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About the Artist
How are cancer and the images in my art related? Here is my answer.
From Ari verbatim:
Cancer makes you mad, sad, angry, and annoyed. It was hard to go through cancer and battle the cancer cells. It made me
have to do things like precautions with germs. I have to go to clinic. That is sort of fun. I feel welcomed at the cancer
center. I feel happy there.
Playing with Transformers, working with clay, and working with my art and play therapists helped me get my emotions out in
my art. By letting go of the past and thinking about the future it made me more confident- knowing that I am going to survive.
Making clay things and smushing them helped me to get my emotions out. I created cancer droids, steroid man and I smushed them
and broke them into pieces. It made me feel powerful and happy.
I kept doing art (after my art therapy was over) and saw that I was getting better at art. I felt happy that I was able to
accomplish what I really wanted to do which is someday to become a real artist.
Art is happiness to me. Art is just something to get your emotions out. Something to make you feel happy. It is not like a
sport, you don't win at it. It does not matter what you think of art you see. The emotion that you're feeling is always what
you express and what your art looks like. Sadness in art is like blue-colors-purple, pink. Anger is like red, yellow, and
orange. Happy colors are pink, green, silver, and gold. My favorite color is turquoise.
Art and my cancer are related because I could not have successfully gone through cancer without art.
I was diagnosed with Stage 3 intraductal breast cancer in
September 2001. I underwent a mastectomy, eight chemotherapy
treatments, and six weeks of radiation. I was re-diagnosed with Stage
4 metastatic disease in August 2005. I have received a variety of
treatments since then.
I started taking photos on Mackinaw Island shortly after my
first diagnosis. Though I was physically limited by my illness, I found
photography to be a many faceted gift. First, I had a degree in
Interior Design, but was not well enough to work. This gave me the
creative outlet that I so missed. It called me to focus at a meditative
level, which quelled the fears of the future. I needed so badly to be
mindful of the moment and to wholly appreciate the little things in life
(which of course are not little at all). Taking these photographs gave
me a channel in which I could capture life at its simplest form and create
something beautiful to leave the world. It has truly given me a sense of
oneness with all living things.
The Voices Art Gallery was made
possible through a generous gift
by the FRIENDS of the
University Hospital.
The Art Therapy Program at the
Comprehensive Cancer Center is made
possible through donations from the
Robert Bruce Dunlap Memorial Fund,
and others.
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