One Perfect Day

We all start each day without knowing if we will finish it. Our end may come abruptly, for instance, from an inattentive driver or more insidiously from exposure to an infective agent that slowly attacks our immune system. Every day, we are exposed to many factors that increase our risk of developing acute and chronic illnesses. These can range from poor diet altering our microbiome and predisposing to inflammation to bacteria overwhelming our immune systems. In 1920, a 23-year-old became the first reported case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), presenting with progressive dementia and motor instability, quickly followed by death.

In One Perfect Day, I depict what should be another idyllic moment in a surfer's life. But in reality, it is time zero, as they have just been inoculated and have acquired a universally fatal disease. 

While the surfer's silhouette is present in this work, his visage and details are not. This was done because, in reality, each of us could be in his position. Furthermore, I wanted to paint from the surfer's perspective and show the beauty of what he sees; he is surveying the wind and waves and deciding whether to surf or go hiking today. Overtly, it is just another day in a carefree life. Unbeknownst to him, however, his body is now an incubator for prion growth – represented by the helicoid structures on the left of the painting. The putative reservoir of the prion is believed to be a contaminated cow in the foreground. In the distance is a Matterhorn-like mountain, hinting at the health challenges that will soon become his reality. 

One Perfect Day
72 inches x 48 inches
Acrylic on canvas