the wolf and the butterfly

aquacolour and marker on canvas

This piece is about the disease that has a lock on me for several years now.
It's called: Systemic lupus erythematosus, in short SLE.
Lupus means wolf. And sometimes it's also called the butterfly disease, because of the characteristic form of the rash that will appear on the face of many patients suffering from SLE.
For more information see: [link]
[link]


At the moment I’m feeling kind of down, because I had two flares in rapid succession …
The painting is one of the ways I try to come to terms with how the disease affects my life.

In the picture you see a female form (because SLE occurs nine times more often in women than in men) with the butterfly on her face and a wolf inside her body that’s threatening to bit into her heart and rip into the kidney with his paws, because these organs are often harmed by the disease.
The subdued coloured reddish, violet and pink “tentacles” in the bottom represent the (fruitless) anger, frustration and feelings of helplessness that try to suck down everyone that suffers from a chronic disease.
The background looks blue-grey in representation of how depressing the world around and the general perspective sometimes are.
The Star with the rainbow coloured comet like tail symbolizes hope, all those loved-ones that are trying to help and the will to fight.

Cause that’s what it comes down to in the end – a fight for ones life, with the hope that we will win and be stronger that the wolf who’s trying to devour us…