INTO LIGHT Project, California
Changing the Conversation About Drug Addiction and Overdose
About the Exhibition
INTO LIGHT is a national project to document the tragic loss of human life to the disease of drug addiction. One exhibit is being mounted in every state, each uniquely presenting up to 41 lives locally lost to addiction, overdose, and drug poisoning. The show at Victor Valley Museum marks the eighth INTO LIGHT Project exhibition, representing the state of California. To date, 263 individual lives have been memorialized by INTO LIGHT Project. This number represents only a small fraction of drug-related deaths in the United States, which in 2021 alone were estimated by the Centers for Disease Control to number 107,622.
Through the use of storytelling and art, INTO LIGHT Project aims to combat the myth of drug addiction as a choice, and the stigma of overdose as a moral failure. Each thoughtfully written life story, based on interviews with surviving loved ones, is accompanied by an original graphite portrait. The black and white medium serves as an intentional metaphor for the fact that every life includes both light and dark moments. Looking only at the darkest times in a person’s life does not fully represent who they are.
Getting to know the individuals depicted here, through studying their faces and reading about their lives, is one step toward restoring our collective humanity. Our hope is that by viewing this exhibition you are encouraged to advocate for the dignity of those who become addicted to drugs and the right to medical treatment, to actively combat stigmas about drug addiction and overdose, and to make personal decisions that will keep you and your loved ones safe and healthy.
Origins of the Project
INTO LIGHT is a national project that was founded in 2019 by Theresa Clower. Theresa began portrait work for the first time as a way of managing the pain, numbness, anger and sadness of losing her son, Devin, to an overdose of fentanyl. As she drew Devin, studying and memorizing every part of his face from photographs, each pencil line felt like a visit with him. She poured her heart and soul into the drawing and it helped her to process the absence of her son.
After completing Devin’s portrait, Theresa felt compelled to continue drawing. She drew her grandchildren and other people’s grandchildren and people in magazines. It brought her to a new level of understanding life and death, grief and pain. It was an exercise in patience and letting go, slowing down and focusing. In time, she was inspired to draw others who lived and died like her son, and to use her art to encourage dialogue about the disease of addiction. INTO LIGHT Project was born. Theresa calls this new chapter in her life a “gift from Devin for me to find,” and Devin’s energy remains the impetus for her work. Theresa views INTO LIGHT Project as a dynamic practice that taps into the creative power of art to move us emotionally and to bring about social change to address the stigma of drug addiction.
Devin’s portrait hangs in every INTO LIGHT Project exhibition, alongside the others that are submitted for display. At right, Devin’s portrait is displayed here, together with 40 individuals whose lives tie them to the state of California. Together this makes 41 lives — one for every 2,625 people in the United States who lost their battle with addiction through overdose or were the victim of drug poisoning in 2021.
Theresa notes that when completing INTO LIGHT Project portraits she can “feel the energy” of each individual she works with, “living with them” and “holding them in her heart “while she draws them. She feels a tangible rapport with Devin and all of those who have passed from this disease. “Together,” she explains, “they provide me with the force of their energy and the necessary momentum to bring about needed change.”
Contributors
INTO LIGHT Project California was made possible through the generous support of the San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health.
INTO LIGHT Project, California could not have happened without creative contributions by INTO LIGHT Project Founder Theresa Clower; Portrait Artist Elizabeth Jones; Narrative Writers Barbara Francois, Victoria Estes, and Lynn McKnight; California Project Leads Lorraine Hedtke and Arianna Huhn; Logistics Coordinator Melissa Levy; Interviewers Beatriz Bayona Mendia, Destiny Espinoza, Mark Francis, Rae Lynn Johnson, Angelica Juarez, Rumicko Kellenberger, Laura Ortega, Karely Rivas, Amanda De Lara, Emma Rumpf-Snavely, and Valerie Valadez.
Barbara Francois, Narrative Writer
Shortly after meeting Theresa, she told me her heartfelt and emotional story about the loss of her son, Devin, from a drug overdose/fentanyl poisoning. Her feelings associated with Devin’s loss paralleled some of my own experiences and deeply resonated with me. She talked about setting up a non-profit organization, INTO LIGHT Project, and using her love of portrait drawing to shed light on the insidious disease of addiction. I was immediately inspired to offer my help. One of her needs was for someone to gather information from loved ones and write narratives to tell their stories. My experience in writing coupled with my background as a psychologist was a perfect fit for this role.
I am committed to the mission of INTO LIGHT Project, to change the conversation about drug addiction and erase the stigma for those with the disease and their loved ones. Writing the narratives of people in this project provides me with an opportunity to help in changing the hearts and minds of those who have bought into the limiting and negative stereotypes of people with substance use disorder. Seeing their faces and hearing their stories is an important step in realizing they were not different from you, me, or those we love. I feel honored to write their stories.
Elizabeth Jones, Artist
I’m a non-binary, Creole, Jamaican artist with a background in food access activism. My body of work was borne of my interest in the effects of isolation. This interest evolved into a fascination with healing from and living with trauma that acts as a barrier to connection. I utilize a combination of portraiture, surrealism, abstractions, and interviews to explore neglect, food access, addiction, and interdependence. I examine generational trauma seeking understanding and acceptance through open conversations about love, fear and shame.
Through this process of creating portraits, I have been able to observe these folks with curiosity and an open heart — to find out what drives them, where they came from, what they dream about — and learn so much about loving another for exactly who they are and where they’re at, not where I imagine them to be or the fantasy I have about what they can become. One of my goals is to embrace the complexity and uniqueness of each subject I explore. Since we consume so much polarizing media, I aim to create art that portrays whole people. INTO LIGHT Project has offered me the space to do just that. I am finding that taking in the richness of others’ stories gives me an expansiveness I can bring into myself and take back to my family and community.
Possibly the largest barrier to recovery for me was shame. In my upbringing it wasn’t normal to talk about and work through emotional pain. But I’m learning that it’s necessary to make space to talk about these things. With INTO LIGHT Project, California my hope is that by destigmatizing drug addiction we can look directly at what isn’t working for our communities and make space for a collective conversation about how to support one another’s healing.
Highlights
