Zeph Vondenhuevel is a formerly incarcerated, non-binary disabled painter suffering from several progressive chronic illnesses. Their work centers around the emotions of sadness, grief, and trauma that directly stems from dealing with a broken medical system. Painting mostly from their bed due to their illnesses, Zeph explores their visceral emotions, almost intrusive thoughts, through a variety of mixed media, primarily oil paints.

What inspired you to start painting?
As a child, I was always creative and imaginative, but never quite fit in socially, so I would often spend my time writing poetry, or short stories, or drawing little comics. It wasn’t until my early twenties, in and out of jail and prisons for my heroin addiction, that I really started to hone my skills in portraiture as a means to provide for myself in there. I also happened to get into art therapy during my last prison sentence, and I started to learn to express myself and my feelings through painting and sculpture. A couple years after my release, my friends that facilitated art therapy in prison, Kamisha Thomas and Aimee Wissman, were also released and they created The Returning Artists Guild, which I have been a member of since 2019. In that time, I have been dealing with declining health and am leaning on artistic expression more than ever to get me through.

How has your personal experience with chronic illness and incarceration impacted your work?
While I was incarcerated, I started to notice things weren’t quite right with my body, and I started to have more and more issues that were not dealt with properly by the infirmary there. Upon release, things kept getting worse and since then I have been diagnosed with a genetic disease called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, as well as a slew of comorbid diseases and disorders that just keep progressively taking more and more freedom away from me. Throughout my body of work, that has been mostly created from my bed, you will find aspects of not only chronic illness and incarceration, but also addiction and mental anguish. All prisons that I find myself trapped in.

What message do you hope your art conveys to viewers?
I suppose at the end of the day I hope people walk away with questions. Maybe they’ll start to question the healthcare system, the prison system, the justice system, the stigma that is held towards addicts and disabled people.

Do you believe that art can be used to shift perspectives and raise awareness around social justice issues? How so?
Absolutely. I truly believe art is a vessel for connection that facilitates deeper, meaningful conversations surrounding the artist’s subject matter. It also has the ability to cultivate community and broaden the collective understanding and advocacy of complex social issues.

What role do you think art plays in rehabilitation for those who are currently and formerly incarcerated?
Creating is such a beautiful and freeing form of self expression and healing. I believe that it gives people a sense of purpose and belonging within community, as well as boosting a persons self esteem and feelings of accomplishment and pride. For me personally, I know that in discovering these things I have been able to keep from slipping back into the same old self destructive cycles of behavior that landed me in prison twice.

Do you have a particular piece of work that stands out for you, in telling your story?
I think all of my work tells pieces of my story, and they are all created out of the raw pain and the emotions I’m feeling at the time, but one of my personal favorites is “Stigma(ta).” It’s a self portrait that depicts my struggle with chronic pain and lack of pain management due to my past history of substance abuse. The stigma that comes with addiction, prison sentences and mental health issues has followed me throughout the navigation of my health decline. I feel like I’m viewed as a liability, or even worse, expendable, and mine isn’t an isolated case. There is, and has been, a growing problem with the way that chronic pain patients are being mishandled and left with a poor quality of life, or left to seek out ways to self medicate, which can prove fatal.

What's next?
In between juggling surgeries and healing this year, I will continue to slowly pluck away at this most recent body of work, as my own body permits.

You can find more of Zeph’s work on her Instagram account @sick.zeph.paints

a fragile speciman: the work of Zeph Vondenhuevel

Dancing in A-Yard: A Conversation with Dimitri Gales and Manuela Dalle.

The Importance of the Things You Don’t See