Remains To Be Seen
Paintings by Michael Torlen
Cancer Survivor
I am grateful to Claire Cote and the team at New England Cancer Specialists-Rock Row Campus for the opportunity to install five Memento Mori paintings at their new location. The exhibition, Remains To Be Seen, invites staff—doctors, nurses, technicians, and others who work there—to share feedback. My goal is to place this series in cancer centers, research hospitals, and similar institutions for the benefit of administrators, doctors, nurses, technicians, and everyone working to address this devastating disease.
Here is the backstory:
Nine years ago, after moving to Maine in 2015, I built a studio—and discovered a lump in my neck. A cancer diagnosis followed. During radiation and chemotherapy, three experiences sparked a body of post-cancer paintings.
First: I was depressed and felt my creative life was over. My oncologist reminded me that many artists do their best work late in life.
Second: During 31 days of radiation, my radiologist showed me images of my IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy). The scans, geometry, and imagery fascinated me.
Third: During chemotherapy, the nurses told me that the treatment chemicals came in distinct colors—five in all: red, bumblebee yellow, lavender, dark indigo blue, and hot pink.
Back in my studio, I made a series of five paintings—each foregrounding one chemo color with the others as a palette. I borrowed structural elements from the IMRT scans, then added metaphorical motifs and recurring characters from my earlier work.
I titled the series Memento Mori—a traditional reminder of the inevitability of death, and an invitation to live more consciously. Cancer made that reminder immediate.
Rather than ending my creativity, cancer rekindled it. With renewed energy, I wrote my book Studio Seeing, had it published by Intellect Books UK and distributed in the USA through The University of Chicago Press, and completed the first Memento Mori series. The project continues.
I am also attaching a short video, less than 10 minutes long, about the project.
https://www.michaeltorlenauthor.com/portfolios/memento-mori
Michael Torlen
