by Nancy Sep£lveda
Daily Lobo
Art can bring healing and closure after a difficult experience, said student Hayley Richardson, vice president of the Art Student Association.
"That's something so powerful about art - its ability to bring people together," she said.
The association is hosting the "Breast Cancer Survivors Collection," an exhibit featuring photographs of women who have battled the
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disease.
It is on display in the Cochiti Lounge on the third floor of the SUB until April 20. A reception will be held at 5 p.m. the same day in
the SUB.
The exhibit includes a journal in which visitors can leave comments.
"Hopefully, a show like this will open young people's eyes to the realities of cancer," Richardson said.
The women in the black-and-white photographs are topless, revealing scarred or missing breasts. Many are smiling, some wear masks, and all are identified by first name, birth year and year of diagnosis.
"The pictures should give survivors a sense of pride," Richardson said. "It shows how something beautiful can come out of a traumatic experience."
Molly Shannon, the exhibit's artist and curator, is a breast cancer survivor.
Most of the people in the photographs are women she met through survivor support groups,
Shannon said.
"I posted fliers in different doctors' offices, but in the end, it was friends who felt most comfortable doing it, " she said.
She decided to create the exhibit when she was taking a photography class at UNM last year.
"I thought, 'Why not feature real survivors, scars and all?'" Shannon said. "Before then, there weren't any nice, dignified portraits of what women's bodies really look like after surgery."
Creating the portraits was an important step in her recovery,
Shannon said.
"It was very much a healing process for me and was for the women who participated," she said.
Student David Sanchez said he was moved by a photograph of a woman with her husband.
"As a guy, I don't think about breast cancer all that much," Sanchez said. "That picture made me realize my life could still be touched by it. A woman I love could be next."
Informational pamphlets on breast cancer and mammograms are available at the show.
"It's helpful because it's artistic as well as educational," Sanchez said.
Seeing the exhibit can be a positive experience for the families of survivors, Richardson said.
"It can unite all the people affected by breast cancer," she said.
Students should take advantage of the opportunity to see the faces of strong, resilient survivors,
Richardson said.
"It should be empowering,"
she said.
"Breast Cancer Survivors Collection"
Cochiti Lounge in the SUB
Noon to 11 p.m.
Through April 20
