GM designer tells colleague’s caregiving story through 3-D art – The Oakland Press

Matt Burke has been a General Motors graphic designer for 15 years, where his work is mostly digital. Outside the office, he works in mixed media art for more hands-on side projects.

Burke recently used his skills to tell a story.

Through Brushes with Cancer, a program that matches artists with people touched by cancer, he was paired up with a colleague whose time at home is dedicated to caring for ill family members. Burke goal was to visually capture his experience in a piece of art.

I wanted to convey their story as best as possible through representation, art, color and materials, Burke says. (It was) a big challenge, in the beginning, trying to translate their stories, be respectful and represent these people and their families through the art.

With the help of his children, Masonand Emma, Burke created two pieces in his home studio for two fellow GM employees.

One of the works is for David Pelkowski, a GM Design Center employee in Warren, who is a caregiver for multiple loved ones. His wife and mother are both battling cancer,his oldest son has a traumatic brain injuryand youngest is a victim of physical assault.

In addition to being a fun way to spend quality weekend time with his kids, Burke says through multiple listens to his Zoom calls with Pelkowski, and thoughtful planning, he was able to tell the story visually, an eye-opening process.

Its rewarding in a sense to be able to create a piece that could tell somebodys story and maybe help somebody get perspective, he says. I hope it will uplift somebody if theyre going through any of these troubles.

The piece is made of wood, with a pattern added with spray paint, acrylic and airbrushing. It will be exhibited at the center. An LED backlight illuminates the woodwork and colors.

Burke says it was a challenge since this is his first three-dimensional sculptural piece, but it came out how he planned it.

Matt Burke created this multimedia artwork of wood, spray paint, acrylic and airbrushing for David Pelkowski , who cares for ill family members. It will be exhibited at GMs Design Center in Warren beginning with a virtual art exhibition on Friday, Sept. 25. (Courtesy Matt Burke)

He worked in layers, with red and green added to patterned wooden building block squares to represent good and bad times.

(The piece) represents David himself as the one uplifting himself and everyone else, Burke says. He is the light in this story and in his familys journey. He has seen the piece. I wanted to make sure with the complexity of his story it would be accurately represented. When I showed it to him, he thought it was perfect and that I couldnt have told the story any better.

Brushes with Cancer is a four-month project of the nonprofit organization Twist Out Cancer, twistoutcancer.org, started by cancer survivor Jenna Benn Shersher.

At 27, Shersher was diagnosed with grey zone lymphomaa rare form of cancer that affects fewer than 300 people in the United States. After having to continuously retell loved ones about her diagnosis, she decided to post the information on a private blog. She eventually made the site public, and started connecting with people from around the world as she posted videos of herself dancing the twist.

I was being brought into weddings, bar mitzvahs, parties, Shersher says. All the things I was missing out on, I felt a part of. I felt connected and supported and was determined to give that experience to other people.

By the time she finished treatment, Shersher had built a strong community, and feeling she was on borrowed time, she worked to turn Twist Out Cancer into a nonprofit that could help others in the same way. She says she was determined to give that experience to other people.

One of the first participants was Anna Moschner, who Shersher met through her oncologist. The art history major felt she was missing out and needed better colors than gray. People around the world got involved, creating vivid art for her.

She started making her own art, and found her artistic way as a professional photographer.

In some, it can give a lot of closure, others it gives ripple effects, giving people permission to share their story and create in honor of someone else, Shersher says. You never know whats going to evolve because of that.

From Telaviv, Israel, to this recent exhibition in Warren, the program has chapters worldwide that have helped people connect and find comfort in their journeys as patients and caregivers.

For so many, its been so transformative, Shersher says. Theres often a tendency to retreat and hide when you receive a cancer diagnosis. Youre scared and dont want to talk about it.

People will come to us years later that have issues they want to work out. The ones holding on for years that never talked about it, it gives them permission in that space to do it with a stranger. In the process of being able to tell that story, working on it through that artists eyes.

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GM designer tells colleague's caregiving story through 3-D art - The Oakland Press