I just got an email telling me that my entry did not make the cut for the 20 finalists for the 2026 Rare Artist Contest, so I’m going to post the entry here for posterity.
Photograph
Camera: Sony a6000
Artist Statement (200 Words)
I was diagnosed with Arteriovenous Malformation at 22. Confronting mortality so young substantially changed my life.
There are many imageries in a spider’s web that relate to my life, disorder, and advocacy. I often describe AVMs as a “spider web of overgrown blood vessels.” After brain surgery, I began my advocacy journey by creating an online support group that grew to thousands of members, running in-person support groups for AVM survivors, and creating a resource website for survivors and families to understand AVM jargon-free.
When I learned that spiders don’t usually “repair” their webs when no longer functional, but instead dismantle the web to rebuild, I felt kinship with their way of life. Time and time again, I have dismantled and rebuilt my “new normal.” While they were the darkest times in the moment, every experience has contributed to the life I live now.
One symptom of my acquired brain injury was short term memory issues. I compulsively took photographs because I didn’t trust my brain to retain information. Though my photos are mostly of my children now, my expression with photography began with brain surgery. This entry brings together photography, and the few “webs” that changed my life.