Artists use images of their own cells to provoke debate
their Women: a Cartography exhibition.
The display, which is on show at Arts Centre Washington, is a mixed media exhibition of creative work inspired by the cellular pathology specimens from the hysterectomy and double mastectomy of Rachel and Maggie and is aimed at opening up discussions about women’s health.
For the artists it’s a deeply personal insight into their battles with health and how their operations affected them both physically and psychologically.
Last November, mum of two Maggie, 68, underwent the trauma of a double mastectomy at University Hospital of North Tees after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Shortly before her diagnosis she’d met mum-of-two Rachel, 58, at a creative networking event who was looking to use her creative side to document her journey with a hysterectomy 10 years ago.
Together, they combined their visual arts and writing talents to create the mixed media exhibition after being granted permission by the hospital trusts to obtain images of the cells from their illnesses.
Rachel, whose work includes images of her cells magnified 70 times the size, explained: “Predominantly, what I was interested in was taking something which is unseen and microscopic and making it huge.”
Maggie said: “It helps to make public what goes on in labs, what they do, the diagnoses they make, it saves lives. Yet the work they do is often unseen and unrecognised. The biomedical scientists have been incredibly helpful.
“I hope that our exhibition will bring some understanding of the ways we have tackled our diagnoses and will underpin the importance of mammograms and smear tests.”