Southwestern College 
My introduction to art therapy came in 2007. That year, a close
friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer; she later founded
ARTS for the Cure, a nonprofit organization dedicated to women
suffering from breast cancer. Wanting to support my friend and honor
her new organization, I volunteered my time by working behind the
scenes, doing odd jobs such as running errands or styling wigs for
cancer victims. One day, a member brought in poetry that she wrote.
This poetry revealed that she felt breast cancer had robbed her of her
sexual identity. Upon reflection over their femininity, most of the
women eventually opened up and expressed a great deal of pain over
losing their breasts and hair within the course of their treatments.
Many of the women felt that they were no longer women and, without
long hair or breasts, they could no longer relate to any feminine
roles. Listening to their anxieties over losing their breasts and
hair simultaneously activated an intense anger within me and broke my
heart. I was frustrated and confused how breasts and hair define what
makes a woman. Further still, I knew that I could not understand
their loss of femininity because I didn’t share their illness; in
response, I cut off my hair and made what I dubbed, “packaged
femininity” with it. The next day, I walked into the group and threw
this art piece on the table commenting, “Don’t you see? It’s only
excess.”
Kat Dison
Excess
2007
Leather, Coconuts, Human Hair, Ribbon
2’ x 1’
More work can be found at www.katdison.com
www.swc.edu
About the Moderator
Magdalena is the moderator of the online Art Gallery and Paintsplash for Southwestern College. She is also an adjunct faculty member at the college in the Art Therapy program. Magdalena is a therapist at Youth Shelters in Santa Fe, working with Art, Sandplay, and relationship focused techniques with families, adults, teens, and children.