WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY ?
The Bones Tell the Story
Original x-ray pickle ball injury
Image transformed to celebrate healing
by MARY BARRY , MD
Jonathan Keith Auerbach , MD , a Louisville native and son of an orthopedic surgeon , is a practicing adult and child psychiatrist with an artist ’ s eye and soul . Recently a sibling suffered a fractured forearm and when he studied the X-rays , a different image bloomed in his brain . Those bones , stark in black and white , blossomed suddenly into a vibrant , multicolored tulip .
Some weeks later another friend had a total knee replacement , and he transformed those films too , and then another and another . He began to seek out pictures of bone fractures , and found himself feeling a bit ghoulish , like the anatomists of yore . He framed the bone films and his creations side by side and gave them to the injured person when he could . To his surprise and delight , each person , independently , felt better when they looked at these twinned images . The bones had been transmuted from sources of pain to sources of beauty : orchids or seashells or Mondrian delights . Each person , it turned out , had quickly gotten the pictures framed and hung in their homes , for all to admire .
Pretty soon , Dr . Auerbach was collecting X-ray images from various sources , and he spent a morning with radiologist Dr . Ted Steinbock going over at least a hundred of them . He needed to
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make sure that his psychiatrist ’ s eye was truly identifying what he thought he saw .
He greatly enjoyed this voyage of exploration and inspiration in the rebirth of the bones . Static became dynamic , plain became fancy , simple became intricate . He played with the colors and the shapes and light and the dark . Still , what mattered most were the grateful smiles from his human models . They got a unique souvenir , designed in their honor : their bones now told a whole new story .
His local show of BONE STORIES begins Sept . 1 and runs through Sept . 24 at the Pyro Gallery , 1006 E . Washington St ., 40206 . The show is dedicated to his late father , S . Pearson Auerbach , MD , who cared for thousands of Louisvillians of all ages , and trained doctors in medically needy countries around the world .
His grand opening is Sat ., Sept . 2 with a reception from 5-9 p . m ., and on Sun ., Sept . 9 he will give the Artist ’ s Talk from 1-2 p . m .
The gallery ’ s regular hours are Friday and Saturday from noon till 6 p . m ., and on Sunday from 1-4 p . m .
Go and see ! And don ’ t fall ! You might be writing your own story Dr . Auerbach ’ s photography website is auerbachphoto . com .
Dr . Barry is an internist and Associate Professor of Medicine ( Gratis Faculty ) at the University of Louisville School of Medicine , currently retired and mulling her next moves .