Type of Media
Photography/Digital Art

Artist Statement
Art has always been a deep part of my daily life. Doodling, sewing, crafting, creating...I find myself doing consistent “beautiful things” to help maintain a healthy mental state. I generally create costumes, wearable art, using all kinds of fabrics, textiles, found items, sea shells, wire, beads... anything! I’ve been selling crowns and costumery at a local art gallery on the Hawai’i island since 2017. Before that, I primarily sold via Etsy or in person co-creative endeavors. I found Art of Surviving while seeking online support for my family’s new found situation.
I think what you are offering (beyond the prizes) by bringing together a community of common ground for people who often feel isolated or alone... is a wonderful thing! Thank you for the opportunity to be part of it.

Here are my entries, portraying my son and how we see him, shining, inspiring, radiating... even with a very stubborn and hard to reach tumor inside his brain.

Bio
My name is Raine Nai’a Azure, I’m the 34 year old mother of nine year old Saji La’Akea Azure-van Loon who was diagnosed with Craniopharyngioma in February of this year. He has since undergone three brain surgeries and has a continued journey of healing ahead of him. Though Saji always shined as a beacon of light in our lives, he’s shown incredible patience, strength, acceptance, and positivity in the face of the unknown... only making him brighter and brighter. He has continued to inspire everyone around him, through his perspectives on ‘why’ this has happened in his life, and his tangible sense of security and confidence.

I myself am set aback by his kindness toward himself, his little sister, and our entire community, who’ve all been in deep intentional focus for his path to be the smoothest possible with all things considered.

My mother also went through an intense brain surgery for an aneurism when I was 12. It left her blind in one eye, with short term memory loss, and a myriad of other life long side effects. My mother still lives very close to me, and I am her daily helper/shopper/cleaner to make her life easier. I would say life with my mother, and now my own son, would certainly deem me as a life-long caregiver of brain tumor survivors.