TO HEAL IS TO COMFORT | Annalise Eisenbarth

“To Heal is to Comfort” was inspired by classical memento mori paintings, which depict symbolic reminders of human mortality. For both children and adults, being placed under surgical anesthesia is essentially surrendering oneself to death. Within the world of medicine, empathy is overlooked as a tool to quell fear. As a child I vividly remember my OR nurses placing my stuffed rabbit on the anesthesia cart right before I drifted off to sleep. Looking back, I now see that they preserved the last remnant of my childhood through this simple act. My doctors recognized my humanity and acknowledged that both my soul and body needed to be healed. Through my work I wanted to reflect the necessity of comfort in the process of physical healing.”

Annalise Eisenbarth is a freshman at Baylor University who is seeking to further explore the intersection of science, humanities and the arts. She has pursued various mediums of art since her childhood and has found in them a space to contemplate and struggle with her own experiences as a patient. Eisenbarth hopes to highlight the modern crisis of objectivity in the medical community and emphasize the value of the study of ethics and spirituality within medicine.