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"Reflections," acrylic on board by Lisa Levine for the exhibit "Second Chances" (Photo by Ed Tepper Photography courtesy the artist)
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"Witnessing Compassionate Gratitude," acrylic on board by Lisa Levine for the exhibit "Second Chances" (Photo by Ed Tepper Photography courtesy the artist)
There’s a celebration of life to be found in artwork featured in an exhibition opening Sept. 7 at the United Network for Organ Sharing.
The exhibit is titled “Second Chances,” and it has works in a variety of media from eight local artists. It’s a project in which six of the artists are paired with organ donation recipients. Each met with the organ recipients and got to know them during the creative process. The works reflect what life has been like for the recipients since they received their transplants and celebrate the lives of the donors.
Acrylic works by one of the artists, Lisa Levell Levine, were inspired by the life of donor Luke Cockey. Cockey was 23 when he died in 2008. Luke lost his life after he was punched and fell onto pavement, sustaining three fractures to his skull. He was considered brain dead and was taken off life support.
Levine met with Luke’s parents, Richmond residents JoAnn and Tim Cockey, to learn about their son. An inspiration for her work can be seen on a visit to her space at Studio Two Three. It's a simple, loving photo of Luke as he is being kissed on each cheek by his parents.
The results from Levine's talks with the Cockeys are works for the show that are personal and poignant, conveying Luke’s vibrancy and passions. "We developed a good relationship, and it’s been just wonderful,” she says. “It’s been quite a journey.”
A Tree of Life is a focal point for one of the paintings, which also incorporates silkscreened printouts of Luke’s heartbeat readings and his signature. His parents received two test tubes after his death, JoAnn explains, each with an EKG strip of Luke’s heartbeat “so we’d always have his heartbeat with us,” she says. “It was just an incredible thing.”
The Tree of Life is taken from a tattoo that Luke had done to commemorate the life of a friend who had died in an accident two years earlier, according to his mother. Tim, who has crafted frames for Levine's exhibit artwork, now has the same tattoo on his arm with his son’s initials carved in the tree, in celebration of Luke.
“It’s kind of a theme for us,” JoAnn says.
The tree also was an unexpected connection when the Cockeys met Twyla Kim, a Hampton Roads resident and the recipient of Luke’s heart. A liaison coordinated their first meeting, which was held halfway between their homes, in Williamsburg, in the chapel of Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center. It was where Luke was born, says his mother, and the stained-glass window in the hospital chapel features a Tree of Life. “It was kind of telling,” she says.
The Cockeys have become friends with the Kim family. They were guests last fall at the wedding of Kim’s daughter, Shannon. “That’s pretty special that we were included,” says JoAnn.
Levine's artwork reflects Luke's interests and his quirks, too. Look closely and you’ll see drawings of socks in one painting. JoAnn says the socks are there because, from childhood, Luke couldn’t stand to have wrinkles in his socks, and was always particular about what he would wear. “We joked about it,” she says. “He was the only kid we ever knew who got excited about getting socks as a present.”
The decision to become an organ donor had been made by Luke, who signed up when he turned 16 and got his driver’s license. JoAnn’s mother had received a lung transplant, so he was very much aware of what organ donation meant. “He was more excited about being an organ donor than getting his driver’s license,” says his mother.
The exhibition is at the Gallery at UNOS, 700 N. Fourth St., and opens Sept. 7 with a reception at 5 p.m. It continues through Oct. 27. Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. UNOS holds the United for UNOS Soiree, its 10th annual fundraising gala, from 7 to 10:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5.
Other participating artists are Dana Frostick, whose work was inspired by a heart recipient, Haden Hopkins; Heidi Thacker, with art reflecting the experiences of Tim McDermott, a kidney recipient; Brigette Newberry, who worked with kidney recipient C.J. Richardson; Dennis Winston, who was paired with heart recipient Amber Eck; Muzi Branch, whose work celebrates the life of kidney recipient Christine Wansleben; Santa DeHaven, whose work was inspired by liver recipient Jim Price; and David Decker, who worked with a living kidney donor, Amy Capistran.
