ARTIST STATEMENT

As I wrestled with feelings of isolation, hurt, and abandonment, I remembered how my dad explained cancer and chemotherapy when I was first diagnosed with A.L.L Leukemia at seven years old. He described cancer as a healthy garden overtaken by weeds. For health and vibrancy to return to the garden the weeds needed to be removed. The process of removing the weeds might be painful, but it is the only way to restore the garden. It took fourteen years to genuinely believe and speak the words, “God healed me through chemotherapy. It was a process, and God wants to heal.” This photo series helped me and others walk through their own grief.

Birthed from the process of wrestling with God and healing through cancer, the work explores the complexities of that journey - grief, wholeness and the in-betweens. The format in which I shot the pieces stems from the classic story arc, beginning with perfection to chaos to healing and to wholeness.