Nineteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

My project is a hybrid experience of writing, drawings, and slides that explore my partial facial paralysis. Some slides depict my own charcoal drawings of the five branches of the facial nerve, and examine what I cannot do with each branch that someone with a fully-functioning facial nerve could (e.g. raise my eyebrows in surprise). Some of the slides flash words that make up list that are synonyms to “paralysis,” or that rhyme with “paralysis.” These symbolize the access, or lack thereof, that facial paralysis gives me. Threaded throughout these drawings and lists are some photographs and a short narrative of my masseteric-nerve surgery I had in January (that should give me a partial smile when activating the masseteric muscle), complete with audio and video of conversations with my doctor, John P. Flynn.