The Heritage and Legacy Project

May 16, 2024

Information

Yale Child Study Center May 14, 2024

YCSC Special Lecture: Max Ritvo & Alan B. Slifka Program for the Medical Humanities

Ayotunde Ayobello, MDAssistant Professor of Child Psychiatry

ID11677

To CiteDCA Citation Guide

00:02Good afternoon and welcome.
00:05Can everybody hear me
00:06back there? Yeah, sound
00:07is OK. OK. OK. So today's a a
00:12a truly special grand rounds
00:16and I don't say that lightly.
00:19Let me start by telling you that this
00:21grand rounds is part, as you can see,
00:23of the Max Ritvo and Alan Alan B
00:26Slifka Memorial Lecture Series.
00:30Dear Max and Dear Allen.
00:32We're both alumni of Yale College,
00:35UC classes of 13 and 51,
00:39and they really were very devoted to this
00:42institution in in many different ways.
00:45Now, a very brief word,
00:47literally one word about each
00:49of these two individuals.
00:51When I think of Max, I think of many things,
00:53but the word whimsical comes to mind.
00:56He was, he was a poet.
00:58He was an artist.
00:59He was one of the funniest people who I knew.
01:02And when he comes to to mind and Alan,
01:07among the many things that
01:09he did in his career,
01:11was devoted to the idea of coexistence.
01:15And he specifically was interested in
01:18coexistence between Arabs and Jews in Israel,
01:22a topic that is of high relevance today.
01:25And our speaker today happened to go
01:29to medical school in Ukraine when
01:34it was Ukraine and it is now Russia.
01:37So there's all these connections about
01:39coexistence and about whimsy that I
01:42think we're going to be hearing about.
01:44This is the fifth such lecture.
01:47And let me just tell you that we've
01:49covered most of the art forms.
01:51The first talk was about use
01:55beatboxing as the medium,
01:57The second one use theater as a medium,
02:00and it was done by Zoom in the
02:02midst of the pandemic,
02:04which later became actually
02:06a play off Broadway.
02:08The third speaker happened to
02:10be a Nobel laureate in poetry,
02:13and last year's talk was centered
02:17on photography.
02:18So today we really haven't had
02:21anything using paint as the medium,
02:23but that's where we're going to go today.
02:27I'm incredibly grateful to Ari Ritvo,
02:30who I saw is online and maybe in a
02:34little bit we can ask her to say a few
02:38words after we hear from today's speaker.
02:40But today's speaker is we're going
02:43to tell you about today's speaker.
02:44He is a gentle giant.
02:47He is both of those things, actually.
02:48He actually played professional
02:50basketball when he was in medical school.
02:54We still fondly talk about him
02:57in the inpatient unit as a child
03:00whisperer because in his bigness
03:02he was so good with kids,
03:06so gentle and so IO is wonderful
03:13and just as wonderful as his
03:14daughter Ariella who is here today,
03:15who later will have a very special role.
03:18So let me just tell you something
03:20about the logistics.
03:23Ayo Ayo Tunde, Ayo Bello.
03:25Our artist will give us a a talk.
03:29Then when we're done, please come out.
03:31There's some refreshments as you saw
03:33of all sorts of octonage and and you
03:36know there's something for everyone.
03:38Grab something if you so desire.
03:40And then we're going to go straight
03:42up one floor and we're going to gather
03:45together and and then you know special
03:48magic will happen at that time.
03:50So please, please, please. Very important.
03:51When we're done we're going to go up.
03:53So gentle giant are you are you feeling it?
03:56IO. My dear friend.
03:57Wonderful artist. Incredible child.
03:59Psychiatrist.
03:59Father the the
04:00whole package. Come on up.
04:17Thank you, thank you, thank you,
04:18thank you all so very much.
04:20Thank you, Doctor Martin,
04:22for that introduction.
04:25If if someone had told me a few years
04:27ago that Doctor Martin would be
04:29introducing me for a talk, you know,
04:31I probably wouldn't have believed it.
04:33But thank you and welcome
04:36everyone to this special talk.
04:40I am incredibly honored and incredibly
04:43excited to be here today and to be
04:47the fifth speaker of this really,
04:49really special talk and presentation.
04:52And I'm really glad that
04:54you all could be here.
04:57So this talk is about a topic
05:01that is really special for me.
05:04Like Doctor Martin said, the You know,
05:08lecture series, you know,
05:09has been about the arts and you know,
05:12the visual arts,
05:13you know specifically is extremely special
05:16to me and has played a huge role in my life,
05:20you know, and in my professional
05:23development and my growth.
05:25And I am incredibly excited to
05:28share this journey with you.
05:31So we will get started.
05:35So this journey started several years
05:41ago in my birthplace in Nigeria,
05:45in a little town called Alaric in the
05:48western, you know, part of Nigeria.
05:50And I would say I had a typical
05:55happy childhood.
05:56This is my childhood home and I
06:00spent my days playing like most
06:04kids do and you know,
06:06doing things like riding my
06:09bike and you know,
06:11climbing like the trees at
06:13the backyard and exploring,
06:15you know, my world.
06:17I, you know, like to play basketball.
06:20I like to play soccer and would
06:22play like pick up soccer with like
06:24the kids in the neighborhood.
06:26And I also, you know, liked to draw.
06:30I like to color.
06:32I like to paint and that is
06:37really where the story starts.
06:40So in addition to all these things,
06:42I also like to read a lot.
06:45And I think one of the biggest
06:48legacies or one of the biggest
06:50gifts that my parents gave me
06:52was a desire to read early on.
06:54And right here is where I
06:56spent most of my time.
06:58So this was my library growing up,
07:01and this right here is called
07:06the Encyclopedia Britannica.
07:10And this was my Internet before the Internet,
07:14so before Snapchat and Tiktok and Instagram,
07:19this was where I spent most of my
07:22time and I probably read most of the
07:26books that you see here. So it was,
07:29it was a very interesting childhood.
07:32But as I started to read, I started
07:36to learn about artists and I learned,
07:39you know, not just about art,
07:43but I learned about the lives of artists.
07:47And, you know, it was in this corner and this
07:50Nuke that I started to learn about, you know,
07:53artists like Edward Munch and his incredibly,
07:57you know, powerful paintings.
07:59You know, I learned about,
08:00you know, Vincent van Gogh and his
08:05beautiful paintings of sunflowers.
08:08I, you know,
08:09learned about the great Michelangelo and was,
08:13you know, really, really stunned by the
08:18beauty of the Sistine Chapel and the works,
08:22you know, that were done there.
08:24I learned about Giorgio O'Keefe and,
08:27you know, her just pioneering
08:30work and her trailblazing work.
08:33And so before I even got to, you know,
08:37see any of these paintings in real life,
08:39I had already started to learn about them
08:42and already visualized them in my head.
08:47But not only did I learn about
08:50these artists and their paintings,
08:53their works, their triumphs,
08:55I also learned about their struggles.
08:58I also learned about their difficulties,
09:02their challenges, their lives.
09:05And I started to notice that a lot
09:07of the artists that I learned about,
09:10you know, had moments when they struggled,
09:13you know, with their mental health
09:15and with their Wellness.
09:16And I started to wonder about
09:19this connection.
09:19Does every artist, you know,
09:21struggle with this?
09:22What is, what is this, you know, connection?
09:25And you know, I started to explore this,
09:28you know more and more.
09:30And you know,
09:31this was really the start of
09:33this connection for me and this,
09:35this desire to explore this
09:38intersection of the visual arts and
09:41just Wellness and mental health.
09:43And I continued to explore this
09:47and eventually realized that,
09:49you know, art doesn't cause you
09:52to have mental health issues.
09:55Art can, however,
09:58be a a therapeutic solution.
10:02Art can be a soothing manner,
10:07a soothing, A soothing pathway to to
10:12dealing with mental health issues.
10:15And I noticed that a lot of these artists
10:19used their arts as therapeutic channels,
10:22used their art as you
10:25know means of catharsis,
10:27of releasing these struggles and I
10:31started to really explore this further.
10:33So as I started to paint and also
10:38started to grow in my own artistic,
10:42you know,
10:43desire,
10:43I started to also make paintings
10:46that were modeled or similar to
10:48these people that I had read about.
10:51So in my 2018 painting,
10:55you know, I modeled, you know,
10:57the sunflowers that you see in
11:00the background to, you know,
11:02the sunflowers that I would read about
11:05with Vincent van Gogh in my 2017 painting,
11:12this one, you know,
11:14particularly heroin.
11:14I,
11:15you know,
11:16modeled the background that you see,
11:20you know, with the with the
11:22visual vibrancy of Edward Monk.
11:24And you know, this, this was particularly
11:28interesting because I made this painting
11:31after I got into a car accident in 2017.
11:35I was, you know, driving back from work,
11:39you know, a freshly minted intern and
11:42I was sleep deprived and you know,
11:45just, you know, having a rough week
11:47and I fell asleep on the wheel.
11:50And you know, at the time it was,
11:53it was a near miss. And you know,
11:56it was something that I struggled with.
11:58You know, afterwards I had,
12:01you know, nightmares.
12:02You know, I had, you know,
12:05almost like mini PTSDI would call it.
12:08And the arts, you know,
12:10was really the way that I was able
12:13to cope and you know, navigate this.
12:16So like I said earlier,
12:17the arts has played a big role in my
12:20life therapeutically and you know,
12:22just in my professional development.
12:25So we Fast forward to now,
12:29you know, I am, you know,
12:32both a child psychiatrist
12:34and a visual artist.
12:36And I believe these two aspects of me,
12:39you know,
12:40have have come together and you know,
12:43now it makes sense, you know.
12:45And now I look back, you know,
12:47when when people ask me why did you,
12:49you know,
12:50pick psychiatry as your specialty, I say no.
12:53Psychiatry picked me.
12:54You know, all those years when I was reading,
12:58you know, about artists,
12:59you know, I,
13:01I before I knew what psychiatry was
13:03or what mental health really was,
13:05I had this understanding.
13:07And you know, eventually I am able to,
13:12you know, explore this intersection.
13:14So as I continued, you know,
13:18in my journey, you know,
13:19through intern year and,
13:21you know, eventually, you know,
13:23coming to Yale for my child psychiatry
13:26fellowship, I knew that this was,
13:30this was a field or this was a
13:32area that I wanted to pursue.
13:34And I thankful to, you know,
13:37this incredible program at the
13:39Child Study Center. Dr.
13:40Stubby, where where is she?
13:42Doctor Stubby's. Yup.
13:43Yup.
13:44That's that's my program director.
13:47You know, for, you know,
13:48making a program that you know fosters,
13:51you know, creativity and, you know,
13:53thinking outside the box, you know.
13:56But when I arrived at Yale,
13:59especially this building,
14:00the specific building,
14:02the Child Study Center,
14:04I ran into a an inscription
14:08that is very powerful.
14:12And I don't know if anyone
14:14knows where this is.
14:16It might be a little game
14:19that we're gonna play,
14:20but I saw this phrase and I thought it was
14:24very powerful from generation to generation.
14:27And,
14:28you know,
14:28it was something that I pondered
14:30on and it started to make sense to
14:34me and it started to dawn on me.
14:38You know that in a place like this
14:44you you don't just come here
14:47and start things from scratch.
14:51We are literally sitting on
14:56the shoulders of giants.
14:57You know, we're literally taking
15:00on the work that has been done
15:04or has been started, you know,
15:07multiple, you know, years ago.
15:10We're taking on a legacy where we're taking
15:14on a heritage that the greats in child
15:18psychiatry and the grades and, you know,
15:22mental health have passed on to us.
15:24And, you know,
15:25it was a very powerful inscription that I,
15:29I started to take to heart.
15:31And when I got here,
15:33I started to learn about our incredible,
15:36you know,
15:38incredible teachers, mentors,
15:46not the least. And Albert Jasonet,
15:50one of The Pioneers, you know, of child
15:53psychiatry here at the Child Study Center.
15:56I didn't know he was going to be here today.
15:59But Doctor James Comer who's right there,
16:07whose incredible work, you know,
16:09we still appreciate and are, are,
16:12you know, going off of today.
16:15And you know, these, these giants really
16:19got me thinking about this idea of legacy.
16:23And you know what it means,
16:25this idea of heritage and you know how
16:28it affects, you know, our work and
16:32how we approach our work every day.
16:35So I started to, you know,
16:38have this conversation about moving this,
16:42you know, intersection of visual
16:44arts and psychiatry forward.
16:46And we came up with the
16:48idea to make a portrait.
16:50But before we started that we had to explore,
16:53you know, just the general state
16:56of portraiture in general.
16:58And we discovered a couple of things.
17:01So medical portraiture is,
17:03is a way that institutions,
17:05you know, medical schools,
17:07hospitals have used to really display
17:11their values and display, you know,
17:14their, their, their culture, you know,
17:17on the walls of their institutions.
17:20And we,
17:21you know discovered that medical
17:24iconography in general was the study and
17:28enumeration of outstanding physicians
17:31through our recording of their portraits.
17:35And so we started to think about
17:38how you know this, you know,
17:40while you know, while it sounds good,
17:44you know we were interested in this part,
17:47you know where we started to question
17:50that you know is it only physicians,
17:52you know that should be displayed
17:55or showed in portraiture and
17:58do they have to be outstanding.
18:01You know the the the entire
18:04medical institution,
18:05you know is powered by so much more
18:08than you know, just the physicians.
18:10And you know in child mental
18:13health specifically, you know,
18:14it is as we all know,
18:16a collaborative process until
18:18we started to really reflect on,
18:21you know what we wanted this portrait,
18:23you know, to show.
18:24And we were started thinking about
18:27trainees as well because medical
18:30trainees are a group of people
18:33that have often been overlooked
18:35in portraiture just, you know,
18:37by the nature of their, you know,
18:40transient time and institutions.
18:42And we knew that this group of
18:45people were incredibly important and,
18:48you know,
18:49made the workforce of most institutions.
18:52So we wanted to make sure that
18:55we consider that as well.
18:57And also, you know, just displaying,
19:00you know, the,
19:01the accurate values and ideals
19:04of diversity and you know,
19:06inclusion was something that
19:08was really important to us.
19:10So we we really took that to heart
19:13and that was really where the idea
19:16for the Legacy and the Heritage
19:18project was was born.
19:20And as you can see we are wearing masks.
19:22So it it tells you what time and
19:26you know what the climate was,
19:28you know, at that time.
19:30And so, you know,
19:32this idea was born and we decided
19:36that we were going to make a
19:39portrait and we wanted, you know,
19:42the portrait to one, you know,
19:45embellish this child mental health space
19:50and one of the portrait to show our values,
19:54you know,
19:55show that we were welcoming,
19:56show that we were inclusive, you know.
20:00And two, we wanted to explore this idea of
20:05legacy and heritage and how it affected.
20:09You know the idea and the approach
20:11that trainees have, you know,
20:13in their everyday work and in
20:16their everyday approach to work.
20:17So, you know, we started off by
20:22interviewing trainees and child psychiatry,
20:27psychology and the social work programs,
20:30and we started by interviewing
20:33them and having conversations
20:36about this idea of legacy.
20:38I muted the sound because
20:41of privacy concerns.
20:43But we we started this interview series
20:46and started to have conversations about,
20:50you know, what does legacy mean to you and
20:53what does the idea of heritage mean to you?
20:57How do you see these things and apply them,
21:01you know, to your, to your daily practice.
21:04And it was pretty powerful.
21:05We got incredible, you know, responses.
21:09Our trainees were magnificent with, you know,
21:13just showing up and and being really present.
21:19And you know, for a lot of these
21:22clinicians and these trainees,
21:24they are used to being in positions
21:26where they're the ones interviewing,
21:28you know, they're the ones,
21:30you know, being exploring.
21:33So at this point,
21:35it was very interesting to turn
21:37the tables around and have them,
21:39you know, be interviewed and
21:41hear their stories and hear,
21:43you know, their, you know,
21:45their trajectories.
21:46And so the interviews that we did were,
21:51you know,
21:52recorded and the the information transcribed
21:56into a transcription software called In Vivo.
22:00And we analyzed, you know,
22:02that data using a process
22:07called narrative inquiry.
22:08It's basically a method that researchers
22:12use to understand the stories,
22:15individual stories and make meaning
22:19from them in a broader sense.
22:21So we you know had and a wonderful
22:25turn out and you know by the end of
22:29this process we were able to publish
22:32an article on you know this entire
22:37project and you know feel free to you
22:40know scan and you know get a better
22:43understanding of the depth you know
22:46that we went into and some of the
22:48results you know that we were able to garner.
22:52I will give a, you know,
22:53a brief summary of what we were able to get.
22:56So our our analysis basically found
23:02certain themes and there were three
23:04themes that stood out,
23:05you know, the greatest.
23:07The first theme is this idea of heritage
23:11and how you know past experiences,
23:15you know,
23:17past struggles, you know,
23:18have played a role in people's trajectory.
23:22We saw this theme of becoming
23:26which is basically the process of
23:31what we call professionalization,
23:33you know,
23:34which is how people become or transition
23:38from trainees to fully accomplished
23:41or fully trained clinicians.
23:44And you know how you know
23:47interactions with peers,
23:48interaction with patients,
23:50interactions with the medical institution
23:54shape you know these trajectories.
23:57And we had the sense of legacy as well,
24:00a theme of legacy that talked about how
24:04people hoped to be remembered and you know,
24:07some of the future work that people
24:10hoped to do reflections for the future.
24:13And it was very powerful to
24:15to be able to see, you know,
24:18this collective collective vision
24:21of trainees and you know this,
24:25this was published in Frontiers and
24:27Child Psychiatry and please scan and,
24:30you know, take a deeper look
24:32at what we were able to do.
24:34I'd like to give a quick shout
24:37out to the team, you know,
24:40that worked with me on this project.
24:43Lelia Benoit who happens to be
24:45here in the crowd at Adelaide
24:48who's a medical student.
24:50Karen Siegel and of course Doctor Martin
24:54who played a big role in this project.
24:57Thank you all.
24:58But now we are moving to
25:00a very interesting part,
25:02which is the actual process of making
25:08this oil painted this this project basically.
25:14So I like to talk about the stages
25:17of making an oil painting and
25:19it is not what you think it is.
25:24I like to think about the
25:27creative process as you know,
25:30very finely explained by this
25:32graph and by this timeline.
25:35So it starts and everything is great and
25:41then things start to change, you know.
25:45So we will talk about how
25:47this trajectory goes on.
25:49But as you saw in the last couple of slides,
25:53we had interviews with the trainees
25:55and you know, we're able to, you know,
25:59record those interviews and you know,
26:02really delve into those interviews.
26:04But after we had those interviews,
26:07we had sessions, photography sessions,
26:11you know, where we had, you know,
26:14each participant pose, you know for,
26:20for photograph and you know ask them
26:24to really bring with them or bring
26:28along with them things that were really
26:31important or significant, you know,
26:34to them and you know, ask them to,
26:37you know choose like their own,
26:40you know,
26:40positions how they wanted to be painted.
26:43And we had a wonderful, you know,
26:47turn out of,
26:48you know people and participants who
26:51you know brought their family members,
26:53you know brought their pets,
26:55you know brought objects that were
26:58sentimental to them and you know really,
27:01really took it to heart.
27:03And you know we had a really wonderful,
27:07you know,
27:08turn out and you know through the process,
27:12you know it it really gave a
27:14sense of you know what what we
27:17have and what we value you know,
27:20as a medical institution and as a community.
27:24And it was a really wonderful
27:27process to get this going.
27:30So at this point we're at the start
27:32and you know everything is great and
27:36we decide that because of the size or
27:39because of the magnitude of this project,
27:43we would need a very large
27:46canvas and we had to order,
27:49custom order this canvas.
27:50And as you can see it is being delivered
27:54to the child study center at 350
27:58George right now and I am 6 foot 8.
28:01So you can tell how big you know
28:04that canvas is. It was huge.
28:07And, you know,
28:09went through the process of
28:13unveiling it for the first time with
28:16my lovely daughter there, Arella.
28:18And you know, I had never, you know,
28:22painted a canvas that was this large,
28:25you know, So this was really a
28:28first for me and it was incredibly
28:32challenging to get it started, you know,
28:35But we were able to do it anyway.
28:37So at this point, everything is awesome.
28:41Everything is going great.
28:42You know, everyone is saying good job,
28:46wonderful. This is, you know,
28:48the sort of like the start of
28:50a marathon where you know,
28:52you you hear the sound and you're running
28:54and you're giving everyone high fives.
28:56And it's awesome.
28:57That's that's where this is right now.
29:00But then I had to get down to
29:02work and that was where things,
29:05you know, really got started.
29:07And so for the process of oil painting,
29:09it is a little different
29:12than a typical painting is.
29:15All painting is a very unique medium
29:19and that it has to be built over layers.
29:23So typically you start before
29:26you start all painting.
29:28You start with a glaze that looks
29:31a little bit something like this.
29:32Usually we use a color called raw umber
29:37as the glaze for sort of the base
29:41and you know it looks really dark.
29:44And the reason is,
29:46you know it's a very fast drying medium
29:49and it forms the base that subsequent
29:53subsequent layers of paint will go on.
29:59So after put in a glaze of raw
30:02amber you move on to the second
30:05layer of the painting which you know
30:08starts to layer up layer by layer.
30:12And the reason you know for
30:14this graduated you know,
30:15layer approach is you know all
30:19paint dries at different times,
30:22so thinner layers of oil dry much
30:27quicker than thicker layers of oil.
30:30So you have to go from thin to
30:33thick or thick to thin and you
30:37know this graduated approach,
30:39make sure that you know both all
30:43three layers of the paint bond you
30:46know accurately and you know it
30:49doesn't lead to sort of a crack in
30:52later on if it's done inappropriately.
30:55I made an article or I published
30:58an article on this process a few
31:01years ago called Laid on Thick
31:09and you know, it basically explains,
31:12you know this process.
31:14I made this painting that you see here
31:18on peripartum depression case that I
31:24have the opportunity to treat and I
31:28saw these intersections, you know,
31:31between the process of oil painting
31:33and the process of attachment.
31:37So when we think about the
31:39the layers of paint,
31:41you know that build on each other, it it,
31:45it sort of reflects the the way attachment
31:49you know goes and how a child bonds,
31:53you know with their caregiver
31:56and you know the bonding has to
31:59happen in subsequent layers.
32:01And in the same way with all painting,
32:04the layers have to go in a certain way.
32:08And if that doesn't happen it can
32:10lead to a crack in you know the same
32:13way that we can see sort of like a
32:16psychological crack in in children
32:19who unfortunately did not receive
32:22this graduated layer of attachment.
32:25So it was a very interesting article and
32:30please feel free to scan and take a look.
32:35So moving on to the next phase,
32:39I I really like this quote
32:42by Vincent van Gogh.
32:44Great things are done by a series of
32:47small things brought together and this
32:50was a quote that really rang true as
32:54I continued to make this portrait.
32:58So I'm gonna play this scenario or this
33:04painting for you, and
33:08I want you to keep an eye on the Blues.
33:23So what you just saw there was
33:27actually four different shades of
33:30blue and four different types of blue
33:34coming together to make that hoodie.
33:39And if you take a look at it again,
33:43you will see that one,
33:46just one shade of blue is not
33:50able to accomplish this task
33:52or accomplish this paint in.
33:55When all those shades, however,
33:57come together, they're able to,
34:00you know, make the right shade,
34:02make the right gradient and it it really,
34:07you know, that quote really came
34:10to mind as I did this and that one,
34:13one single shade of blue is not able to
34:17do what 4 shades can come together to do.
34:21And I think this really highlights our
34:23approach and you know child mental health,
34:26you know where it's a collaborative
34:29approach and the more that we
34:32are able to combine our skills,
34:34the more we're able to combine our our
34:38talents, the more we're able to achieve.
34:41And so it was a very interesting lesson
34:45that I, you know, wanted to highlight.
34:50You know, also the, the,
34:51the names, you know,
34:53the ultramarine blue and the cyriline
34:56blue and the Cobalt blue are very
34:59interesting because you know,
35:02it really highlights the, you know,
35:05just the artistic history,
35:07you know, behind all painting.
35:09So for example,
35:11Ultramarine blue is a very unique
35:14painting and that is a very unique
35:17shade of paint and that it was
35:21extremely rare to find Ultramarine
35:24Blue in the ancient days.
35:28You actually had to travel,
35:31you know,
35:32to the mountains in Afghanistan
35:34to get this specific type of
35:37rock called lapis lazuli.
35:40And it was incredibly difficult to extract,
35:44you know, the ultramarine.
35:45It had to be an A,
35:48a very tedious process where
35:50the the rock was really finely
35:53ground into this powdered form.
35:57And even in this powdered form,
35:59you had to extract the deep blue, you know,
36:05by a process that's very complicated.
36:09And most people,
36:11because of how complicated
36:13it was to extract the blue,
36:16would only reserve this blue for
36:18very special parts of the painting.
36:21And back in the Renaissance,
36:22the most special part of the painting was
36:26always the garment of the Virgin Mary.
36:30And so it was an extremely rare,
36:34you know, pigment.
36:35And you know even the name,
36:37you know ultramarine,
36:39you know ultra,
36:40you know being Latin for beyond
36:43and mare being Latin for the sea,
36:46you know,
36:47literally translated to beyond the
36:50sea which which indicated how far
36:52people had to go to get this paint in.
36:56And you know,
36:58in the same way I reflected at
37:01how we as mental health clinicians
37:04often have to go above and beyond,
37:08you know, for the children and
37:10the families that we work with.
37:12And you know,
37:14how this, you know,
37:16intersection really shows itself and,
37:19you know, just one color.
37:21You know,
37:22same thing can be said for Cyril in blue,
37:25you know, where you know,
37:28this particular shade of blue,
37:31you know, has such a rich,
37:32you know, artistic history.
37:34One of the most interesting stories was,
37:37you know, in a, in a cafe in the late,
37:41you know, in the early 1900s in Paris,
37:44You know, where a Spanish,
37:47you know, painter was, you know,
37:50having coffee, you know,
37:52with with his friends and,
37:55you know, unfortunately pulled
37:58out a revolver and shot himself.
38:02And his friends, one of which, you know,
38:07included the famous Pablo Picasso,
38:10was so devastated about this loss
38:14that he decided that he was only gonna
38:18use one shade of blue for his next,
38:22you know, set of paintings.
38:24And, you know,
38:25this gave birth to the blue period,
38:27you know, by Pablo Picasso,
38:29which is one of the most iconic,
38:32you know, pieces of work that we have.
38:35And so the blue, you know, represents a lot.
38:39Blue can represent spirituality.
38:43Blue can represent peace.
38:44You know, when the United Nations,
38:47you know, decided that they
38:49wanted to reinvent their emblem,
38:52they decided on a shade of blue,
38:55cerulean blue, that gave off,
38:59you know, a sense of peace and,
39:02you know, a sense of togetherness.
39:05And, you know, this was the same shade as,
39:09you know, Picasso, you know,
39:12used in his paintings.
39:15When you also think about,
39:16you know, Hindu religions,
39:18a lot of Hindu gods,
39:21a pair in a particular shade
39:24of blue that really, you know,
39:27represents spirituality and you know,
39:30represents peace, you know,
39:32so every single color, you know,
39:35in oil painting really has this
39:38rich artistic history.
39:40And even the name, you know,
39:42translates the sky blue,
39:44you know.
39:44So it's it's a very rich process that
39:51I was, you know, able to do.
39:54So now at this point you
39:57know I am 222 paintings in.
40:01And I realized that I have to do
40:05this 24 more times each process,
40:08you know that you saw right there took,
40:11you know maybe 10 hours,
40:13you know, to do. And it was,
40:16it was a very daunting process.
40:19And you know at this point I'm sort
40:22of somewhere between this is tricky
40:24where I'm like wow like this this
40:27is going to take a lot of time and I
40:29don't have protected time for this.
40:31I am a first year child psychiatry fellow,
40:35you know So it was it was quite
40:38tricky and it was it started to
40:41become more difficult where I almost
40:43started to question that like why
40:45did I decide to do this
40:47again how did I get here? And
40:51it was, it was challenging.
40:52I gradually went from,
40:55you know, one person you know,
40:58on the canvas to 2:00 to 3:00 and then four.
41:04And then before you know it,
41:06I had a whole, you know,
41:07bunch of people on the canvas.
41:10But it started to get more complicated
41:13because, you know, going into this,
41:15I had a loose idea of what I wanted to do.
41:19But as people started to grow,
41:22you know, and the painting,
41:24it became more and more
41:26complicated as to the direction,
41:29as to the positioning, as to, you know,
41:32how you know someone wanted to be placed
41:35or how someone wanted to be represented.
41:38And it became more and more complex.
41:42And I started to question, you know,
41:44whether I wanted to go ahead with this
41:47project because of how complex it was.
41:50And you know, like I said,
41:52I was also a fellow and you know,
41:55going through a training.
41:56So it was, it was a lot.
41:59And as I began to work,
42:03things became a little more dire.
42:06I started to experience a lot of loneliness.
42:11It's sort of at that point of a marathon,
42:14you know,
42:15like we were saying when the applause sort of
42:18dies down and you realize that wait a minute,
42:20I'm running a marathon here,
42:22I how am I going to get through this?
42:25And, you know, there were many nights when,
42:29you know, I was just by myself and,
42:31you know, painting and,
42:33you know, sort of reflecting,
42:34you know, the process of all
42:37paints is very therapeutic.
42:39But at the same time,
42:42it can also be very challenging
42:44because it's very quiet and sometimes
42:47you're left alone to be confronted
42:50with your thoughts and you know,
42:53with you know your life experiences.
42:55And you know,
42:56at the time I was also going
42:58through like a number of things,
43:00you know, in my personal life,
43:01you know, the end of a relationship
43:04and I I started to struggle.
43:06And you know, it was a time that
43:09I really started to question,
43:11you know, if you know,
43:12I wanted to go on, you know,
43:14with the project and you know
43:17that Elmo that you saw earlier,
43:20you know, went from,
43:22you know,
43:22being excited about this project
43:26to just being out in the cold alone
43:30and like just wondering what is
43:33going on to eventually I'm like,
43:35you know what?
43:37Like I think I should just like,
43:38I think I should just burn this
43:41painted like no one is going to know,
43:43you know, I'm just going to take it
43:45out and throw it away, you know?
43:48And I mean who's going to know?
43:50You know, I'm,
43:51I'm just going to end this
43:52project right here.
43:53But you know,
43:55I thankfully had the support and
43:58the love of community of, you know,
44:01my Co fellows, of my family.
44:04And you know,
44:05one person in particular was
44:09just incredible at helping me
44:12get through this process in
44:15general. And it is my daughter
44:18who is right here who
44:31who would support me, you know,
44:33throughout the night,
44:35sometimes would refuse to go to bed
44:38or join me in the studio and help me,
44:42you know, get through this project.
44:44And, you know, I started to think
44:46about the example, you know,
44:48that I was showing for her as well
44:51that do I quit when the going gets
44:54rough or do I do I persevere, You know,
44:57do I show that you finish what you start,
45:00You know? And I just want to say
45:02a big thank you, Ariela,
45:04for going through this journey with me.
45:10So I was able to keep pushing on,
45:15you know, after this.
45:17And as I started to push this project
45:21forward, you know, I realized,
45:23you know, this was saying from Pablo
45:26Picasso about inspiration existing,
45:29but it has to find you working.
45:31And so I continued this process
45:34and the more I worked,
45:37the more things began to make
45:39sense and the more things,
45:42you know, started to come together.
45:43And then I started to see a pattern
45:46with how this painting was growing.
45:49And you know how it started to grow
45:52into like this apex and everything
45:57started to come together after
45:59that and I was able to, you know,
46:03push through.
46:04I started to get this new direction
46:08of you know how this entire painting
46:11was going to come together and it was,
46:15it was wonderful.
46:16You know at this point in the
46:19creative process I was at the this
46:21might be OK you know part of the of
46:24the whole process but I am happy to
46:27say that we you know with with the
46:30support and you know the the you know
46:35just encouragement from community.
46:37You know the the painting is able
46:40to be here today and it is done
46:43and you know I look forward to
46:47unveiling it in a few minutes but
46:50I I wanna I wanna end you know by
46:54saying you know the the process of
46:57creation is one that is probably
47:00the closest thing we have to magic.
47:03It's you know seeing something in your
47:06head and being able to bring it to life.
47:10And you know I think it is you
47:12know reflection of the you know,
47:14ultimate creator.
47:16You know God,
47:17who you know is the ultimate artist
47:21and you know who has created,
47:24you know, every single person
47:26just beautifully and you know,
47:28wonderfully.
47:29And it was very interesting that
47:33at the at the end of the painting,
47:37I noticed that the inscription of God
47:42was right at the center of the entire
47:46painting and it was not planned out.
47:49It was completely random.
47:51And I thought that was incredibly powerful.
47:54And you know it it, you know,
47:57just draws, you know the the entire
48:00piece together and you know,
48:03lets us know that we we are,
48:05you know,
48:06in a in a special time and you
48:09know we we all sort of reflect
48:12this essence of creativity.
48:15So thank you all.
48:17And I look forward to showing this
48:20painting upstairs. And thank you.
48:47Wait a minute.
48:47You haven't seen the painting.
48:48Maybe you'll be disappointed.
48:51I want to. Ari. Ari Ritvo.
48:54Hopefully you can hear me.
48:58Yes. Oh, good.
48:59Would you like to say something, Ari?
49:01We'd love to hear from you.
49:03First of all, I'm blown away.
49:06This is mesmerizing. Dr.
49:08Aya, thank you so much.
49:10I am so proud and pleased to
49:14have you as our fifth speaker.
49:16It's unbelievable.
49:17I I didn't expect to learn so much about art.
49:22I was particularly touched when you spoke
49:25about the layers and then the attachment,
49:28and I can't wait to read
49:30that whole entire article.
49:33You were such a perfect choice committee.
49:36Thank you so much for bringing
49:38Doctor IO to my attention.
49:41And, you know,
49:42I always used to say about
49:44being with Max and with Alan,
49:46but one of the most wonderful thing
49:49about being with those two individuals
49:52whom you speak in memoriam of today was
49:58that I always learned something from them.
50:01I didn't expect to learn so,
50:02so much about art.
50:05I I paint, I have an art collection.
50:07I'm nowhere near your level,
50:10but I've learned so much.
50:13The process you described also reminded me
50:16very much of Max's process with poetry.
50:20The many, many nights that he was isolated,
50:23that he was alone,
50:25that he was determined.
50:26Because to him his legacy in the
50:28end and his healing would come from
50:31having a poetry book published.
50:34And I hear that same commitment
50:38in your voice.
50:39I was also incredibly touched as a
50:42mother to see your daughter Ariella
50:44and to see how it was a family project,
50:48a community project, the interviews,
50:50it.
50:51It just has so many levels and I
50:53don't want to take too much time.
50:56But you should also know that both
50:58Alan and Max had a a a tremendous
51:01fascination and interest in psychiatry.
51:05Max,
51:06before he became I'll,
51:08was very much considering becoming
51:10a psychiatrist.
51:11After he became I'll and was in treatment.
51:14And it's not a secret,
51:15'cause he wrote about it with
51:18Doctor Stan Posic.
51:19He then wanted to become an
51:21analyst 'cause that seemed much
51:22cooler to him and more useful.
51:25And Alan was an analysis from
51:27the time I met him.
51:29He was 40 years old to the time a year
51:32before he died when he was almost 80.
51:34So thank you so much.
51:37I hope I get to meet you in person one day.
51:39It would be my great honor.
51:41And thank you everybody that was was in.
51:45And for everyone that helped
51:48choose this amazing,
51:50phenomenal person to present today.
51:54I'm really touched.
51:56Thank you.
52:05Thank you, Ari. I'm,
52:06I'm going to get get off the stage,
52:08but if there are any questions for
52:10IO and then in 5 minutes or so,
52:12we're going to walk up. So please IO,
52:16thank you.
52:19Questions.
52:25What happens if you make a mistake
52:30and you're like that was a mistake,
52:32What do you do? How do you
52:34know and what do you do? You
52:36know the the good thing about
52:38being an artist is only you
52:40know where the mistake is.
52:44So a lot of times mistakes, you know,
52:48we call them happy accidents.
52:50You know, a lot of times mistakes
52:52can actually lead to new ways of like
52:56painting or new ways of seeing things.
53:01I think another benefit to all paint
53:04is that oil takes longer to dry.
53:07So you sort of have a bigger
53:10window to make a change, you know,
53:12if you do make a mistake.
53:14So that's that's one benefit
53:17to to all paint in Yeah great
53:25answer
53:28that was that was amazing.
53:30It really as I already said it
53:32really wasn't as I felt in another
53:34zone and I I was just wondering
53:37from the artist perspective how much
53:40do you know you got it the way you
53:44wanted whatever right means versus
53:47needing outside confirmation of that.
53:49As an artist, I always wondered that do you,
53:50do you do you need or depend on
53:55people to see it and react to it and
53:58tell you you're great what you are
54:01or is it just an internal thing?
54:03I'm just curious about
54:05that. That's a that's a wonderful
54:08question I think you know for for
54:12an artist you know perfection is
54:15always you know this thing that
54:17you continue to chase you know.
54:20But I think as you know artists you
54:22know grow you know in their art.
54:24You know they realize that there's
54:27no perfection And you you know your,
54:31you know duty is just to show up in
54:35the most complete way that you can and
54:39and you know just give in your 100%.
54:42And I think of that in itself as the
54:45satisfaction knowing that you gave your all.
54:49And even if you know you don't
54:52get the reception or the critical
54:55acclaim that you were expecting,
54:59you can at least take that and you know,
55:02know that you gave,
55:04you gave it everything that you had.
55:06And that in itself is is the satisfaction.
55:13Jose.
55:15Hello, I'm Jose. I'm one of the Co fellows
55:18with along with IO and that's my leg.
55:25So I was blessed and honored enough
55:28to be featured in the painting and
55:30be involved with IO throughout the
55:32process of making it. You know it.
55:34It's funny how well he carries the burden
55:37of of making such a beautiful piece
55:39of art and the symbolism behind it.
55:42And so it's it's incredibly touching
55:44to see the finished product and and
55:46how how wonderful it came together.
55:48And also I I'm honoured to be
55:50featured in it because it it did
55:52reflect a very pivotal moment in
55:54my life that was legacy defining.
55:56And I think everybody in the painting
55:58could kind of say the same thing.
56:01Not to, you know,
56:02trope on the pandemic,
56:02but this was the pandemic times and
56:05it was an incredibly incredible
56:07transformational moment for I think the
56:10world and for for us to be plastered on
56:13on in oil through layers that really
56:16encompass everything that we went
56:18through in order to be there for our
56:19patients and all and and our families.
56:21So thank you, IO.
56:24Thank you, Jose.
56:29One more.
56:31Yeah, this was fantastic.
56:32Thank you for doing it.
56:33So, but my question for you is just,
56:35I'm thinking about coming from
56:37a country like Nigeria,
56:38where at least a little while
56:40ago now, it's different,
56:41art wasn't quite encouraged.
56:44How did you have the courage to
56:46pursue this passion?
56:47And what did your parents
56:48do to help you a lot? Because if
56:50you're not a doctor, lawyer. Oh
56:52my God, that's a wonderful
56:54question. You know,
56:56so how did you have
56:57the courage to actually pursue this passion?
57:00You know, I didn't want to put
57:01my mom on blast, but, you know,
57:04since you brought this up,
57:05it was, it was very challenging
57:08growing up in Nigeria and,
57:12you know, deciding that, you know,
57:13I wanted to be an artist. And it was,
57:17it was unfortunately not encouraged.
57:20It was very much discouraged.
57:22And you know, I think you know,
57:25it is, you know,
57:26one of the biggest, you know,
57:29achievements you know of my life to
57:33be able to hold on to this dream of
57:37of being an artist and you know,
57:40taking this dream to adulthood,
57:43you know, because you know,
57:44I I believe that everyone is,
57:47you know, creative, you know,
57:49creative in their own way.
57:50You know, it doesn't have to be paint.
57:53It can be sewing, it can be music,
57:56you know, it can be construction,
57:59architecture, you know,
58:01everyone has you know that
58:03creativity and the real challenge
58:05is letting that creativity continue
58:07to grow and you know be displayed.
58:10So it was, it was challenging.
58:12And I think, you know,
58:14being able to experience different cultures,
58:17you know, I lived in Ukraine,
58:20I lived in Russia, I lived in,
58:21you know, so many places.
58:23Being being able to experience
58:25different cultures and see different
58:27perspectives really helped to keep,
58:29you know, that dream, you know, alive.
58:32And yeah, I'm thankful to be here today.
58:43OK. So if you want to see what
58:45you were all clapping for,
58:47let's go outside.
58:47Help yourself If you want anything to eat.
58:49And we're going just one floor up.
58:51We're going to continue podcasting
58:52or whatever the word is for this.
58:54Thank you, Kieran.
58:56And let's go see this painting. Oh,
59:00would you
59:08know what? I thank you. OK, that's
59:15great. OK, so IO has looked just like
59:17she looks at art and she looks at this
59:20blue and that blue. She looks
59:22at the thesis of the proceedings for the
59:25unveiling of the portrait. Correct. Yes.
59:32You have to.
59:33Individuals are gonna be doing something.
59:35Absolutely. Absolutely.
59:36I have my wonderful family here,
59:40my daughter, my wonderful.
59:43Then you came on as my mother
59:47help my sister-in-law.
59:49I'm here, my brother back
59:52there and I also have you guys,
59:54my colleagues, friends
59:59and you know, I am incredibly
01:00:02excited to unveil this.
01:00:04I know you guys are busy,
01:00:05so we'll try to do this quickly
01:00:08and I will have Ariella and Cam on.
01:00:13Do the honor of unveiling
01:00:15this painting for me.
01:00:18So you guys ready?
01:00:20Are you ready here?
01:00:21OK, I will unveil it a
01:00:24little bit and then mute.
01:00:46They don't want anyone to see,
01:01:03all right. I mean,
01:01:03we can't take it anyway, All
01:01:07right. So will you guys do me
01:01:12the honour of coding this off?
01:01:16OK guys, go for it.
01:01:22There
01:01:29you go.
01:01:47I just want one thing out and
01:01:48then I'll get out of the way. You
01:01:50start some of the foundational
01:01:52aspects of child psychiatry,
01:01:54and there's one here that says Maggie's
01:01:58American Dream by James P Comer.
01:02:01And if you look at this portrait,
01:02:03you will see Maggie's American by James,
01:02:15OK?