'Karen' by Armando Cabba: Raising Awareness and Promoting Body Positivity in Breast Cancer Survivors
Armando Cabba is a Paris-based oil painter who often uses his work to promote body positivity for people of all genders and sexualities. One of his latest pieces, Karen, is a nude painting of a breast cancer survivor done to raise awareness about the disease. True to his oeuvre, the piece also helps promote a body-positive attitude to aid the healing of breast cancer survivors. This is why Karen by Armando Cabba is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Good Health And Well-Being.
Karen is done in Cabba’s signature realism style. The sitter’s body looks as real as it can be, with its stretch marks, curves, lines, and more, depicted to meet the viewer’s gaze. With its full-face makeup, Karen's gaze also meets the viewer’s. This asserts their agency, reminding audiences that they are looking at a real person with a real body instead of just an image.
To further assert this, they stand confidently with one hand over their head and their chest brought forward. This pose helps Karen draw the viewer’s attention towards the visible signs of their battle with breast cancer. On their chest are mastectomy scars, the result of a surgical operation frequently performed to remove cancerous cells and tissue from the breast. At the same time, their head is bald, a tell-tale symptom of chemotherapy, a taxing form of treatment aimed at reducing the growth of cancerous cells.
Today, breast cancer has around 3.1 million living survivors worldwide. A Breast Cancer Survivorship Care Guideline by the American Cancer Society has found that up to 67 percent of breast cancer survivors struggle with their body image. Hair loss and mastectomy scars come out on top as leading causes of this, affecting survivors’ mental health for the worse. Karen by Armando Cabba carries tremendous weight and impact in terms of promoting a healthier relationship between breast cancer survivors and their body image. Here, Cabba hopes that survivors will be able to recognize Karen’s beauty and confidence and perceive that they, too, are as beautiful and can be as confident.
On top of that the American National Breast Cancer Foundation has stated that each person would know at least one person that has been affected by breast cancer. Hope comes from the fact that, in recent years, there have been advances in early detection and treatment. If detected early, within the first five years, the survival rate is almost 99 percent. Here, Karen by Armando Cabba acts as a reminder for the general public to get themselves checked and to actively look for signs of breast cancer in themselves.
Karen by Armando Cabba is a powerful and evocative artwork that serves multiple purposes: raising awareness about breast cancer, promoting body positivity and fostering a sense of empowerment among survivors. By portraying a breast cancer survivor in a raw, realistic, and dignified manner, Cabba challenges societal perceptions and encourages viewers to see the beauty and strength in scars and baldness. This piece offers a crucial reminder of the importance of early detection and support for those affected by breast cancer. Through Karen, Cabba hopes to inspire survivors to embrace their bodies and to recognize their own beauty and resilience.
Find out more about Karen and other pieces by Armando Cabba on his website, www.armandocabba.com, or his Instagram @armandocabba.