Christina's World

I never knew who Andrew Wyeth was or heard of Christina's World before my mom went to New York with one of her art classses. She brought back as part of her suitcases stuffed full of goodies for our family a poster of Andrew Wyeth's famous painting, Christina's World hanging in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

It was for me, and as she explained a little about this very simple yet somehow daunting picture I found myself being absorbed by it's imagery. I saw how everyday Christina would crawl everywhere, refusing the use of a wheelchair. She had polio and in its most severe form the anterior horns of the spinal cord and the lower brain are affected, resulting in "tightness in the neck, back, and hamstring muscles as well as varying degrees of muscle weakness, as paralysis sets in." I wonder how she went through life dealing with all she had to cope with. Yet, she inspired Wyeth and he painted her in one of the most recognized american paintings of modern times. And Christina and her family were used in many of his paintings until her death in 1968.

I wondered what her thoughts were and how she saw the world. I wondered that if she could do it, life that is then perhaps, I could too. This was a major theme because as a child I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and very uncertain of where I could fit in this world that seemed to have no place for me. I questioned my very exsistance to be a part of the human race. My mom trying to instil that drive and will to go out and do whatever I wanted to do brought home this print.

Christina's World is framed and hangs on my bedroom wall as a source of contemplation and strength. It's been over 13 years and I still sit in front of my print and think how Christina's hands and nails were caked with dirt and grime all because of her determination.