Mixed media, acrylic&mono, 9 by 12 inches.I rarely think about my previous breasts. How should I call them now? My previous breasts, my original breasts, my own breasts, my God-given breasts? They're gone and hopefully the cancer with them. They felt strange and spongy from within during the months leading up to the diagnosis. Probably cystic tissue. The reconstruction gave me new breasts. I love them. They're beautiful. I see them as my breasts though they're not real breasts of course...I still don't have the areola tattoos. Maybe I won't get them. For now there's too much going on on them color-wise because of the scars. Tattooing now doesn't feel right, artistically ;-)
4 comments:
Your post leaves me wondering what part of us IS real? As medicine advances and we are able to replace breasts, limbs, hearts etc.; I think we realize we are more than the sum of our parts. My mother has alzheimers and it's not as if she has "lost her mind" but that it's a different mind that lives only in the present. Personally I'm not sure if I would get an areola tattoo; something to celebrate their difference perhaps. But being male I won't pretend to understand a woman's identifications. C'est la vie but the goddess part is elsewhere.
Hey Bill, sorry to hear about your mother, you describe it well I think as if her mind is different now, living very much in the present only...I also love the way you're phrasing the 'to tattoo or not to tattoo-'thing, "something to celebrate their difference perhaps." Thx. Interesting point about gender: men get breast cancer, never heard of any reconstructing nipples there...I guess men&women view their own bodies totally different as well+ that you're 'dealing'(ok maybe not the best choice of words) with your partner's feelings about it too...
Being a man I obviously cannot comprehend your emotional pain, even though I have had my bout with stage three cancer.
I know I will be spending some time on your blog, backtracking your posts to see how you have dealt with the crises.
I have not been able to deal with the cancer as if it were no issue but my open heart surgery is another matter. I have not been able to deal with it through my art. Maybe if I journey through your words and images I may find the beginning to my own healing.
Thank you for your presence and sharing your journey . . .
Egmont
Hey Egmont, good to meet you, you're very welcome to journey here. Thanks for visiting. Sorry to hear you've had your own serious health issues... Should you find a way/a beginning to your own healing through my pieces&words....that would be totally marvellous! I wish you well!
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