Originally posted on https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/2020/10/12/portrait-project-aims-put-human-face-stigma-drug-addiction/5922758002/
Theresa Clower with the pencil portrait of her late son that launched the Into Light project.
Theresa Clower is using a pencil to help erase the stigma of drug addiction.
The Black Mountain, North Carolina, artist, who lost her 32-year-old son to drugs now draws poignant portraits of overdose victims using pencil “to portray these people for who they were.”
“I don’t feel anyone should be defined for their darkest moments,” she said.
Her goal is to mount an art show in all 50 states. The Ohio one, with 41 portraits commemorating Ohioans who have died, is scheduled to open in January at Malone University in Canton.
“Ohio is ground zero, and it’s important we get it right,” Clower said in a phone interview from her home. “I can sense the need in your area.”
Two years ago, her son Devin died from an accidental drug overdose involving fentanyl.
“It’s a very common story right now,” she said.
Struggling to deal with her loss, Clower was encouraged by her daughter to do a portrait of Devin. While she has a fine arts degree, Clower hadn’t done artwork in 45 years. Using pencil, she began drawing her son from a photograph.
“I embarked on it and it was really a cathartic moment,” Clower said. “I worked on that first portrait I’d ever done very lovingly. I felt like I was visiting with Devin. When I signed my name, it was truly my goodbye.”
Feeling artistically renewed, Clower was inspired to do pencil drawings of others who like her son had succumbed to the disease of drug addiction. She did an exhibit of 41 portraits last fall in Baltimore, where Devin died, that attracted media attention and helped facilitate emotional healing.
“In a few cases, this was the first time that families had addressed the issue publicly, and it helped them get through the grief and the shame,” Clower said.
“This project just unfolded in front of me. There was no plan that I was going to be directing a national organization at 70 years old,” Clower said. “It just felt right. It’s still emerging, there is nothing set in stone. I want to portray those lost to this epidemic in portraits.”
To help create the 41 Ohio portraits, Clower hired Canton-based artist Heather Bullach, who is drawing 21 of them from photographs supplied by loved ones. Clower is doing the remaining 20.
“There’s something really impactful about a hand-drawn portrait in itself, and the whole idea of erasing the stigma and bringing honor to these individual lives,” Bullach said. “It’s really rewarding to hear responses from family members after they’re shown the finished portraits.”
“This project just unfolded in front of me. There was no plan that I was going to be directing a national organization at 70 years old,” Clower said. “It just felt right. It’s still emerging, there is nothing set in stone. I want to portray those lost to this epidemic in portraits.”
To help create the 41 Ohio portraits, Clower hired Canton-based artist Heather Bullach, who is drawing 21 of them from photographs supplied by loved ones. Clower is doing the remaining 20.
“There’s something really impactful about a hand-drawn portrait in itself, and the whole idea of erasing the stigma and bringing honor to these individual lives,” Bullach said. “It’s really rewarding to hear responses from family members after they’re shown the finished portraits.”
Original artwork makes people pause, Clower said.
“We could put up nicely framed photographs of these same people … in a gallery and it would not have the same impact,” she said. “People look at these drawings and they can see something in the eyes.”
The number of portraits in the shows, 41, refers to how many people die in the U.S. every five hours from drug overdoses, Clower said.
For the Ohio show at Malone, 29 of the 41 portraits already are lined up but people may nominate friends or family members for the remaining 12. This can be done at the website IntoLightProject.org. Under the Apply tab is a form that can be filled out and submitted along with three photos. There also is an option for a telephone interview.
Clower is especially seeking people of color to give diversity to the exhibition. There is no charge.
Also being sought are donations to the project. Bullach is being paid for her work, a catalogue of the show’s artwork will be produced, and each drawing is professionally framed and will be presented to the subject’s family after the show closes.
“Tyler” by Theresa Clower
The Into Light exhibition is coming to Canton because of Clower’s friendship with Barbara Francois, formerly of Canton, whose son, Christian Harwell owns Cyrus Custom Framing and Gallery. It was Harwell who put Clower in touch with Malone gallery director Michelle Waalkes.
The specific details on the Malone show – including dates and times – are uncertain because of COVID-19, and will be announced later.
“I do believe this project is a gift from heaven. I feel Devin left it and it was up to me to find it,” Clower said. “I couldn’t stop drawing faces, it became a complete immersion. And I felt why not put that to use? Why not give that to someone who has lost a child like I have?”
