Maggie - "This" Installation

2/19/2026

"This" Installation (March 29 - April 11)

Idea: Chemotherapy 

Over the past 5 years, 4 of my family members have been diagnosed with cancer - my mom (uterine), my aunt (breast), and my cousins Dave (thyroid) and Julee (breast). Before that, the only member of my family who lost their battle to cancer was Dave's brother, Jim. He had this ultra-rare form of melanoma that grew in his sinuses. He died when I was around 8.

It's been really hard for me as I watch the people I love fall ill, and then be injected with a poison to help them get better. My aunt was just recently switched from a chemo pill to an IV drip form of chemo because she was having such bad allergic reactions to the pill. She just had all her hair shaved off on the 3rd of February. 

I have mixed feelings toward chemotherapy, because on one hand, it is literally poison, and on the other hand, it's the only thing to kill the cancer. I'm overwhelmed by it all, and that's what I want to portray in this installation. 

Sketches: 

Materials: 

-  IV bags in bulk. There are fake IV blood bags being sold on Amazon, and I can remove the labels. 

IV bags link 

- Chemotherapy Labels.

Stickers link 1

Stickers link 2

Stickers link 3

Stickers link 4

- Something to hang the bags from the ceiling.

- Fluorescent paint or glow stick liquid.

- Blacklights.

- Something black to cover the walls. 

- Isopropyl alcohol (for scent).

- Something to play the sound of beeping monitors. 

Artist Inspiration: 

For this sculpture, I am inspired by Keith Sonnier and Adela Andena because of their use of light. 

Keith Sonnier

Adela Andena

Unresolved Questions: 

- I am thinking about the possibility of putting a hospital chair in the corner of the room. My hesitation is both access to one and the price. I think it would really tie in with the room though. Thoughts? 

- I am still unsure if I want to write on the wall. I wanted to call the cancer center in Cheyenne (where both my mom and Aunt are receiving their treatment) and see if the nurses had any suggestions to add, and if they had any extra chemo safety bags that they could donate. Apparently when my aunt was getting her last infusion, she asked for a ice pack for the neuralgia. The nurses gave her ice in a chemo safety bag, so they might have extras.