(dis)robe: Hospital Gown

Emily van Lidth de Jeude

Hi. My name is Emily, and I am an artist with a disability. I made this wearable art and performance piece in 2024, at the beginning of my fifth year living with Long Covid. It’s made from a reclaimed and altered hospital gown, blanket and wheelchair, and covered with the faces and symptoms of over 300 Long Covid patients who contributed their photos and stories for this work. These photos represent only a fraction of the estimated 400 million people, worldwide, who live or have lived with this condition.

My usual symptoms are common among long-haulers. If I spend too much time and energy sitting upright, walking, or talking, I will "crash": my muscles, nerves, skin, and organs will become inflamed. I will experience fever, nausea, blurred vision, dizziness, shortness of breath, and extreme pain, often followed by infection, as my immune system has been compromised.

Before Covid I had a life I loved: I parented my wonderful kids, had an art career and was also an art and wilderness educator. I loved singing and dancing. Long Covid took all those things from me. I spent about two years in bed, being cared for by my partner and teenage children. Those hands on the gown are my son’s hands. He used to gently push me upwards, to help me walk. With joy, I now am upright most of every day, but it’s not over.

I struggled to accept disability. The day my disabled parking tag arrived, I felt defeated, and didn’t use it. But after many conversations with other disabled people, I came to realize that hiding from the world and from the word "disabled" is internalized ableism. I can make more change by embracing my reality than by hiding.

Please view this gown with sensitivity. These are the faces and stories of people with Long Covid. We live among you, although many no longer can leave home. Some have died since I created the gown. Our stories deserve to be told. Thank you for seeing us.

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 9, 2025 at 10:29 AM

    Thanks, Emily, I care much about your experiences and art. Lucky for us our Covid experience lasted only about 2 to 3 months, we'd been vaccinated and got Paxlovid, that probably helped us.

    ReplyDelete

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