Beneath the Surface

This art piece was inspired by my cancer diagnosis back in 2019. My main goal when producing this piece is to raise awareness about the internal struggles faced by a cancer patient. During my journey with cancer, I was mainly surprised about the mental toll cancer had on me. Therefore, I feel that the mental impact of having cancer is often underacknowledged in society.

The centre figure represents me in the crowd of healthy individuals. The blue-greenish hue represents the non-cancerous part of my PET scan; the red-orange hue represents my lighted up tumour. The reason for using the same colour scheme on the people in the background and me was to signify the misconception of the “cancer look”. As in reality most of us look normal and healthy on the surface but what is often missed is the internal battle ongoing in both body and mind.

The flowers are a metaphor for both life and death. The use of wilted flowers represents the death of the cancer cells after chemotherapy. The slight scattering of the wilted flowers in the “non-cancerous” part of my body was to show the possibility of the undetected cancer cells. This signifies the unspoken fear of recurrence that every patient has. The single white flower on the right chest represents the chemo pod. The colour white represents life and foreshadows a new normal after treatment.

Lastly, the blotches of blue-green hues at the top page symbolizes the internal turmoil in the mind of a cancer patient. The abstract pattern I used on the mind was inspired by the artwork of Yellena James. This is to portray the clashing of different emotions and thoughts that is miss by the naked eye.