Talented, adventurous, artistic, passionate, energetic
Luca was about “anything art,” his sister, Hannah, commented. His talents ranged from drawing, painting, and ceramics to poetry, filmmaking, photography, and performance. He loved photographing old and abandoned buildings with an eye that made them interesting and beautiful. His captivating stage presence kept the crowd engaged and entertained and ranged from high school plays to an attraction to the artform of wearing drag. Luca was Queer and passionate about LGBT+ issues, environmental causes and he loved to travel.
Luca worked as a fashion photographer in New York City and made promotional artwork for the city of Cambridge’s youth programs. He also worked briefly as a photographer at Fenway Park in Boston. He was enrolled in the photography program at Lesley University in Cambridge, and had just planned to switch to a filmmaking major so he could combine his love of visual art and storytelling.
His sister, Hannah, recalled how Luca was always working on a project and had something planned that was exciting. They built a treehouse together, did a photoshoot in an abandoned trailer and body surfed in huge storm waves. They were in co-ed scouts together and hiked and camped. Her last happy memory was viewing the music video for I Lava You, with Luca and teaching him to sing and play the Ukulele, because he wanted to perform the song. Luca was very loving and attentive to both his grandmothers and always made time to visit them.
A special memory for Luca’s mom was a trip to India that she and Luca made together. She shares an anecdote about what happened when she was watching a scary movie on the plane: She screamed and jumped, which scared everyone around her. Luca said “Mom! Stop it!”
It was Luca’s dad who did much of the work trying to get mental health and drug treatment for Luca. He was always there, supporting Luca through his hospitalizations and frequently checking on him. Luca had limited access to mental health care-mostly through emergency hospital stays and involuntary commitment. Even then, he could only stay for three weeks and had to be released. Luca’s sister compares this inadequate mental health treatment to “pulling a drowning person out of the water, giving them CPR, then throwing them back!”
Luca had bipolar disorder but would not take his prescribed drugs as recommended. He was self-medicating, which led to his substance use disorder. The U.S. was under complete COVID lockdown by the time he was persuaded to detox before starting treatment for his bipolar disorder. Treatment facilities and counseling offices were either closed, or not accepting new patients, and hospitals were at capacity. Luca’s behavior was getting scary and calls for help went to voice mail and were never returned. He might have survived if he had had better access to mental health treatment and greater support.
As Luca became more ill, he stopped making art and quit journaling, writing poems, and stories. His sister said, “When we cleared out the apartment after he died, there wasn’t anything creative, not even sketches; just trash and drug paraphernalia. Nothing of his personality was left. It was sad never to see Luca be able to reach his potential.”
Hannah used to be against safe injection sites, because she believed they promoted drug use instead of encouraging treatment or quitting. “Now”, she said, “I think if he’d been at a safe injection site, he’d still be alive.”
Luca’s sister, Hannah Gibson, provided the information for this narrative.
May 1, 1998-May 12, 2021-Age 23
Portrait Artist: Elizabeth Jones
Narrative Writer: Barbara Francois
