By Deron Hamel
Vincent Van Gogh has a special place in Emily Greer’s heart.
Emily, who is studying fine art at OCAD University in Toronto, says Van Gogh is her favourite artist. But she also feels a connection to Van Gogh on another level.
Emily is living with epilepsy. Many historians (and even Van Gogh’s personal physician) have believed the Dutch painter had the condition.
One of Van Gogh’s most famous paintings is The Starry Night. While many art scholars see the halos around the moon and stars depicted in the painting as having religious significance, Emily says she sees something else.
“When I study this painting, I am reminded of the auras I experience before seizures,” Emily says. “(As a person with epilepsy), it is possible Van Gogh experienced colourful auras, which then found their way into his paintings.”
Auras are commonly felt by many people living with epilepsy just before a seizure begins. As Emily explains, auras are a perceptual disturbance that can be manifested as a “strange light.”
As an artist, Emily says she sees an upside to having epilepsy. She points to a research paper by Steve Schachter from Harvard Medical School, called Sparks of Creativity: The Influences of Epilepsy in Visual Art. The study argues that people living with focal epilepsy often have increased creative potential.
Emily says she agrees with this argument.
“While epilepsy is not always easy to live with, the impacts are not entirely negative,” she says. “Epilepsy can contribute to creativity. Having seizures and experiencing auras is part of who I am, and as an aspiring artist, (auras) affect many aspects of my work.”
Emily, who will be entering her second year of studies in September, is one of the recipients of this year’s Osler Epilepsy Scholarship. The scholarship, formerly called the OBCL Epilepsy Scholarship, is being offered to four students this year. Aside from the name change, the scholarship committee also decided to up the award amount from $1,000 to $1,500.
Osler Epilepsy Scholarships are awarded each year to exceptional students who have confronted and overcome remarkable barriers in their academic and personal lives due to their epilepsy.
Applicants also submit a 600- to 900-word essay, about a famous person who has epilepsy and what that person’s life means to them.
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