My Invisible Illness

Kerri Astorino

Kerri Astorino is an Interactive Multimedia major and Fine Art minor with a concentration in 2d animation, digital design and motion graphics.

During her time at TCNJ, she enjoyed visually telling her stories through her own experiences and is always eager to improve her skills for new projects. Kerri is self taught for the most part and learned a few different skills throughout her years at TCNJ.

Aside from interactive multimedia and motion graphic design, she is passionate about photography, music, animals, and interior design.

My Invisible Illness

I am going to represent my invisible illness, Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome aka MALS, by portraying the pain and daily struggles that are associated with the basic tasks people often take for granted. MALS patients experience excruciating pain during and after intake. I cannot eat a lot or as much as I want to. If I am lucky, I am only able to eat small portions of easy-to-digest foods. My inability to eat will be portrayed in the animation via shadows and empty utensils. The animations and drawings are designed to inform and educate the viewer about this rare disorder, and the constant struggles patients face. The overall tone will be that of melancholy, but inspiring because MALS patients are determined, are strong and are able to do anything. The video will highlight the main tasks that MALS patients cannotperform because of the pain we endure.

This movie will be created using Photoshop, Procreate, and Premiere Pro. I will sketch my original drawings in Photoshop, and will then bring the PSD files to Procreate where I will trace over any videos I recorded or used, for some of which I used a video for reference, to bring out the colors and the details. After tracing over my sketches, I will edit the 2-d animations using the same program. The editing will consist of putting the various black and white, color and silhouette illustrations back-to-back to create the movie, which will be about three minutes in length.

Ideally, the primary funding mechanisms for this project would be social change-related production companies; production companies that focus on untold or under-told stories, such as Participant Media; or production companies that focus on medical-related projects. Doctors should show this video to patients, so the patients should know they are not alone. The aftermath of a MALS diagnosis is devastating because of the unknown, how rare it is and because of how alone it makes patients feel, which is why showing the video is important. MALS patients should also watch this video, so they know there is someone else struggling as much as them. Even though MALS pain can be different to each patient, there are common themes and struggles we all share. The video will be available on YouTube once it is polished and ready to launch. I am excited to work with what I have so far and publish my short film to everyone. Looking forward to how it turns out by the end of the summer.

Obstacles

During times of covid, I not only struggled with not having the right equipment and software, but I had to work extra hard through recovering from a major open surgery to which was pushed off due to covid. Besides having that general artist block during quarantining, I was pretty bed ridden for the most part until recently. 2020 wasn’t the best year for everyone. In my case, I was facing obstacles that stopped me from doing daily activities like walking, sleeping and eating. It was only a matter of months where my life changed on November 12 2021.

Because of my rare diagnosis back in January 2020, my career and life was on hold. I was not driving, eating foods that people can handle, working, or even sleeping well. This battle didn’t stop me though. I had determination not for myself but for others fighting with a chronic illness. I found the right people to talk to and doctors to help me during recovery. The process is long and feels like it’s never ending, but I was able to push through it all and finish my thesis. I am happy my thesis was revolved around my journey with a chronic illness. That way I can spread awareness to more people living with invisible illnesses like myself.

Samples of Work

Sayings I live by

“Sometimes life moves without a direction”

“Live life without an expiration date”

“Define yourself with art you create”