BRAVEST 025
IMPACTING THE COLLECTIVE MINDSET OF SOCIETY THROUGH ART
On the show today we have a gentleman known by the single name of Appleton.
Now if you’re not familiar with his work, or who he is, Appleton is a photographer, a painter, and a street artist who, like many creative minds, uses his life experiences as motivation for much of his art.
As the youngest of four brothers, Appleton grew up in Northern New Jersey, and was raised by his mom, in a single-parent household. At the age of 6, he suddenly fell into a coma and spent a number of days in the hospital falling in and out of consciousness. It was in the hospital that he was handed the diagnoses of type 1 diabetes. What he uncovers in our conversation, is that his parents actually lost their daughter (Appleton’s sister) when she was just 7 years old after she fell into a coma. Unfortunately, she was an undiagnosed type 1.
Appleton points to the fact that there were no family pictures taken during those early years, and he believes that this void in the documentation of his childhood led him to start take pictures of anything and everything. He explains that this void served as a catalyst for him to start documenting his life.
In fact, he has saved every vial of insulin and many of the syringes he has used, since childhood. That’s over 40 years of vials.
We then dive deeper into the mind of an artist. Appleton talks about his inspiration, the evolution of his work, and who and what influences him.
We talk about how his craft informs the way he views the world around him.
At the tail end of our conversation, Appleton shares his personal thoughts on the global ecosystem of diabetes. This is a very direct conversation on how he believes the state of diabetes has not changed much in the 40 years since he was diagnosed. He is firm in his belief that, while technology is wonderful and helps those affected manage diabetes better, he is focused on why a cure is such an elusive thing. He gets pretty deep in his thoughts of cure versus maintenance and why, he believes, we’re not seeing that cure for type 1.
Social Media Links
Appleton - Instagram
Websites Mentioned in Podcast
Appleton - website
Related Episodes
Episode 004 - Mark Heyman, PhD
Episode 010 - Laura Pavlakovich
Episode 011 - Poli Van Dam
People Mentioned in Podcast
Music Credits for BRAVEST Episode 025
Intro music - Podington Bear, 'Sepia' & The Passion HiFi, 'Sweet Revenge'
Outtro music - Joakim Karud, 'That Day'
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