THE HIPPOCRATIC FACE | Madeleine Avirov
© Hippocratic Face, 1 to 4. Madeleine Avirov. Felt-tip pen on notebook paper
“Hippocrates first described what would become known as the Hippocratic face (facies Hippocratica in Latin): ‘[If the patient's facial] appearance may be described thus: the nose sharp, the eyes sunken, the temples fallen in, the ears cold and drawn in and their lobes distorted, the skin of the face hard, stretched and dry, and the colour of the face pale or dusky.… and if there is no improvement within [a prescribed period of time], it must be realized that this sign portends death.’ My beloved mother died on August 18, 2010, at the Hospice of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio. She was ninety years old.”
Madeleine Avirov is a visual artist. She is also the sole caregiver for her husband, who suffered a massive ischemic stroke in 2018. The drawings included here were done in the last days of her mother’s life with the materials at hand. When her mother could no longer speak, the artist could only draw. She returned to her first language. Discover more: madeleineavirov.com