Eugene artist uses 'good, gross art' to illustrate ailments worsened by homelessness
As a kid, Ben Ricker imagined frostbite as a mean little snow gremlin that sneaks up and chomps on its victims.
Now, as an artist with a penchant for depicting the colorful and the grotesque, he’s collaborated with a street aid team to create a series of wacky, cartoonish depictions of serious ailments people can get, especially when they don’t have access to proper hygiene.
Bridgette Butler first envisioned the project. So far, she’s collaborated with Ricker to illustrate abscess wounds, cellulitis, trench foot and frostbite. He makes the art and she adds the relevant information. He creates one abstract image and one that’s more realistic.
Butler, co-director of Black Thistle Street Aid, wanted to better illustrate the common issues she and her team often find clients dealing with. The group is a collective of outreach workers, herbalists, wound care nurses and other medical providers who provide free health care through pop-up clinics and outreach to people experiencing homelessness in the Eugene-Springfield area.
The group is small but mighty, she said, with about 10 core volunteers.
She’s made a zine, a small DIY magazine, in the past but wanted the issues to be more expertly illustrated. Ricker had volunteered with the team before and was happy to help. He provided the art for free.
“I love his art,” Bulter said. “He makes kind of like good, gross art.”
Sometimes, the project has been fun, Ricker said, and sometimes painfully sad. He hopes the series brings more attention to the work Black Thistle does.
“In the best case, a person suffering with any of these ailments would see this information and be directed to the right things to help it,” Ricker said. “Next to that, it’s drawing attention to the fact that we live in the city where many of our neighbors suffer from these afflictions.”
Who is the art for?
Black Thistle’s team sees some of the most gruesome but preventable wounds that are the result of unsanitary living conditions. In 2022, more than 10,000 people in Lane County experienced homelessness. A majority of people living outside in the county reside in the Eugene area.
Black Thistle works with many clients every week, but many more people’s needs go unmet. Ricker wants more people to know that.
There are a lot of other dangers the team could depict. Butler isn’t sure how many more they’ll make.
Right now, Ricker is working on a hypothermia illustration. Eventually, they want to compile the art into a booklet. So far, the images have been shared through social media.
While both Butler and Ricker want people who are most at risk to have the information they’re publishing, they know their online audience is mostly housed people. In that case, the images provide another kind of educational opportunity.
Anyone can get the wounds depicted, Butler said, but a lack of access to hygiene can make them so much more likely.
What does Black Thistle do?
Every Wednesday, the group travels in teams of a wound care nurse, herbalist and a medical provider. If a doctor can’t join physically, someone able to prescribe medication joins virtually.
“We go directly to encampments all over town,” Bulter said. “Down the tracks, behind the bushes, along the river. Wherever people are, we go to them directly.”
The hope is to provide some relief and help people avoid the hospital if they can. Sometimes, when a condition has progressed and a trip to the hospital is necessary, a volunteer will accompany the client. Clients often hesitate to go to the hospital because of the stigma they face in those settings.
On the second Wednesday of every month, the team hosts a pop-up clinic.
Black Thistle volunteers deal with many medical issues that have gone untreated. Often, they treat general cuts and scrapes that have become infected.
“There's a lot of sharp objects out there… or just bonking your knee on something,” Butler said. “That's not a big deal for you and I, we can just go wipe it up. But that little scrape can get infected quick.”
It’s been an especially cold winter. While they haven’t had to treat frostbite yet, they’ve heard of residents getting it.
The team has treated abscess wounds, cellulitis and trench foot. It's hard to keep feet dry in Oregon through the winter, Butler said, especially if you only have one pair of socks or shoes.
She pointed to mobile shower programs in other states as a helpful solution for many. But more than just showers, people need homes, she said.
“It's not that only the unhoused are getting all these wounds,” Bulter said. “Really, anyone can get it. But most people have access to reliable soap and water every day.”
The Egan Warming Centers, run by St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County, pop up to help people survive through the winter’s coldest nights. The effort is dependent on volunteers so they only activate when temperatures reach or fall below 30 degrees, which means thousands are in dangerous conditions when it’s cold, but not quite cold enough.
“It doesn't need to be freezing to be hypothermic,” Butler said. “It can be raining, 45 degrees and you can get hypothermia.”
Bulter hopes the art project spreads information about the risks of dangerous living conditions to the housed and unhoused alike.
The art might make it easier to engage with and digest, she said.
The other, more ambitious hope is to challenge local government to provide more shelter and hygiene access that could prevent the infections volunteers like her treat.
Black Thistle Street Aide accepts donations and has an Amazon wish list available online at blackthistlestreetaid.org/donations.
The group also has donation locations around town and is always looking for businesses willing to host more. Those with questions or interested in donating skills or time can email blackthistle.streetaid@gmail.com. The team is looking for help producing wound art booklets.
Text the word “Join” to 541-730-3071 for text alerts for Egan Warming Centers’ activation status. Anyone interested in hosting a site or volunteering can email eganwarmingcenter@svdp.us.
Contact reporter Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick at Tatiana@registerguard.com or 541-521-7512, and follow her on Twitter @TatianaSophiaPT.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene artist illustrates wounds worsened by homelessness
