Art Therapy and Alzheimer's

Looking at this article was really interesting to me.

William Utermohlen, an American artist living in London, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1995. In a span of 5 years, Utermohlen created self-portraits which significantly reflected his progression of Alzheimer's. Slowly, his subject matter began to get closer to his face, and his face began to lose certain features. The quality of his lines became less precise, and his face became more abstracted. His work was probably a resemblance to his reality becoming abstracted.

 This type of activity would be very interesting to perform with patients suffering of dementia, this way the patient and the family members of the patient would visually experience the stages of the disease. It would also be a keepsake once the patient was gone. 


http://www.technologyreview.com/photogallery/429486/dementia-the-self-portraits-of-william-utermohlen/?a=f