Two Medsan works for the mouth: Occlusal Wave, about bruxism, and Hokusai’s Jaw, about the jaw and speech.
Occlusal Wave came from an image that followed me for several nights: a tooth caught in a wave, under a force that keeps returning without anyone noticing. A giant molar stands in the water under a pink sky, the spray breaking against its roots. A man of fifty sees his dentist about jaw pain he cannot explain; the dentist finds worn teeth, fractured in places. He has been grinding his teeth every night for years without knowing. That is bruxism, and the title points to occlusion, the way the teeth meet.
Hokusai’s Jaw came from a scene outside a speech therapy practice. A man was walking up to greet someone; his mouth opened, but the words stayed somewhere behind. He was sixty-two, and had had a stroke the year before. In the painting, a jaw, teeth and all, is caught in Hokusai’s tall white and blue waves. Aphasia does not take away the wish to speak: it cuts the passage between thought and speech. It is the work I would choose for a maxillofacial surgeon, or for a speech and language therapist.
Both are signed, numbered art prints, limited to 20 copies per size, at €300 in 40 × 40 cm and €450 in 60 × 60 cm; in a black floater frame, the 40 × 40 cm comes to €380. Occlusal Wave, with its pink sky, suits a waiting room. Hokusai’s Jaw, which shows the whole lower jaw, means as much to a surgeon as to a therapist. In a dental practice, a 60 × 60 cm reads from across the waiting room, while a 40 × 40 cm is enough above a consulting desk.
aphasia after a stroke
A human jaw is caught in tall white and blue waves breaking all around it. It is about aphasia after a stroke: the words are still there and the jaw still moves, but the sea has settled between thought and speech. For a dentist or a maxillofacial surgeon, and for a speech and language therapist.
bruxism
A giant molar stands in a wave under a pink sky, the water breaking against its roots. The image followed me for several nights: a tooth under a force that keeps coming back without anyone noticing. This is bruxism, the clenching and grinding that happens at night without you knowing. For a dentist or an orthodontist.
Occlusal Wave, a giant molar caught in a wave, is about bruxism, which dentists see in worn teeth. Hokusai’s Jaw shows a whole jaw, teeth included, in Hokusai’s waves. Both are signed, numbered prints, from €300.
Occlusal Wave: its title refers to occlusion, the way the teeth meet. In 40 × 40 cm it costs €300, or €380 in a black floater frame, ready to hang.
Hokusai’s Jaw. It came from a scene outside a speech therapy practice and is about aphasia after a stroke; the jaw caught in the wave matters just as much to a surgeon.
In a waiting room, a 60 × 60 cm print, at €450, reads from across the room. Above a consulting desk, a 40 × 40 cm is enough, and it can take a black floater frame.
No. Every copy is signed and numbered by hand, and each size stops at 20 copies. A poster carries neither a number nor a signature.
