By Miah Artola
The Invisible Deers
My first healer was irritated and said I needed to take myself in hand. This did not help my cancer because I could not help myself. I looked past her, towards the forest, and ran.
My second healer was outside of a monastery. With everyone asleep, I had gone outside to smoke in the courtyard with the Buddha glowing in the moonlight. I sat on a stone chair facing the statue and slowly I could feel them on the edge of the clearing, composed as a drawing. I struck my match and a thought from the Buddha lit into my throat and I fell off my seat.
My third healer was surrounded by stones and sage in the high mountains. Their hoofs were poised or crackling branches behind us. And her mind stamped gigantic as a monster laughing while the hum of her flicked and brushed away my angry cells as if they were crumbs on a bed.
About the author
Miah Artola creates interactive installations that combine her paintings and drawings with new media. She has shown her work nationally and internationally in venues such as The Dome at PS1/MoMA, Queen’s Museum, Museum of Natural History, ARCO Madrid, Andrew Roth Gallery, Experimental Intermedia, Pioneer Works, Galapagos. She is co-inventor of APE (Audio Peak Etcher), a software which generates sound responsive visuals. Miah is the founder of Artola Digital and a faculty instructor at School of Visual Arts. artoladigital.com
