These are additional themes as lenses through which to consider the artworks. In many cases the artworks were not crafted with these themes in mind, but instead they came up as threads that can be woven between the artworks.
Inspiration from Nature
The pieces displayed here take some of their inspiration from the natural world. So often we look to nature for its healing properties, and although some of the works displayed here associate natural imagery with healing, others acknowledge the duality of nature. They speak to the circle of life inherent within the natural world, a space that can be the source of both beauty and illness.
Duality
These artworks highlight the duality of the body following cancer surgery. They show that the body can be considered beautiful and should be celebrated for carrying a person through their illness. However, there is a dark side to the body, a feeling of threat and betrayal. The post-surgery body is the home for new sensations and pains, as well as for new realisations about the self and inner strength. The duality embodied by these artworks suggests that perhaps both sides can co-exist; rather than expecting people to return to “normal” life in a linear fashion after breast cancer, we should embrace both sides of them, and the non-linearity of healing.
Surgical Temporalities and Non-Linear Healing
There are different temporalities within illness and surgery: before, during, and after. Each of these temporalities brings its own challenges. You may not be aware of the before, until you have experienced the during or the after. Alternatively, the timeline of waiting for surgery when you know you need it may feel excruciating. The during may feel like a blur of medical machinery, hospitals, and appointments. Finally, the after, for some, may never feel like it will arrive, and for others they may reach it very quickly. The important thing for us to note is that everyone’s experience is truly unique and should be valued as such.
Illness places people on a different timeline to what can be considered “normative time”. Normative time is a linear form of time dictated by societal expectations, in which we travel through or reach certain life stages at given ages. For those who are unwell, or trying to heal, these life stages change, or must be delayed. This can create feelings of pressure or disappointment and, without proper understanding, a feeling like you are struggling to keep up. Healing is not linear and is individual to everyone.
Mapping Surgery on the Body
The artworks displayed in this section demonstrate that the felt experience of the body does not always correspond to the way the body looks. These are bodies which have undergone a profound transformation, whether or not that change is immediately visible on the surface of the skin or in the shape of the body. As you will notice from these works, the post-surgery body is a landscape of changed sensation, numbness and many other traces left by treatment and illness.
Empowered Journeys 