“Cancer’s Parting Gift”
Lynn Leiro
Los Angeles, CA
@cutiecuban2.0 on Instagram
Survivor
Twist on Cancer: Lynn Leiro is a mom, wife, daughter and 2X Cancer Survivor. She was first diagnosed with stage 3C, Triple Negative Breast Cancer at the age of 36. She underwent 6 months of chemotherapy, a mastectomy, radiation and immunotherapy. Shortly after finishing her treatment, she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. She underwent multiple chemotherapies, CAR-T Cell Therapy and a Bone Marrow Transplant. She is happy to share that she currently has no evidence of disease. After my experiences with cancer, I’ve learned that although I may have survived, cancer always leaves a parting gift. For me, it left me with a new cancer, a lymphedema risk, Addison’s Disease, platelet issues, thyroid issues, anxiety, scars – daily reminders of what cancer put me through.
Annamaria Scaccia
@gotchascaccia
Austin, TX
Annamarias.framer.website
“Cancer’s Parting Gift”
Mixed media and acrylics
24” x 30” x 1”
$1,500
Artist Statement: Cancer never goes away. The treatment may end, but you are left to pick up the remnants of life after. Lifelong medications, vigilant monitoring, constant platitudes, new symptoms, and health scares. Like me, Lynn Leiro is a double cancer survivor who needs daily medications in order to function—what she calls “cancer’s parting gifts.” This piece literalizes that phrase. Actual discarded medical supplies—hers and mine—burst from a shipping box modeled after the packages that arrive at Lynn’s door like clockwork. But instead of being contained, they explode outward, caught in rays of light inscribed with the words we’re offered in place of understanding—”warrior,” “rockstar,” “resilient,” “badass.” The same platitudes are printed on the torn wrapping paper beneath the box. These words aren’t comfort but rather armor we’re expected to wear, reframing our reality into something more palatable for others. The bright colors and pop art aesthetic mirror this dissonance—the way survivors and patients are pressured to make our ongoing struggle digestible and celebratory. This mixed media piece resists this expectation and instead declares our true reality—that we carry the burden of a body that will never be the same.