To celebrate my 10th anniversary as a breast cancer survivor, I made a series of 15 shrines expressing some of the things I've discovered on my cancer journey: the importance of not being passive; of making "the descent" into the unknown; of waking up to life, spirituality, and personal creativity; of balance and sense of humor; of self-knowledge; of being myself; of realizing that death is an integral part of life.
Here's one of my first shrines:
This shrine celebrates not being passive in reponse to a breast cancer diagnosis.
As a sign of support for my "battle against the beast," people have given me various decorative pink ribbons. I've always hated these pink ribbons, without being able to articulate why.
It wasn't until I started making this shrine -- pairing these ribbons with various Virgin of Guadalupe holy cards -- that I recognized what I dislike about the ribbons: they are far too passive, as is the Virgin on the left (with closed eyes).
The Virgin on the right inside has her eyes wide open, aware of time passing, and of the need to stomp on the passive image suggested by the pink ribbon.
To win the battle against breast cancer, I've learned, you have to be like the Virgin on the back of the shrine: a fierce warrior princess.
Here are some more of my shrines:
To see more examples of my shrines, check out Cancer Profile, Book Excerpts, Astrology, and Hero Quest Cycle.
To purchase a set of 10 cards of my healing shrines, please email me at BCQuestCycles@aol.com
My healing shrines have appeared in the following juried exhibits:
"Healing Grace on the Cancer Journey" -- exhibit of cancer-related art at Art Beat Gallery
July 10 - September 15, 2007. To read press articles about this exhibit, please go to my News section."Art Meeting the Sacred: A Creative Exploration into Spiritual Diversity" -- Eyekons Art Gallery -- Grand Rapids, MI -- September 15 - November 18, 2006. For more information, please visit www.Eyekons.com.
Muskegon Museum of Art -- 78th Regional Art Show -- Muskegon, MI -- June 2 - July 26 2006
"Celebration of the Arts" -- regional spiritual arts show at First United Methodist Church -- Grand Rapids, MI -- February 2006
"Shrines: Windows to the Divine" -- Fountain Street Church and Art Beat Gallery -- Grand Rapids, MI -- Jan. -- Feb. 2006
"10-Year Anniversary Shrine Series" -- solo show at University of Michigan Cancer Center in Ann Arbor, MI -- December 2004 -- April 2005
"Empowering Women" -- two-woman show at Grand Valley State University Women's Center -- Allendale, MI -- October 2004
"Empowering Women" -- Art Beat Gallery -- Grand Rapids, MI -- March 2004
"Celebration of the Arts" -- regional spiritual arts show at First United Methodist Church -- Grand Rapids, MI -- February 2004
"Day of the Dead" -- Art Beat Gallery -- Grand Rapids, MI -- October 2003
To read press articles about my shrines or to see where they will be exhibited next, check out Other News.
To discuss what you're doing artistically with your cancer experience, please email me at BCQuestCycles@aol.com
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Breast Cancer Survivors
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