Artist Statement
“I made a decision: To bloom.”
On February 2018 at 23 years of age and in the midst of starting my own business I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and left to cope with it alongside the challenges of trying to balance work and medical treatment.
I kept on working until I had to stop in August 2018 to get the first of two invasive surgeries, that is when I disclosed to my friends and co-workers the situation and why I had to get away for a while.
During that time, I received no visits, no calls, no texts, no contact from my friends and co-workers… I was left alone, so I turned to the most reliable of friendships: books.
“Circe” by Madeline Miller was the book I chose, and the exiled witch of the island of Aiaia mirrored my experience, from the loneliness, she in her island, me in a hospital room receiving radiotherapy, to the discovery of hope and power within, I realized we both took the decision to refuse to be defeated.
During that time, the words from the book, phrases which you will see written on top of each piece, although extracted from the context of the book, I felt were speaking to me and now they are the perfect fit to represent the feelings of the collection.
I used the butterfly to change the negative significance I gave to the butterfly motif on the packaging used for thyroid medication and hormones to a bright joyful representation of beauty.
The snowdrop flower, is to link Circe’s flower Moly as symbol of empowerment, as the snowdrop is thought to be Moly and its meaning of hope and of happier times soon to return.
Materials: Gouache, graphite, and ink on watercolor paper.