Transcendence

By Karen Koster Burr

October 19th, 2022

My goal for works such as the attached “Transcendence,” is to inspire others. It is one of several works I have created incorporating and transforming artifacts from my treatment experience for metastatic breast cancer. Initially diagnosed in 2002 with breast cancer, it was found to be metastatic in 2016. Imagery that depicts the patient as a strong, vibrant person, albeit amidst treatment, empowers us to be seen as vital beings despite our diagnosis and gives us strength to go on. Transcendence transforms the radiation head stabilizer, a necessary but constraining device, as it affixes the patient’s head to the platform for treatment, into a lotus garden arising from within. Inside the mask are waterlilies floating on calm waters; peaceful waters covering the mask are dotted with flowers and strewn with vibrant stems. They bathe the patient and the viewer in serenity and calm.