, including deck, script, and script with alt text.

announcement image for the art exhibit "Note To Self" at The Fishbowl in Seattle. 27 artists are listed by name.

Note to Self
The Fishbowl
Seattle, WA
2025 August 1 – August 29

poster for August Workshop During Note To Self, Bookmarks on the Body, which has some illmarks art at the bottom and collage textures on top.

Bookmarks on the Body
The Fishbowl, Seattle WA
2025 August 27
6 – 9 pm
N95 or comparable respirators (masks) required
not a hybrid event, but i have developed a virtual-first, disability-centered workshop

poster for And Still it Remains: A Long Covid Exhibition May 9-June 28. the sponsors are UC Health, the Erion Family Foundation, and the location is Artworks center for contemporary art. there are a list of artist names. the background is a self portrait in black and white of a person with dark hair and eyes and wide dry lips and pale skin. they are torn up and stitched back together in gold thread like kintsugi.


And Still it Remains: A Long COVID Exhibition
Artworks Center for Contemporary Art in Loveland Colorado
2025 May 9 – June 28 at
Opening Reception: 2025 May 9 6-9pm Colorado Time
Artist Talk: 2025 June 14 1-3pm Colorado Time
Medical Panel: 2025 June 1, 1-3p Colorado Time

Articles about the exhibit I’m quoted in:

bookmarks framed and on display in a gallery. There are three rows of seven bookmarks. the first row is mostly visualizing physical symptoms like migraines and spodylitis, the second row grows to include cognitive symptoms including shame and summer depression, and the third tow grows to include socio-political effects, such as failing support systems and for-profit health insurance companies. it is framed with what looks like clinical brush aluminum on a white matte which makes the manila of the bookmark backgrounds pop. to the right is a typical gallery plaque with piece information, but also an artist statement and accessibility summary.
illmarks: twenty-one views of long covid

heralbony art prize 2025 logo whihch is a slated H and A above a checkerboard spotlight circle, with a list of sponsors, including JR, Pilot, Nikon, Sangetsu, and other more big name but less interesting to autistic artistic anticapitalists

Heralbony Art Prize Tokyo Exhibition:
Tokyo at the Earth Garden
on the 1st floor of the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation East Building
(Address: 1-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
2025 May 31 – June 14
Virtual Tour of the HERALBONY Art Prize 2025 Exhibition

Ebb and Flow 2025 Exhibition poster showing a photograph from David Swainson of a shop selling brightly colored printed blankets, rugs, and pillows with an elderly slender person sitting in bare feet, shorts, and no shirt casually. A blur from a motorcycle or scooter zooms by.

Ebb & Flow: Virtual Art Exhibition
Ten Moir Gallery
2025 July 12 – July 31

Decagon art gallery flyer for "Chiaroscuro" award: The Art of Light and Shadow. There's less relevant submission deadline, entry fee, and prize info. I couldn't find a better flyer. The background is nice tho, a person taking a photo in silhouette on a ramp in a room full of hazy atmospheric light.

Chiaroscuro Exhibition
Decagon Gallery
Photography – ‘Spine’

Select Recognition:

– Homiens Art Prize: Winner Summer 2024 for ILLMARKS Symptom: Grief, International

– HERALBONY Art Prize 2025 Finalist, International

– TEN MOIR Gallery, Ebb & Flow, Finalist

– LAMINATOR Volume 2 by Artists on the Lam (Upcoming: Summer 2025), International

– This is what it feels like: Artist visualizes Long Covid symptoms by The Sick Times, International

– One Year of the Sick Times Zine by The Sick Times, International

– People Making Creative Projects About ME/CFS by Andrew Gifford, UK

Support my Health & Art!

Healthcare in the USA is expensive. If you are able, please support me on ko-fi, or share my ko-fi & art with others. I also use the ko-fi funds to get this art into the world--application fees, materials/framing costs, shipping to & from exhibits, and of course an occasional yummy matcha. Thank you!

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