Migraine Art - Migraine Articles.

	Pill Head 23 x 18 inches mixed media on paper

"Pill Head" is a real dream of a person with a headache. "I had so many pills that I was dreaming - they are growing on my head, like mushrooms, and I was scraping them down," said one victim. The image in the artwork has nothing in common with the real personality behind it, as there is no likeness between other images in the artwork and real people experiencing pain. Their pain became the prototype for the artwork.

	Laceration 30.5 x 22.75 inches mixed media on paper

	Paranoia 15 x 10 inches watercolor

It was noticeable that some of migraine and headache sufferers anticipated their pain with horror. And usually they described their pain in very powerful images of terror.

	Migraine in a Split 21 x 14 inches watercolor

"Migraine in a Split" portrays the complexity of migraine symptoms: the vision field is getting smaller, the person may see flashes of light - like shooting stars in front of the eyes - this is how the brain signals the beginning of a migraine. Migraine headaches start at the base of the skull and feel like a spike has been driven inside the head in to the eye. The pain is getting stronger. Light that goes in to the eyes also causes pain, which feels like a second spike. All face and skull muscles experience the sensation of being twisted and pulled away. Migraine symptoms also include nausea and photophobia.

	Blast of Light 17 x 19 inches tempera on paper

	In the Vacuum 11 x 9 inches watercolor

"In the Vacuum." The feeling of being isolated from the outside world, the desire to be left alone because of pain, fatigue, and exhaustion are the main focus of the painting. The artwork also reflects a common expression of people experiencing migraine pain, "I want to go to a dark room, not to participate in life."

	Piercing Conflict 14 x 10 inches watercolor

"Piercing Conflict" shows migraine symptoms incorporated into a surreal landscape because people explain their pain through objects, circumstances, and images that can't be seen that way in the real world under those circumstances. One of the migraine sufferers commented that this is how it feels at the end of migraine attack.

	Desire of Freedom mixed media on paper 12 x 17 inches

"Desire of Freedom" is about the desire to be free of pain, circumstances, and painful discomfort and about the desire to be happy and strong. Headache sufferers commented that this artwork reminds them of how they feel. One person's story was that what he wants to do during a migraine attack is to lay down in to the cold shallow waters of the creek and have ice cold water run through his head and through his body to relieve the pain.

	Distress 16 x 21 inches tempera on paper

"Distress" is about "pounding headache." Rotation motion in the artwork symbolizes nausea as well as chaos and frustration. Painful face expression and closed eyes are produced by pain and desire to be isolated from the outside world. Hammers that are brought into action by the invisible hands of little people are the source of pounding pain.

	Origin 21 x 15 inches watercolor

	Tolerance 20 x 30 inches acrylic on paper

"Tolerance" represents strangled person in a high-speed work environment of a modern office. Also headache is one of the most frequent disorders encountered by the physicians in the office setting.

	Buzz 16" x 21" mixed media on paper

"Buzz" depicts a loud noise in the head, ringing in the ears, that sounds like bells, a loud stadium, or a bee attack. It is hard to concentrate and you want it to stop. The desire to end this "sound chaos" is expressed in the painting by the blue waters. The idea of conflict and its resolution was put in the base of the artwork.

	Exploding Head or Inside Explosion 22 x 17 inches mixed media on paper

"Exploding Head II" is a humorous interpretation of pain that feels like a pressure inside the head.

	Exploding Head or Brain Gone Wild 21 x 19 inches mixed media on paper

"Exploding Head I" describes pain that feels like a pressure inside the head. Artwork is influenced by the phrase "My head is exploding!" Headache interpretation is humorous. Visual effects are exaggerated to give the artwork a dynamic look.

About Migraine Artwork on This Page

by Olea Nova

What is happening on the edges of real and unreal worlds?

This question defines my interest in human psychology and my interest in the subject of Migraine Art. Working on this commission I combined my studies in psychology with my passion for painting.

The project started when I was asked to illustrate the image of a migraine headache from verbal descriptions of symptoms and visualizations given by others.

A medical specialist verbally described many visual aspects of migraine pain to me. Asking questions such as how a migraine starts, what triggers the pain, what a person feels or wants to do during the migraine, etc., helped me understand what migraine pain is.

I also interviewed people who suffered from migraines. I asked them to describe how they visually perceive their pain. Some of the artwork in the series is based on those stories. And some pieces are a combination of what I learned from my interviews and my personal understanding of this phenomenon.

Portraying what another person feels without experiencing the symptoms myself was challenging and exciting. I am often asked “how can you create art so graphically depicting various types of migraine pain, do you have migraines yourself?” I answer, “I don’t have migraines. And I believe that this is an advantage. I am not comparing what I hear from others with personal knowledge, this way my own experiences are not 'getting in a way' of the creative process.”

The focus of the project was to show people who suffer that they are not alone and to help people who don’t have migraines understand what a migraine is. By visually combining experiences of those who suffer, documenting them in a visually accessible form, the art that you see now was created.

I feel fortunate that I was asked to work on this project. I have received positive feedback from migraine suffers and from the medical professionals in the field:

"Thank you for what you are doing. You are such a wonderful instrument for those who suffer from pain. Your art is beautiful and inspirational. I posted a site last week for those suffering from pain to post poems, artwork, stories, imagery and other creative coping mechanisms. WE all need a voice as we suffer in silence. I suffer from RSD/CRPS in my leg and foot and know how important it is to feel like others understand.”

"I appreciate you allowing us to use your picture of a migraine for our upcoming Northeast Florida Medicine issue on pain management, for which I am a guest editor. The picture graphically depicts migraine misery...."

"I admired your artwork in downtown Madison lately, after reading about it in the Capital Times. I am a pediatric neurologist with longtime interest in headache art. As you can see from the enclosed article, I have recently published the results of a study having children draw their headaches are like. I had them use pencil and paper only and the results were dramatic. I can also get a sense of psychological factors, coping strategies, and self-esteem from the artwork.”

”… I am intrigued by your incredible artwork! You can totally get inside of my head, literally, and understand the pain and magnitude; the aura, the swaying, all of it, so well. I have often longed to have the ability to put it so well on canvas or a wall at home; as you seem so easily have done here. … In any regard, I do find your work eerily familiar.”

Articles about Migraine Artwork on this page

Artist Olea Nova Captures Migraine Symptoms in Watercolor
Northeast Florida Medicine Journal, Focus on Pain Management, June 2005

Art & Pain: Migraine
The Tapestry magazine, October 2003

Mirroring Migraines
The Capital Times, March 20, 2002

Works of migraine art presented on this page are part of the "Piercing Conflict" series.

Migraine Art

	Click on image to enlarge

Artwork copyright c Olea Nova 2001-2010. All rights reserved.
Reproduction and/or distribution of images seen on this site is not allowed without written permission of the artist.
Artworks may or may not be available. Please contact the artist for more information.

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