Bill's Surgery

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Nicholas Africano has worked as a painter, printmaker and glass sculptor, typically portraying emotionally evocative figures. He once described himself as “poised, still, at a threshold” at “that moment between innocence and experience.” This suite of prints depicts the interaction between the artist and Bill, a friend who had recently had a colostomy. Bill’s recovery requires not only bandaging and medication but also learning to cope with the new physical and emotional difficulties imposed by his surgery. Africano was drawn to this unusual and intimate subject because he saw in it an analogy for his own healing process following a painful divorce. The serial format of this narrative work emphasizes the passage of time necessary for physical recovery and emotional adjustment to major life changes.