Artists Lindsey and Jon Merrell work through life’s ups and downs in ‘Time Dilation’

When most people say “When it rains, it pours,” they’re typically referring to a relatively small inconvenience, like a flat tire on the way to work or catching a cold before a vacation.

And though it’s not a competition of “Who’s been through more?,” artists Lindsey and Jon Merrell can rightly say “When it rains, it’s a torrential downpour.”

COVID-19 threw a wrench in everyone’s normal lives, but as lockdowns began to lift in 2021, Jon was hit by a car while riding his bike to work. He had to be resuscitated twice and was in a coma for a period of time.

After the accident, the Merrells worked on a proposal for a show at the Terrain Gallery exploring the aftermath of the accident.

“The title ‘Time Dilation,’ that’s a term in the theory of relativity,” Lindsey Merrell said. “Time passes differently, if you think about someone in space versus someone on Earth, and how time would pass at a different rate for them. We were looking at how time was passing for him in a coma versus me at home, trying to hold things down and take care of things, and moving through that trauma together, but in very different realms.”

That was the initial proposal, but while working on the show, Jon was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS. The show then grew to include the pair’s experience navigating the bike accident and the diagnosis.

Using art as a method of processing the ups and downs of the last few years, Lindsey and Jon created pieces separately and together for “Time Dilation,” their mixed media show which opened Dec. 5 and runs through Dec. 27 at the Terrain Gallery.

“There are a few pieces in the show where Jon and I collaborated together, but the rest of the pieces were done individually,” Lindsey said. “We took the approach of ‘OK, here’s the theme we’re working under. Let this guide you as you make whatever you want.’ ”

The couple met as art students at Whitworth University. Lindsey remembers seeing Jon for the first time and thinking “That’s it. He’s it for me.” She did not know his name then, and the pair would not have classes together until later in school, but they eventually started talking and have been together ever since.

Not everyone works well with their spouse, Lindsey said, but the pair began to collaborate early in their relationship. The Merrells were both focused on graphic design and printmaking at Whitworth so they often paired up for class projects.

Other collaborative projects found Lindsey sewing two works, one made by her and the other by Jon, together to create one piece.

As the pair got older, Jon’s work turned toward digital art, and he worked for a few agencies in town and got into animation as well. Though he is not able to hold a pencil, Jon still creates digital art using adaptive tools.

“He is able to use some adaptive technology on the computer to facilitate those drawings, technology where he blinks or he makes a certain face and it clicks the mouse,” Lindsey said, noting that these adaptive methods do not include using AI. “It’s amazing how technology has come along in that regard.”

Lindsey worked in graphic design as well before moving towards fine art, though she is also trained in copper plate etching and screen printing, mediums she gave up while pregnant and raising the couple’s daughter Ellie, now 10, because of the chemicals involved.

“I didn’t want that, so I shifted towards mixed-media collage, things I could do at home,” she said. “I don’t need a big printmaking studio to do that, and I found my groove in that mixed media style.”

“Time Dilation” features digital and mixed media works. One digital work features a man summiting a mountain that is actually a sharpened pencil. Two others feature fortune cookies. In one picture, the golden brown fortune cookie is intact in front of a red background. In the other, the fortune cookie has been cracked open, revealing the fortune “You gon’ die.”

Many of Jon’s works were informed by the struggles and “mini losses” that come with ALS, Lindsey said, things like no longer being able to hold a pencil after he’d been drawing his whole life and now needing help with things like brushing his teeth.

“It’s a series of ‘What’s missing today? What can I no longer do today?’ ” she said.

One of Lindsey’s mixed media works uses three panels to share the story of Jon’s bicycle accident. The left panel features pieces of the bike Jon was riding during his accident, which she broke down with a sawzall.

“With this project, my friend kindly lent me a couple different power tools to destroy this bicycle,” she said. “It felt really good. It was destroying the bicycle that destroyed my husband.”

The middle panel features the clothing the EMTs had to cut off of Jon and a shard of his helmet, which broke into three separate pieces.

“Wear your helmet,” Lindsey said. “It saves your life.”

The right panel features medical equipment Jon needed after the accident, things like back and neck braces, and replicas of internal hardware including screws, plates and an intracranial pressure monitor.

Other pieces use CAT scans, MRIs and paperwork from hospitals and lawyers after the crash. The Merrells also incorporated some of Ellie’s illustrations in their pieces, making the show a true family affair.

“Her work adds such an important piece to the show, because all of what we’re going through, we’re going through as a family,” Lindsey said. “There’s no escaping that, so I’m really glad that she could be part of that experience.”

The pair were able to make it to the opening reception of “Time Dilation,” a moment Lindsey said felt bittersweet as, though both will make art individually, this is likely their last show together.

Jon will continue to do digital illustrations, with Lindsey hoping that there will be a solo show in his future. But if that artwork ends up being just for him, that’s OK, she said, as “art for art’s sake is alright. It’s very healing.”

Lindsey too is going to continue to create without putting pressure on herself to create fine art for a gallery. Making things, whether working in a sketchbook or practicing a new craft, is restorative for her, something she was reminded of while working on “Time Dilation.”

“I feel like passions often are the first thing to get cut,” when life gets crazy,” she said. “It’s like ‘Well, I’d love to roller skate or knit or whatever, but I don’t have time for that. I need to take care of dishes or laundry or whatever,’ so realizing how restorative creating is and recognizing that that can’t get cut. That needs to be there.”