At the age of eight, Diego Jacobson decided to give up drawing. He had dabbled in drawing and a little painting, and concluded he just wasn’t any good. Around this same time, the earliest signs of generalized dystonia began to creep into his body. By thirteen, he was in a wheelchair and a candidate for invasive brain surgery. Today, Diego Jacobson’s paintings have been shown on multiple continents and have impressed critics around the world.

Jacobson was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and raised in New York and Puerto Rico. The cryosurgery he went through at 13 drastically improved his symptoms. “I’m extremely lucky,” he says. “It took care of the dystonia about 90 percent.” He refuses to let the residual symptoms limit him, though some days are better than others. “I’m still affected, still have spasms and have a tremor. I can’t write, but I can type. Sometimes it hurts to paint. It could be a lot worse.”

He didn’t begin painting until he was in his 30s. A decade later, he has amassed a collection of 1,100 works and 25 solo exhibits, Museograpy Of The Soul being number 26. Drawing largely from the style of abstract expressionism, Jacobson approaches each painting as an exploration. “I like to apply paint in what I can only describe as a random fashion,” he explains, “always keeping a sense of balance on the canvas, and mixing colors in a nice way. Mostly, I like to cooperate with the paint and see what appears.”

After building a clothing manufacturing business, completing a Masters degree in Practical Spirituality at the Peace Theological Seminary in California, and traveling the world, Jacobson discovered the artwork of former Beatle Paul McCartney. McCartney’s work moved him and inspired him to put paint to canvas.

Jacobson’s approach to his art is both deep and simple. Painting is a spiritual exercise that connects him to a higher power and provides a portal for those who view his art to connect with the divine. “I don’t do the painting, per se. The painting comes through me. It’s a channeling of energy in a way,” he says. “I listen to music, and I paint. It’s very magical. I like not knowing what the final product will be.”

He works quickly, and gives himself permission to be uninhibited in the painting process. He trusts that he will like the final result, and uses his instinct to sense when a painting is complete. He respects the reaction of every spectator: “My paintings are like a Rorschach test. The message is different for different people. I’ve had art professors come see my work and it made them cry, and it was perfect. Some people laugh, others keep walking, and it’s all perfect. Their interpretation is just as valid as mine.”

Resisting the urge to judge and embracing the concept that things are as they should be are cornerstones to Diego’s approach to life and art. “Acceptance is very important,” he says. “I realized that as you go through life, maybe I didn’t like what happened to me, but everything is perfect. Not in the physical sense, of course, but on a spiritual level everything is perfect.” Diego admits this was not an easy lesson to learn.

“With the right attitude you can get through anything in life. You can go through life laughing or crying—it’s your choice. Deciding everything is perfect makes the choice a lot easier. This attitude helped me with my dystonia.”