Corina S. Alvarezdelugo: February 2010

22.2.10

art, dense breast tissue and breast cancer

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My dear readers, I've made a sculpture with the idea not only to raise awareness about breast cancer - women cancer - but also to give it away, to donate it to a foundation that researches for a cure to breast cancer or women cancer.

So, after having it shown in several venues around Connecticut and in NYC, and viewed internationally through web-based galleries, it's time for me to part from it, and for this I NEED YOUR HELP.

I've tried to find the right foundation but there are so many out there that it's hard to choose from... I do know, however, that many, many women, like me, have dense breast tissue which makes it harder for mammograms to detect abnormalities in the breast. You see, dense areas in the breast show up as white in the mammograms, as well as tumors that also show up as white. To make it even worse for us, in a recent study they have found that the cells that make up dense breast tissue may be a more fertile ground for cancer cells to grow in. The studies even suggested that the cancer cells found in women with dense breast tissue tend to be more aggressive that in women with normal breast tissue.

Therefore, since women with dense breast tissue seem to be more likely to get breast cancer and it's harder to be detected early, I would like to donate my sculpture AWARENESS to a foundation researching for a better way to diagnose and prevent Breast Cancer in women with Dense Breast Tissue. So, if you know of a foundation that would benefit on using my work as a fundraiser for their research efforts, as well as to serve as a reminder that we all women need to be aware of the risks and that we need to take prevention into our hands, please let me know. I would really appreciate it.

AWARENESS
stoneware on cedar wood
10"h x 8"w x 8"d
Best in Sculpture at the Manhattan Arts International HerStory online Competition, NYC, 2009
(c) Corina S. Alvarezdelugo

Using the image of this sculpture I have made pocket mirrors that I sell through my Etsy store. 50% of the profits from the sales of this little mirrors will be also donated to the same foundation. So please HELP me find the right one to give it to!!

NOTE: Since the best medicine is prevention, please women out there do your monthly breast self-exam and have your mammogram done once a year, at least until we know of something better.

14.2.10

V is for...Happy Valentine's Day!

I made this little mixed media collage in the name of LOVE...hence it's name, AMORE!

Once again, I looked into my bag of treasures and found these very old pieces of photographs that depicted red roses on them. They were scraps from a photo class I took while in college; just bad prints that my friend didn't want and she was so nice as to let me keep them. So, this roses where just right as focal point for this piece.

I glued the ripped photographs into a piece of watercolor paper measuring 8.5"h x 10.5"w. I added pieces of hand-made paper and a ripped piece from a pastel drawing. I also added a few pieces of paper here and there from different sources, to add a complementary color and texture. To finish my piece I wrote the word AMORE on silk paper, using India ink in a golden yellow and in red. Then, I ripped the borders by hand and glued the words down around my piece, in a way that you can't read the whole word at once.... Like love, it needs a little effort from both sides to be complete! Enjoy!

Amore

mixed media collage

8.5"h x 10.5"w

This piece, as well as cards made out of prints from this artwork are for sale at my Etsy Store

11.2.10

V is for Victory!

I had to house-sit for friends the other day. They needed someone to be there to receive some furniture they had bought and I really wanted to work on my art. So, I went there armed with my bag of treasures (it's a bag I have been filling up with things I find with "possibilities"...) and two pieces of wood, measuring 20" x 8" each.

When I got there, to my friends' house, I extended all my "treasures" on their kitchen table and started assembling two collages with the scraps I was finding in my bag. One of them I really liked, so I began gluing the pieces together.

I started by layering a piece of a material I found when workers were taking down the siding in my house. It's like thin brown paper in the back and has a very fine layer of something that looks like aluminum paper, and it probably is! So, as you can imagine it has a vintage feeling to it, besides the texture that it adds to my work...Loved it!

I also found in my bag a tag with four numbers that looked like the ones runners use at marathons... so there was my theme for this piece!

I had ripped pieces from a pastel drawing that I placed here and there to add some needed color. I then drew, with graphite, hands raised up as celebrating the victory of my runner and then glued over a transferred image of hands to add more dimension. Stamped irregular lines here and there with a green mixture of acrylic paint...and the furniture arrived, it was now time to get back home...

NOTE: When making a collage, it's very important to put in layers of materials as you work your way around your piece, this way you'll add depth to your work. It will give it dimension, to an otherwise flat surface.

At home, I felt it still needed something else... so I printed on vellum the outlined image of a runner, and glued it down...VOILA! my piece is done! here is the finished result... Enjoy!

Victory