Detail: Rose Currie, Making Lemonade 1, acrylic and oil on canvas, 48x36 in, 2023

ROSE CURRIE PRESENTS
CHIMERA 
at FORTUNE GALLERY Nov 15 - 30, 2023
Hours are Tuesday to Sunday 12:00-5:00.  250 383-1552

​In March of 2006 while completing a BFA at the University of Victoria, Rose Currie was diagnosed with an aggressive blood cancer called acute myelogenous leukemia. She was quickly flown to Vancouver General Hospital for treatments that included chemotherapy, radiation and a stem cell (bone marrow) transplant. The treatments that saved her life required isolation from family, friends and the outside world. They lasted one year.

Self Portrait in Elevator, 2006

Ground Zero, ink on paper, 10x7 in, 2008.

Self Portrait with Chemotherapy, 2006.

Adrift in a sterile medical environment, she wondered about her past and future. Who was she becoming while undergoing these invasive and risky procedures? How should she deal with this overwhelming life change? She decided to be curious and investigate her situation by using photo-journalism. Currie used a mirror and an assistant to photograph herself in various circumstances. In Self Portrait with Chemotherapy, we witness her private world surrounded by medical devices.
There is a sculpted beauty in the artist’s bare head and facial contours as she looks skyward amid bags of fluid. Currie appears calmly determined to surmount the difficulties she is encountering.

​Self-Portrait in Elevator records her discharge from VGH after four months, enroute to the Cancer Lodge near the hospital. In this photo, Currie appears as a tiny masked figure, wheelchair-bound in a cavernous elevator. Her personal belongings sit atop her lap in a cardboard box. This stark and poignant image conveys her loss of independence and autonomy. Ground Zero refers to her body becoming toxic due to the radiation treatments. Any waste from her body was sealed with a bio-hazard sticker and taken off site for disposal. When physically able, she drew and painted whatever she was feeling. “But mostly,” she says, “I painted my power and the inner strength that pulled me through.”

Darker Days, mixed media on paper, 14x12 in, 2008

Chemo Girl, ink on paper, 14x11 in, 2008

Happy Cells, ink on paper, 14x11 in, 2008

In the hospital, making art became an act of self-preservation. “Art saved my life,” Currie states, “by giving me a voice and a way to dream.” She envisioned the return of her long dark hair. She imagined her brother’s donor cells as small bright stars sparking new life. When bruises bloomed on her skin, she re-imaged them with colours and patterns of her own choosing.

After one year, Currie was declared cancer-free and able to leave the hospital. But the effects of her treatments continued. Like many transplant patients, she developed Graft-versus-Host Disease. The unpleasant symptoms lasted over two years. Many people view cancer as something you beat and leave behind, explains Currie. “But for many of us, cancer becomes who we are, it lives with us chemically, emotionally and physically.”

Currie was much affected by the toxic positivity that surrounds the fight against cancer. Cheer the Fuck Up and Calm the Fuck Down are visual representations of toxicity experienced by the artist. Often, while sharing feelings of anxiety and depression about her illness, she encountered a lack of sympathy. People would say things like:
“You should be happy to be alive! Why don’t you cheer up?” The emotional complexity of her life as a cancer survivor was downplayed or ignored. Currie’s blog Baldylocks allowed her to vent and connect with others in similar situations. Her insightful YouTube video called My Stupid Cancer Rant received 40,000 views.
​

Making Lemonade 1, acrylic and oil on canvas, 48x36 in, 2023

Making Lemonade 2, acrylic and oil on canvas, 48x36 in, 2023

​Raising money for cancer is big business. Organizations and retailers use fundraisers for branding, self-promotion and marketing purposes. Cancer events are fuelled by a cheerleading atmosphere of competing teams and athletic individuals. Hype includes streamers, flashy signage, pink ribbons and multi-coloured candy. Making Lemonade 1 and Making Lemonade 2 reveal the artist’s frustration with the party atmosphere surrounding cancer benefits. “At the Cancer Lodge, we all wondered where the money was going,” she says. “It certainly wasn’t coming to us.” Now, Currie donates only to individuals, eschewing organizations.

Chimera 1, acrylic and oil on canvas, 36x24 in, 2023

Chimera 2, acrylic and oil on canvas, 36x24 in, 2023

Currie’s artwork incorporates the concept of metamorphosis on several levels.
A Chimera is an organism with genetically different tissues, formed by processes such as fusion and grafting. Currie’s bone marrow transplant altered her body chemistry at the cellular level. The cancer treatments removed all the genetic information from her own DNA. Now her immune and circulatory systems contain the DNA of her brother - the blood donor.

In accessing her inner strength and personal power, Currie identifies with the Chimera from Greek mythology. A Chimera is a female fire-breathing creature, part lion, goat and serpent. “I created a new narrative,” she says, “one where I am the heroine. I took my broken body, this lemon, and showed it for what it truly is - beautiful!”

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These days, Rose Currie’s life is full and busy.
​
In June 2022, she had a solo show at Staying Creative Gallery in Brentwood Bay. The exhibition featured her successful landscape paintings of Dallas Road and the Surf Motel. These artworks are available on her website. Art rental and sales at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria feature her artworks. She recently completed a three-week artist residency at Island Mountain Arts in Wells BC. This is being quickly followed by her November 15-30 solo show at Fortune Gallery.
​Connect with this innovative conceptual artist via email: [email protected].
​Or visit her website here:

Waiting Room, acrylic and oil on canvas, 36x36 in, 2023

​​Fortune Gallery, 537 Fisgard Street, Victoria, BC V8W 1R3
Hours are Tuesday to Sunday 12:00-5:00.  250 383-1552

The Opening of Chimera on Nov 16 was a warm gathering of friends, family and colleagues celebrating Rose's success.

Rose with husband Brad

Rose with two of her three sons.

Rose with friends and art colleagues

​Web Design and Content by Kate Cino
Arts writer published in Focus on Victoria, Yam and Boulevard. 
History in Art degree and Public Relations certificate from 
​the University of Victoria
​
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​[email protected]  250 598-4009