Sandra Curitore
Piece of Me
Acrylic on canvas
Artist Statement
On May 30, 2019, pieces of me were taken away. I underwent a double mastectomy. Two horizontal scars remain, a permanent reminder of what I fought through and overcame.
This painting is part of my When Life Gives You Lemons series. Lemons became a way to tell the parts of my story that words never could. In Piece of Me, the torn lemon represents the loss I felt after surgery. I was not just grieving my breasts. I was grieving the person I was before cancer.
Healing did not mean becoming that person again. It meant slowly discovering who I was now.
Through this series, I have explored the many layers of survivorship. Loss and gratitude. Fear and hope. Grief and joy. Cancer changed me, but it also changed the way I see the world. Painting has helped me make sense of that change.
52 Views of Cancer
52 Views of Cancer is a deck of playing cards illustrated by people who know cancer firsthand. Each of the 52 cards carries original artwork by a different cancer patient, survivor, or immediate family member, each with their own view of the disease.
The artwork comes first. We're bringing the deck to major scientific and medical conferences and putting these artists' work directly into the hands of the researchers and clinicians working on the cancers they've faced.
Learn more about Invenra’s efforts to fight cancer.
