A new gallery at the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities at 101 Archer opened last Friday. It displays Oklahoma’s iteration of the Into Light Project, an initiative started by the North Carolina artist Theresa Clower in 2019.
Her son Devin died of a fentanyl overdose at age 32 in 2018. As a way to work through her grief, Clower drew a graphite portrait of her son. She would go on to do the same for dozens of victims of substance use disorders in state exhibits throughout the country. Her goal in drawing the portraits is to give life to people whose struggles are often stigmatized and to raise awareness for the dangers of opioids and other drugs. Her work honors victims of the opioid epidemic and helps their loved ones process their losses while also reflecting on the lives of the deceased.
The gallery in the Arts District includes 29 portraits and short biographies of Oklahomans who have died of drug use, most often overdoses of fentanyl or other synthetic opioids. The portraits are interspersed with informational and supplemental plaques. One board describes the history of the opioid epidemic and the current impacts of fentanyl, especially on teens and young adults. Another acknowledges the effects of systemic racism on drug use and states that the portraits present do not represent the full picture of the opioid epidemic. Yet another describes substance use as “not a choice, but a treatable medical condition” which should be treated in the same way as other health issues. Attendees are also encouraged to take a pin with one of the portraits on it and the text “Ask me about [their name],” to spread their knowledge of the individual’s life.
The portraits depict an extremely varied group of people. Ranging from 18-year-old high schoolers to middle-aged parents of several children, those commemorated all had very different life paths, though many of them had similar paths into drug use, often being introduced to opioids by trusted adults or becoming addicted to painkillers after injuries.
They were students, plumbers, college graduates and restaurant workers. Beyond that, they were sons, daughters, siblings, spouses, parents and friends who shaped the lives of so many. Beyond the biographies of the individuals, which often discussed their careers, aspirations and families, each portrait was accompanied with quotes from their loved ones. Smiling, immortalized faces shine next to statements like “Chris had eyes that would light up a room,” and “Jordan made us all better people.” Even from such short snippets of their lives, it seems possible to know and love these people.
Everything about the gallery is intentional. The graphite portraits are meant to represent the light and dark moments of each person’s life. The portraits, coupled with thoughtfully written biographies that focus on the entirety of the individual’s lives, lend a humanizing sense of compassion to their subjects.
These feelings are palpable among the attendees, as well. There is an air of grief, but also of appreciation for the lives lived, that occupies the space. The ambiance on Friday was augmented by the presence of live music in the gallery. A group was playing lively Celtic folk songs, fiddle and all, just feet away from the portraits.
At first, it was jarring to hear “No Nay Never” while walking through the gallery with teary eyes. But after a while, the music was welcome because it emphasized the bright moments in the lives of all the individuals represented, as well as the shared humanity of all the gallery’s attendees. The Into Light Project will be on display until Dec. 21 at 101 Archer, where viewers can engage with a heart wrenching but distinctly human experience.
