Honouring her mother’s struggle through art

A Hamilton artist is on a mission to speak about the impacts a disease can have on a family.

After the death of her mother to multiple sclerosis, Angela Marino's art became a tool to understand how a disease can affect the body, both mentally and physically.

The 32-year-old artist is part of Inner Dialogue," an exhibit at Hamilton Artists Inc, a charitable and not-for-profit artist-led centre on 155 James St. N. The exhibit looks at identity through a collection of portraiture painting styles and it runs until May 14.

Marino said her work shows what it was like living with her mother, Kim, who was consumed and restricted by MS. The person who raised me was altered, becoming someone who was less confident in her abilities and saw her disease as a defeat."

According to Marino, her family mourned together, which only strengthened their bond. We were a complete unit. We were able to grieve with one another and as days and months passed we went to see therapists who truly aided in the healing of what we experienced."

The exhibit was scheduled for March 2020, but it was cancelled because of the pandemic. Marino was nervous about exhibiting pieces from two years ago, and wasn't sure if she would be able to talk about it fluently.

It actually came so naturally because this is the work that I know like the back of my hand. I should be able to talk freely about it, but it's just so nice to actually see it within the art gallery context again. I can't believe how much I miss that."

Marino said she was pleased that viewers who visited Inner Circle" saw and experienced the underlying values she brings to her work.

It was quite beautiful just to see how everything aligned and what revelations I was seeing and how people were able to come right back into that art realm and see the creativity and see connection to that," said Marino.

A recent graduate from the University of Alberta with a Masters of Fine Art in Painting after getting a fine arts degree at McMaster University, Marino developed a workout video performance drawing on a canvas using her body as a brush.

I would literally just draw up against this board, restraining my body. By the end of it, you would see this quite evocative and very disturbing drawing that literally comes from my body," said Marino.

The artist said the goal was to feel and show the struggles her mom faced while dealing with the multiple sclerosis diagnosis.

When my mom was first diagnosed with MS, doctors advised her not to work out. And that caused her muscles to get weaker. For me, I wanted to challenge my able body to experience, just like even if it was like a glimpse or a moment of what she would."

Marino recalled how her mother reacted when she first saw the video performance. She said, What you've just drawn is exactly how I feel every day. This blackness and avoidance.'"

Back in 2019, when Marino graduated, she planned to come back to Hamilton and work with the MS community in Ontario, but she lost her mother not too long after and postponed her plans. It's been extremely challenging for me to kind of deal with the death of her and grieving."

This year, the artist feels differently.

I'm kind of ready to outreach back into the MS society and see what I can potentially do just to get people with MS moving or helping out with an arts event where everyone can come together and cocreate something."

For Marino's next project, she will be working with death, grief, memories and how people experience it.

That's something that's definitely been at the back of my mind and I most definitely want to pursue it this summer. Now that I feel that I'm kind of ready to talk about my mom again in this particular way and advocate for MS and for our family members"

Even though her future creations might not particularly portray her mother, Marino thinks she will always be present in her art.

My mom has been quite vital kind of in my life and within my practice, since the beginning."

Currently, the artist is a visual arts teacher at Bishop Ryan Catholic Secondary school, the same school she attended.

Beatriz Baleeiro is a reporter at The Spectator. bbaleeiro@torstar.ca