Australian artist Ben Taylor visited Africa in 2013 and brought back from there not only rich impressions, but also eye parasites - the so-called loa worms.
Loa loa, commonly referred to simply as the eyeworm, is a nematode helminth of the order Spirurida. They live exclusively in Central and West Africa.
In length, these worms reach 4-7 centimeters, you can become infected through the bite of a horsefly or a mosquito. These are thin white worms that most often settle under the skin, but sometimes reach the eyes and cause conjunctivitis.
In 2013, Ben Taylor, who now lives in the UK, visited Gabon, Central Africa, including a local village.
When he returned home, everything was fine for the first months, but then he began to feel unusual muscle twitching under the skin of his forehead, and then small lumps appeared on his face in various places.
Over the next 12 months, he developed a whole bunch of ailments: joint pain, inflammatory lesions under the skin, intestinal problems, discomfort in the eyes, fatigue, irritability, general apathy.
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But the artist turned to doctors only when he saw something subtle in his eye and it began to move. After diagnosis, the surgeon removed a loa-loa worm over an inch (2.5 cm) long from Ben's eye.
After that, Tyler was placed for examination in the Department of Tropical Diseases for 4 days, and there in his body were found two more species of African worms such as nematodes, which he most likely contracted through unwashed hands.
After undergoing treatment, Tyler was so stunned and inspired by new ideas that he immediately rushed to display everything in paintings and sculpture. He was especially successful in the painting with the eye worms.
The picture was so impressive that it was used for the cover of the August issue of the medical magazine Emerging Infectious Diseases.
“This is a bit of a strange picture, but all these doctors were delighted when they saw it,” says the artist.
Sculpture with parasites.