Junko Nakamura

Junko Nakamura

Born in Ota-ku, Tokyo in 1958

Collage, assemblage

And drawing a picture …………

I have an intractable disease called Parkinson's disease. I suddenly became unable to walk about 7 years ago.

Until recently, it was almost like a robot that it couldn't move when the switch (medicine) was turned off.

I can't reach the chopsticks in front of me even though my head is clear.

It is tragic if the medicine runs out without warning during shopping.

What on earth are you unable to open your wallet at the cash register?

I chose to have brain surgery.

DBS, an operation to insert electrodes into the brain, stimulates a part of the brain, but it seems that he is awake while making a hole in his head, and a charger is embedded in his chest!

I can't make a decision because it's a job that uses my eyes because it affects the thalamus, which is the most important thing when drawing a picture, and my brain got a miracle value in the test when I was hospitalized for inspection. I finally decided that the hospital would ask me to keep a record.

It's been 4 years now, but I'm in a state where I can manage to draw a picture by making adjustments while slightly shifting the position or raising the level due to the side effect of sudden sleep.

However, the biggest side effect of this DBS is that it's hard to talk about.

Apparently, the delicate balance between the language center and the motor center is affected, and the tongue becomes worse and difficult for humans to hear.

So for me, the act of expressing can communicate or connect with others introspective self.

I think it's creating the only language. Or I want to be so.

And the invisible elements that could form me become visible, and by visualizing "encounters" on paper, I will continue to eloquently send words to the outside world instead of me. ..

In my case, I always add a picture somewhere to leave a handwriting. However, it is time to draw a picture only while the medicine is working. How many minutes are left while keeping my current state that I still want to draw?

Rather than fighting such a conflict, I'm having a hard time calming myself down. No matter how much this progressive illness is soothed, there is no compromise.

                                   Junko Nakamura October 2021