A painting can hold several feelings at once. Color, posture, an unfinished line or an empty space can give an experience a shape when a conversation feels difficult. Art made around cancer can be a personal record, a way to communicate with someone, or simply an activity that belongs to the person making it.
Looking at Consuelo Ardila Orjuela’s Why Me?
Consuelo Ardila Orjuela of Bogotá, Colombia, received third place for Why Me? in the 2006 Lilly Oncology on Canvas international art competition. In Lilly’s November 3, 2006 announcement, she described feelings following her papillary thyroid cancer diagnosis and connected the background’s movement from cold to warm colors with different stages of her experience. The statement records her own interpretation of the work.
Look first at what is visible: the body folds inward, the face is partly hidden, and the arms provide a resting place. Broad areas of blue surround warmer skin and light. Those observations give a viewer somewhere to begin. The title then introduces a question. A viewer might think about exhaustion, privacy or the desire for shelter, while recognizing that these are responses to the image rather than facts about the artist’s thoughts.
The distinction is useful whenever someone shares personal artwork. “What would you like me to notice?” leaves room for their meaning. “This must mean you feel better” closes that room too quickly. A work can remain important even when its maker’s feelings change.
For medical background on the diagnosis named in this account, the thyroid-cancer guide explains why the exact type and test results matter.
Choose a way to participate
Look
Spend a few minutes with one image. Notice a color, object or area of space before reading the accompanying story. Then consider what the artist’s account adds. You can appreciate someone’s expression without sharing the same response.
Make
Choose an accessible material: pencil, paper, a camera or pieces of colored paper. A small, unfinished work can be enough. The purpose you choose might be recording a day, remembering a person or enjoying a familiar activity.
Join
Ask a cancer center or community organization about an arts group. Before attending, clarify who leads it, whether sharing is optional, what materials are supplied and how fatigue or accessibility needs are accommodated.
The Oncology on Canvas gallery pairs artwork with personal narratives and offers ways to browse different media and contributors. Its present-day participation information should be checked on the official site; the rules and international awards of the 2006 competition describe that historical event.
A five-minute creative invitation
This optional activity is an invitation to make something, with no assessment or expected emotional result. Pick an ordinary moment from today if a cancer-related subject feels too demanding.
- Choose a comfortable setup. Use one sheet of paper and whatever drawing material is easy to handle. Keep the task small enough to stop whenever you want.
- Choose a color or shape. Make a mark that fits something you noticed today. It could suggest a sound, a place, a sensation or an object.
- Add or leave space. Decide whether another mark belongs beside it. An empty area can remain empty.
- Give it words only if useful. Add a title, a date or a sentence. You can also leave the image to stand alone.
- Choose what happens next. Keep it privately, put it away, discard it or show it to someone. Finishing and sharing are separate choices.
For example, a person might draw one crowded corner and leave the rest of the sheet open. “Today felt busy” could be a sufficient caption. This is an invented example, not a symbol with a fixed psychological meaning.
When you want professional art therapy
The American Art Therapy Association describes art therapy as a mental health profession combining art-making and psychological knowledge within a therapeutic relationship. A trained art therapist works with a person toward goals suited to their needs. A private sketchbook or an informal workshop has a different setting and purpose.
Ask your care team whether an art therapist is available, what qualifications the practitioner holds, how a referral works and whether there is a fee. You can also ask whether sessions are individual or shared, how privacy is handled, and whether you need any previous art experience. These questions help you choose a setting that feels manageable. Creative expression can accompany cancer care; treatment questions still belong with your clinical team.
Updated October 9, 2026. Arts, history and advocacy; personal care and support arrangements should be discussed with the relevant qualified professionals.
Explore Art, Music, and Advocacy and the full Cancer guides.