Name
L Palacio

Brain Tumor Type
Craniopharyngioma

Date of Diagnosis
10-10-2000

Participant Group
Brain Tumor Survivor / 21 and over

Category
Jewelry & Textiles

Artist Statement (include type of art, techniques & materials used, what it means to you)
This piece is my first crochet granny square cardigan it was made using a 5mm hook and worsted weight acrylic yarn. The color depict both the trans and nonbinary flags. This piece was made as a way of showcasing my pride for who I am as a trans person despite the challenges or the hate that may come my way. As a survivor of my tumor I lost my pituitary gland and have been taking artificial hormones my whole life. When it came time for my health and body to mature I found taking hormone replacement difficult to navigate it was all foreign to me my body didn’t make those things like everyone else and for a long time I was lost. After discovering my identity I felt a part of me click into place and was able to find myself outside of my circumstances. I am just me a trans nonbinary person who survived a brain tumor and loves making art that is what this piece is it’s everything in one sweater.

Artist Bio: Tell Us Your Story
Hi, my name is L I’m a 26 year old craniopharngioma survivor as of October of this year I’ll be 24 years in remission. As many of you reading this may know surviving this tumor is just the beginning for a lot of us myself included. Everyday of my life is dealing with the aftermath of this tumor. I recently graduated college which is huge accomplishment I don’t think many people or my doctors ever thought was going to happen. At first I was only given a 2 percent chance of survival then told I wouldn’t make it to 5, then 7, then 16 it would seem that I keep defying the odds. I’m grateful to be able to do what I can , but as I enter this post graduate time in my life I am once again having the challenges of surviving this tumor thrown in my face. Weather it be the optic nerve damage that makes me unable to drive or the chronic fatigue and medication taking its toll mentally and physically. The challenges I face always seem to loom which is why art has always been my outlet. In many ways I have always felt limited by my health but never with art it’s my way of connection to the world outside of living as a survivor of this tumor. I take pride in all my accomplishments but art is something I feel is unmarked by the tumor I survived. In that way everything I make is a sentiment of fighting for more then just survival. My art is throwing my ability to thrive despite this tumor that has scarred the entirety of my life. Despite world weary way in which I sometimes feel I will continue to overcome these challenge and grow more as an artist and a person outside of the confines of what this tumor tries to define me as.