So, you might be thinking...why shoot a wig head in a dry lake bed? This image has so much more to it than one would imagine at first glance (like most of them do). When I see this picture, I see the blazing hot earth beneath a cool, calm, bald head. I see the juxtaposition of hot and cold and of man made product against the organic background. I bought this styrofoam head while I was wig shopping with a dear friend as she prepared herself for chemotherapy. She wanted to buy her wig before she lost all her hair so she would be ready when the time came. I couldn't resist buying a few of these heads for two reasons, the first was so my kid could color it and play with it (which she did and loved it) and the second was so I could turn a shitty situation into an artful outlet (which I did).
The calm face represents the brave face my friend wore throughout all of her chemo and radiation treatments. She was cool and calm once the shock and horror wore off. The cracked earth represents the cancer that attempted to consume her. It was unexpected, overwhelming and the cracks seemed to keep spreading and spreading as she learned more and more about not only the side effects of chemo and radiation but about her new infertility, her push into menopause, the burns and then scarring from her radiation and the permanent effects to her immune system. However, in the distance, the sky is blue and welcoming, her future is bright and beautiful and she defeated the cancer and remains at peace now.
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