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People who have not had cancer, who still view it
from a distance, cannot understand that it has
a rich and vital underbelly.
With cancer, in my experience, creativity can
burst forth, friendships can intensify,
families can come together. People learn,
reevaluate, modify, wake up.
It is not an entirely negative experience;
for me it has been positive.
It has given me great freedom in operating
my life.
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As a result of a collaboration with .....,
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My friends and I were all normal premenopausal early
40ish women before our cancer chapters.
Now our bodies can do odd things.
Because of our medical histories, we don't know what
to ascribe our new conditions to -- chemotherapy
or menopause.
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In this piece, I am playing with and reorganizing the
from the previous one. I appear in the same spiky
haired body as previously, with my colon revealed
in the shape of an S for superwoman.
The darker figure in the background is also me,
with thin hair and a scar in the lung area.
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Our group of friends had a sleep over on Alta Vista Road,
on a wonderful farm inhabited by peacocks.
We invited a faith healer for entertainment to stay for
about an hour. He stayed almost all night.
We all considered him to be an interesting experience.
I did not embrace his philosophy because of his emphasis
on the disease as being the responsibility of my
ancestors. In this piece, I first included the lyre bird,
as well as the peacock feathers, which will continue
in many pieces.
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This work introduces the technique of ...
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Do what feels right in terms of taking care of yourself
post-cancer. If collecting hammered aluminum trays feels
like it's the right thing to do, and makes you feel good,
do it. Who is to say what is right and what is wrong?
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This is the first piece done after my surgery to
remove a suspect thymus gland.
the central figure therefore contains a new scar.
On the left, I have included my doctor's large drawing
of a thymus, which I have mistakenly
labeled as a thalamus. The title of this piece refers
to a member of my extended family who insists my
problem with cancer has come from the water I drink.
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This work introduces the technique of ...
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This work introduces the technique of ...
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It is my belief that one can become grounded no matter
their circumstances. Roots can be put down.
Eccentric is interesting.
Letters and words used in my compositions suggest
the dependence and prevalence of information in the
nineties. It is all around us in space, both visibly
and invisibly.
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This piece is a scar portrait of a male friend who had
a quadruple bypass. His wife, an artist, did the graph
of his scars for me on a male body on the front of a
Time Magazine. I thought it was such a telling gesture
because her artwork is all about time, and so is his
disease. In included parts of the magazine name in the
image.
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This work introduces the technique of ...
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A friend drew for me, on a napkin, her radiation guide marks.
She, at that time, was almost bald. She is represented twice
in this piece, once with her breasts in front, and once
with them on the back of her body.
The Gallant Allies is the cohesive group of friends represented
in these works.
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