Breast Cancer is a formidable menace. I know from personal experience and partly due to this fact, I was able to respond to artist Siena Gillann Porta’s own struggle with this life-altering disease, bringing my modicum of understanding to her transformation from patient to ring pugilist facing an unnerving opponent.
Her upcoming solo exhibit, “Showing Up —Acts of Witness” at NOHO M55 Gallery in Chelsea, provides an intimate perspective on healing from this trauma in her work of the past five years. They are a triumphant response to an atrocious malaise, her fighting soul’s use of karate and creativity to foster endurance.
Paraphrasing her own words, her latest outing encapsulates “the experience of the cancer survivor, involving an ongoing journey of personal transformation with a multitude of feelings—pain, gratitude, anger and appreciation where (even) regrowing hair after chemotherapy or radiation becomes a symbol of renewal, the act of enjoying a meal, a form of healing.”
Porta’s documentation of chemo’s aftermath in her painting Ambiguous Selfie, Buddhist Nun, Chemo Patient? sears, evoking visceral reactions in me from its detailed rendering of a vibrant woman, with head now bald from invasive treatments, her countenance a citation of witness and resignation at the brutal onslaught. The painting is of true grit as the prohibition of creativity’s defeat. “Yes, it has changed my artwork as one’s mortality is front and center. Has it changed my outlook artistically? I don’t think so. This is my second diagnosis in 15 years, so I have an overview.”
She paints an awareness of nourishment’s sacred role in cancer recovery in a self-portrait of sitting at a table where her flowing chestnut locks have replaced the baldness as she enjoys a savory meal, the painting becoming documentation of therapeutic action, a continuing process she compliments with Zen practices and Shūkōkai to meet the maladies’ challenges. “Zen practice has grounded me throughout my adult life. It’s not easy and there’s no rainbow but it’s priceless.”
She views cancer and karate as transformative life experiences, the discipline, focus, and physical rigor of karate, a means of regaining strength and dealing with anger at illness as well as a source of visual and conceptual inspiration. “Shūkōkai karate is a form of martial arts. Like any art one can focus and lose oneself in the practice; it’s a means to an end and great fun.”
Considering this, Porta’s struggles have not deterred her artistic expression. She has exhibited extensively in solo, and group shows throughout the United States and abroad with installations in New York City, its greater metropolitan area, U.S. national parks and Iceland.
Her versatility and her interest in various media styles early on gave rise to a career as a scenic artist, working as a member of Local USA 829, a union representing designers and scenic artists. She created scenery for the Metropolitan Opera, Broadway and in feature films which can be seen in a YouTube interview on Art in Conversation with Farrin and on her website. She explains that “the large scale and diverse materials and processes I had access to were very exciting.” She realized that “there are no boundaries here, I can play with anything! It was fun!” This flowed into her personal art, with sculptures and installation art becoming a significant part of her portfolio.
She counts artist Lee Bontecou as an influence on her work through a shared appreciation of artistic authenticity and tenacity to tackle creative challenges. “She was self-contained and (an) extremely authentic person, committed to her art and present to her students; (she seemed like home to me as both my parents were artists). Her approach was to urge you to keep trying and work through whatever problems or insights you were grappling with.”
With her sensibilities akin to Bontecou’s, in her ability to express underlying real emotions, Porta’s use of art and meditation act as antidotes to disease. My thoughts, too, drift to art as a healing discipline and I think of Messiaen’s mystical music, the interpretation of birdsongs to express nature’s transcendent beauty in sound. Our modern-day toxicities intrude upon and alter the exquisite, fragile biome, drowning out our feathered friends and we must listen carefully to nature’s sounds, supporting them by artistic expressions, healthy living and spiritual connections to counteract our modern negativity. Artist Siena Gillann Porta gives credence to all three of these in her life and work. G&S
“Fire, Blood and Shrōdinger’s Cat” is an artwork about being treated for breast cancer. Being in a sterile hospital environment, not knowing if you will be alive or dead after the “experiment” of chemo and radiation is an overwhelming experience. The title refers to a thought experiment in quantum mechanics, which states that while it is unobserved the titular cat stuck in the box may be seen as both living and dead. The breast cancer care gap in disparity of treatment is a global health concern.
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