Artist John Magnan began creating sculptures soon after his wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Powerfully affected by the total surprise of her diagnosis and the ordeal of her surgery and treatment, he responded with an unblinking artistic look at the experience of dealing with cancer. With the support of Massachusetts General Hospital, his initial work developed and grew into body image | body essence , a visual vocabulary for ovarian cancer awareness.

Recently the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition and the MGH Cancer Center joined the partnership to present body image | body essence as an attention getting centerpiece for a major national ovarian cancer awareness campaign.

Using recurrent imagery of hair loss, Mr. Magnan explores the conflict between "who I am" and "what I look like" faced by women with ovarian cancer after its invasive surgery and follow-up treatments. His work also addresses other aspects of changed self image, both somber and lighthearted. Solemn issues of scarring, fatigue and fertility can be found in some pieces, but so can explorations of "chemo brain," or hair that refuses to grow back the same as before.