Art and writing by visual artist Carol Ober exploring life as a caregiver for a loved one with Parkinson’s

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Ever since my husband Hal was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2009,” writes Carol Ober, a visual artist who lives with her husband in Massachusetts, “I have been living in a constant state of wild contradiction.” For every intimate moment to be found in their joint struggle with the disease, there was a wave of loneliness as they found themselves standing on opposite sides of the experience. Every effort to preserve their respective autonomy had to be weighed against concerns for Hal’s safety. Every step towards acceptance came with its own share of grief.

To help process these contradictory feelings, Ober began keeping a journal. Before long, the order and disorder of her life as a caregiver, the moments of confusion and clarity, the rest and unrest of her daily life began to find their way into her artwork as well. Her paintings and writing gave her tools to be able to talk to others about what she was going through. “At the same time,” Ober writes, “the art and writing that I have produced during the Parkinson’s years of our lives became like souvenirs for me, carried back from those moments of wonderful connection and moments of painful disconnection (both from myself and Hal) that have defined the twists and turns of this journey.”

In 2024, Carol and Hal Ober received a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to explore the role that Parkinson's has had in their art and marriage. The short film that they produced was featured in the Project Unlonely film festival and shown in the film room at the World ParkinsonCongress in Phoenix in May 2026.

Since the release of the short film, Ober has begun assembling her art and writing related to her Parkinson’s experience on a website, created with other caregivers in mind. Organized around the dualities of the caregiver’s life—those feelings of loneliness and togetherness mixed together, or the way the body can be both broken and whole—the website provides no advice, no mental exercises, no chippy inspirational quotes. Instead, it is one woman’s raw and honest experience put onto the page. Ober’s goal is to give others in her shoes the sense that they are not alone when they find themselves caught between fear and calm, order and disorder, grief and acceptance. “I hope that, wherever you are in this journey, my words and my art resonate with you and validate some part of your own experience.”

Explore “Art & Parkinson’s: Love Letters from a Caregiver” at https://www.carolober.com/parkinsons-art

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