The Heart and The Journey is a painting which was commissioned by healx.ai It is made up of 11,000 coloured dots that are all unique and individually painted.
They represent the nearly 11,000 rare diseases which are currently known. Each one has a community of people who are affected by, but not defined by, their condition, therefore the dots are as colourful and varied as the communities they represent. The patient community is at the heart of everything that Healx does.
Copper is an essential element in our bodies, the copper pins represent people working to understand and treat rare disease. They could be researchers, funders, therapists, AI developers or any of the vast network of talent. Their work all connects and touches the rare disease community in a meaningful way.
The copper pins are connected with silk thread, on the left we have three threads to represent the three founders. The three threads come together and the horizontal line of threads gets stronger as it travels from left to right. Although not always a straight line it is purposeful and travels with the rare disease community.
The silk thread forms a network of connections between the people involved with Healx. There are switchbacks and threads that do not lead anywhere, especially in the centre section of the canvas, but they all feed back to the horizontal line. Towards the right of the canvas the connections become more ordered and although the network is smaller, it is more focussed around the horizontal line. The threads cast a shadow on the paint surface which changes depending on lighting conditions, reminding us that things change and to tread lightly. Many threads leave the canvas on the right implying that there is much more to do on Healx's journey.
