“The Common Space Between Cancer and the Cosmos”
Wyatt Davila
@Thirstycoconut on Instagram
@lungcancerisgay on TikTok
Chicago, IL
Survivor
Twist on Cancer: The hardest parts of cancer? Honestly, it’s not just the disease. It’s everything around it, the bills, the insurance, the stress, the way your independence and relationships shift, figuring out who you are when your old life doesn’t fit anymore. None of that shows up on medical charts, but it’s what living with and after cancer really feels like.You don’t do this alone. There’s too much to figure out, too many decisions, too many things you don’t even know to ask. Having a community, especially other people with cancer, is everything. They share the stuff you didn’t know, help fill in the gaps the system leaves behind, and make it feel survivable in a way medicine can’t. There’s no right way to handle cancer. Sometimes strength looks like resting. Progress can look like pausing. Healing isn’t just medical, it’s emotional, social, and deeply human. Let yourself lean on others, define your own path, and take it one day at a time.
Gentry Warren
Braintree, MA
@gwarrenart
“The Common Space Between Cancer and the Cosmos”
Mixed media on linen
18” x 24” x 1.25”
$500
Artist Statement: “The Common Space Between Cancer and the Cosmos” is a joint artistic venture between Inspiration and the Artist. When asked what he would visualize his cancer as, Wyatt Davila produced an intricate digital rendering of an outer-space scene, closely depicted on the canvas you see. During a time of unknowns in Wyatt’s life, the artist chose to follow the design given to ensure that his portrayal of cancer to the world was very close to how Wyatt chose to illustrate it. The painting that resulted is laden with symbols of Wyatt’s life with and around cancer. The wiring on the left symbolizes his shunt, with excess fluids draining into his abdomen, and the collected puddle at the end reflects fluid buildup over time. The bronchial tube’s mechanical nature, references turning parts of his internal anatomy into something industrial and exposed. The UFO flies in to represent Wyatt’s port that is ever-present, functional, and always hovering in the background of life. The QR code that the UFO is beaming up, links to a resource collective called Spread the Spreadsheet. Wyatt started this collective to bring resources together for his community. Please feel free to browse, and add your own resources, if you’d like! The aliens toward the bottom of the painting represent living with HIV, something that entered Wyatt’s life and disrupted everything. Just like HIV, the aliens are invasive, persistent, and never fully out of sight. The large planets in the background represent Wyatt’s major organs – massive, essential systems that quietly exist behind everything else, holding the weight of survival. The lungs are embodied as deep space – vast, dark, and largely unknown. The stars and constellations within the lungs represent Wyatt’s tumors. While we know they are there, there are still so many unknowns about them and how to fully reach them. Much like space, there is knowledge of cancer, but so much unknown, and so many opportunities to learn more.