Dylan Mortimer
Long Beach, CA
“Every breath is really a gift.”
Born with cystic fibrosis, Dylan Mortimer (he/him) has been near death many times in his life, yet art has kept his spirit alive, and provided a platform to navigate doubt, fear, joy, despair, hope, and tell stories throughout his journey.
Born in Ohio, and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Dylan has lived, made art, and exhibited his work all around the world including New York City, Los Angeles, throughout the midwest, and has an extensive exhibition curriculum vitae throughout Europe, Australia, Africa, and South America.
Starting his artistic exploration at a very young age, Dylan began drawing comic books with friends in the 3rd grade, building his skillset with each passing year before receiving a Bachelor’s and later a Master’s degree in art, and has spent the last ten years as a full time working artist.
From his early comic book adventures to his current stylized medical motifs encrusted with pink glitter, Dylan has style. He transforms symbols and imagery culled from difficult experiences throughout his health journey. “I render them with shiny material like glitter to change the perception of these symbols, which are often the various things that saved me- scars, cells, IV bags, medical equipment, bronchial, trees, ambulances, etc. I’m aiming for a dazzling, and almost offensive joy, and hope.”
Dylan is inspired from personal experiences, along with the many people he meets that navigate their own health challenges. “Seeing and hearing stories of how people overcome, motivates me to create.” Dylan explains a dream project that would bring his inspirations together: “I dream to transform entire medical spaces, hospitals, clinics, etc. with art. Where do people need more hope and inspiration and dignity? And where the space is often drab or boring or filled with stock art? I would love to continue to spread hope in these places.”
When considering a new piece, Dylan has a well-honed process. “I have sort of a Rolodex of imagery in my mind, and largely think of how these images collide and relate with each other then usually I start with drawing, and either draw on paper to cut and collage, or draw directly on panels to paint and add glitter.”
As Dylan’s images collide and relate with each other, his artwork is a visual representation of his command on life; from receiving two double lung transplants and becoming a runner, to outliving the average lifespan for his disease and becoming a father twice over. “Much of life is holding sorrow and joy simultaneously, I have received much more than I could ever earn on my own. In receiving literal life and breath two times over, everything that I do is the outflow of what has been given to me. Art is a space to express grief and gratitude that transcends words.”
Add a fair bit of humor and good luck to Dylan’s artistic personality, another thread that runs through his life. In retelling the story of his second lung transplant, Dylan recounts, “when I was told there would be no match for me for a second lung transplant, my second lung donor family found me on Instagram, calling me to offer the lungs of a relative who had just passed away. They had not even checked if we were a match. But we were. One in a billion chance!”
In the future, Dylan would like to continue to see where art takes him. He hopes to meet other artists and together work to transform spaces, inspire and uplift people, and to “raise awareness for art and artists who are often unseen, and unheard. I love how art can speak to things that words can’t, and help to tell stories, folk tales, and memories.”
