Daughter shares incredible 3D optical illusions painted by her father, who has aphasia
David Hollowell suffered from a traumatic brain injury in 2021, losing his ability to speak. Remarkably, he is still able to express himself through art.
For a little over three decades, David Hollowell’s professional life had been dedicated to art. In addition to working as an art professor, his highly acclaimed 3D illusion paintings were shown in prestigious exhibits. In 2018, the 71-year-old began taking his talents to a larger scale, turning his family barn into an immersive mural.
Then, in May of 2021, Hollowell fell off the roof of his home, resulting in a traumatic brain injury leading to aphasia, a disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate through speech or written language.
Though Hollowell couldn’t access words the way he used to, his ability to paint detailed, mesmerizing images remained remarkably intact. And his daughter-slash-self-appointed-TikTok manager, Adrienne, is determined to share his work and his journey with as many people as possible.
“I really wanted people to know who my dad was,” Adrienne shared in an interview with CNN. Hence why she created the account under the joke premise of “make my dad famous.”
So far, that goal has been reached—over 196,000 people follow Hollowell’s account, often comparing his work to that of M.C. Escher and Michelangelo.
And honestly, the comparison is well earned. Take a look below at some of Hollowell’s work, and keep reminding yourself that it’s actually 2D.
@david.hollowell day 365 of trying to make my dad famous 🖌🎨 #art #mural #illusion #2d #3d #surreal #crazy #plants #nature #weird #painter #artist #professor #ucdavis #california #norcal #famous #viral #trending #fyp #foryou #foryoupage ♬ ART - Jack Madden
@david.hollowell I love him so much 🥰 #dad #artist #magic #mural #illusion #3D #nft #viral #follow #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #draw #create #paint #famous #love #life #xyzbca ♬ Somewhere Only We Know - Gustixa
Paintings aren’t the only thing shared on the TikTok channel. Adrienne has also documented her father’s progress through videos of speech exercises and one-on-one interviews where Hollowell might relearn a word or two.
In an effort to raise awareness of aphasia, Adrienne also encourages her father to share his experience (to the best of his ability) and has reached out to viewers asking if they could share any new treatments.
What becomes clear from seeing their interactions is that where Hollowell might express himself differently, so much of his core identity, like his love for his art and family, still show through.
@david.hollowell I'm back ♡ #art #paint #draw #tbi #aphasia #mural #braininjury #create #inspire #charcoal #pencil #artist #illusion #davidhollowell #California #fyp ♬ original sound - David Hollowell
“You can't talk but your love is enough for us,” Adrienne expressed in a heartfelt video. “Your art and your family mean everything to you.”
Losing the ability to carry on a conversation, express ourselves, and generally navigate a speech-reliant world is a scary thought. And for those who have to witness a family member go through it…there are probably no words that fully encapsulate that kind of pain. But as this story highlights, even when those functions dwindle, love has a way of persevering.
Thank you, Adrienne, for sharing your father’s work with the world. Hopefully, we can help “make him famous.”
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Men try to read the most disturbing comments women get online back to them.
If you wouldn't say it to their faces, don't type it.
This isn’t comfortable to talk about.
Trigger warning for discussion of sexual assault and violence.
A recent video by Just Not Sports took two prominent female sportswriters and had regular guys* read the awful abuse they receive online aloud.
Sportswriters Sarah Spain and Julie DiCaro sat by as men read some of the most vile tweets they receive on a daily basis. See how long you can last watching it.
*(Note: The men reading them did not write these comments; they're just being helpful volunteers to prove a point.)
It starts out kind of jokey but eventually devolves into messages like this:
Awful.
All images and GIFs from Just Not Sports/YouTube.
These types of messages come in response to one thing: The women were doing their jobs.
Those wishes that DiCaro would die by hockey stick and get raped? Those were the result of her simply reporting on the National Hockey League's most disturbing ordeal: the Patrick Kane rape case, in which one of the league's top players was accused of rape.
DiCaro wasn't writing opinion pieces. She was simply reporting things like what the police said, statements from lawyers, and just general everyday work reporters do. In response, she received a deluge of death threats. Her male colleagues didn't receive nearly the same amount of abuse.
It got to the point where she and her employer thought it best to stay home for a day or two for her own physical safety.
The men in the video seemed absolutely shocked that real live human beings would attack someone simply for doing their jobs.
Not saying it.
All images and GIFs from Just Not Sports/YouTube.
Most found themselves speechless or, at very least, struggling to read the words being presented.
All images and GIFs from Just Not Sports/YouTube.
Think this is all just anecdotal? There's evidence to the contrary.
The Guardian did a study to find out how bad this problem really is.
They did a study of over 70 million comments that have been posted on their site since 2006. They counted how many comments that violated their comment policy were blocked.
The stats were staggering.
From their comprehensive and disturbing article:
If you can’t say it to their face... don’t type it.
All images and GIFs from Just Not Sports/YouTube.
So what can people do about this kind of harassment once they know it exists?
There are no easy answers. But the more people who know this behavior exists, the more people there will be to tell others it's not OK to talk to anyone like that.
Watch the whole video below:
.This article originally appeared on 04.27.16