Sue Coe ~ Portraits

Who are these women? They are Texas prisoners who are HIV positive and are HIV peer educators in their prison unit. As part of a project by Dr. Eric Avery, Sue Coe visited the University of Texas Medical Branch in 2006 and during interviews created these portraits as well as others that illustrated parts of their lives that increased the likelihood of their becoming HIV positive. Made with Conte crayon the colors in the portraits are similar to what the women used for make-up. Actual cosmetics were forbidden so these women used the dyes from candies such as M&M's to create the effects of shadow, liner and mascara. Links to read more about this project are here and here.

In 1994, Coe and Avery had worked together on another project. At his request she went to the Infectious Disease Ward at the University of Texas Medical Branch. She sketched patients with AIDS. This was in the height of the AIDS pandemic. All of the patients she sketched died. To view these portraits, visit this link.