Recovery Art
Amnesiac aids in brain research
Lonni Sue Johnson created this artwork after suffering from amnesia
After suffering devastating brain damage from a viral infection, artist Lonni Sue Johnson lost her memory. Now, after years of therapy, she is unveiling a new portfolio of "recovery art," while also teaching scientists a bit about the brain and creativity. The new show at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore follows Johnson's journey, including her artwork from before she got viral encephalitis in 2007 and as she recovered. The journey is providing scientists unique insights into the dire effects of amnesia and the complementary roles played by language and memory in her artistic expression. "The illness destroyed the hippocampus a brain structure important for memory and spatial thinking on both sides of her brain," said cognitive scientist Barbara Landau at Johns Hopkins University, who has worked with Johnson. "Also sustaining damage were portions of the left temporal lobe that may be important for language and perception. "We are not yet sure how much recovery there has been from the amnesia, if any," Landau added. "Ms. Johnson is still deeply amnesic about events that have happened in her life, and she has great difficulty remembering events that now occur during her daily life." The intensive art therapy, which was led by her mother, Margaret Kennard Johnson, led to a new portfolio that is both similar and different from her pre-amnesia work. Her past work has graced the cover of The New Yorker magazine and appeared in the New York Times "This art is distinctly different from the work she produced before the illness, yet some of the elements remain the same, and one can see a clear relationship between the old and new art," Landau said. Johnson's old art was distinguished by intricate combinations of iconic visual elements for instance, a Christmas tree made up of holiday shoppers lined up in a zigzagging queue. This approach invited viewers to inspect her work closely to explore layers of meaning.
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