What Lies Beneath
2020, oil on canvas, 24 x 36″. Published in Intima: Journal of Narrative Medicine
http://www.theintima.org/new-page-40
Today, people live in a constant state of anguish about their health. They wonder about every ache and every pain. Is it cancer? A blood clot? An infection? The painting depicts three stoic women, all with various ailments that lie just underneath the surface. The woman to the left holds her pill bottle tightly. She believes it will protect her from illness. Yet, she has so many ailments just underneath the surface: ovarian cancer, sarcoma, claudication, septic joint. The other two women also have various ailments: blood clot, breast cancer, thyroid disease. They all pose together, anxiously, with the fear of not knowing exactly what lies beneath.