Oaklee Thiele
Bio
Oaklee Thiele is an artist, disability advocate, and speaker. Thiele was diagnosed with PTSD, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Dysautonomia. In addition to creating her own artwork, she is the head artist for the My Dearest Friends Project, the founder of the organization To Be Young (and Disabled), and is a co-founder of The TRUE Project. Thiele is currently a student at The Cooper Union Advancement for Science and Art. Thiele's work is on permanent display at Fredrick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Erin’s Pavilion, and the Springfield and Central Illinois African AMerican History Museum. She was the winner of the 2018 VSA Emerging Young Artist Award at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and she had a 2020 residency with Socially Distant Art.
(All information from Oaklee Thiele's website)
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Image Descriptions
"At Johns Hopkins (With Only My Dog by My Side)" Description: This painting features a woman with short black hair and bags under her eyes. She stands with her arms outstretched. She is clothed only in white underwear and a transparent blue hospital gown. The hospital gown is open at the front exposing her breasts. On one wrist, the woman wears a white hospital bracelet. On either side of the women are two figures with the bulk of their bodies outside of the scope of the painting. Each figure wear's green scrubs and stretches both of it's arms towards the woman's breasts. Standing behind the woman is a black and brown dog. The dog wears a grey service vest and has a red leash attached to its neck.
"Self Portrait" Description: This photograph showcases two paintings hung side by side on a white wall. The backgrounds of both paintings are painted dark brown. The painting on the left is of a dogs head in profile. The dog is various shades of tan, black, and brown. Covering its body are white and grey dashed lines. The dogs mouth is slightly open revealing a row of sharp looking white teeth and a tongue. In the image on the right is a tired looking woman with short black hair. She wears a brown, navy, red, and white color-blocked sweatshirt. Her right hand is positioned on her cheek while her left hand dangles over the top of a black cane.
"Don't Touch My Medical Equipment" Description: This photograph shows a tapestry hanging from a white dowel on a white wall. The tapestry is a dark blue with ragged edges on either side. At the bottom of the tapestry are nine tassles. At the top and bottom of the tapestry are red and white lines. The tapestry has writing on it spelling out the words "Don't touch my medical equipment." The words "touch" and "equipment" wrap onto the next lines. The sentence is punctuated with a period