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Casting Away Cancer:
The Lila’s Breast Project
by Valerie Linet; photos provided by Ann Hutton

An image from Audre Lorde’s The Cancer Journals: A parade of one-breasted mastectomy survivors marching on Washington for women’s rights and breast cancer education. How, Audre asks, could the nation ignore the environmental factors of cancer—polluted waters, radiation, chemicals used for food production and other industrial purposes—if the women bearing the message bravely revealed their Amazonian struggle with cancer?

Lila’s Breast, an art project conceived of by Ann Hutton and executed along with Bill Giacalone, is in a sense, that parade. “The purpose of the project is to wake people up,” says Hutton, who lost her own mother, Lila, to breast cancer when she was eight years old. Lila’s Breast is a loud, clear, emotionally wrought display that speaks for itself with a complete cast of 47 single-breasted plaster torsos that require the onlooker to take notice of, honor, celebrate, and reflect on the lives of breast cancer victims. Looking at this display, you will find yourself asking questions about femininity, sensuality, and what it means to be whole in the context of breast cancer. It confronts the shame, sadness, and anger that many women feel over the loss of a breast. The project challenges society’s inclination to avoid the overwhelming fact of breast cancer. “Ultimately perhaps, the sculptures speak to us as a society that has accepted mastectomy as an answer to breast cancer,” said Hutton. “One out of every eight women now faces this horrific possibility. If mastectomy is the answer, then perhaps we are asking the wrong questions—and in becoming aware of that, perhaps the questions that lead to the causes and ultimate cure of breast cancer will be provoked.”

Each body cast was done either of a breast cancer survivor, a model posing in homage to a loved one, a woman who had a close brush with the disease, or one who has undergone a lumpectomy. The artists removed one breast from the casts of women who did not have mastectomies, and those detached body parts became pieces in another artist’s auxiliary project. Each woman contributed something with which the artist decorated their sculpture—something that would stand in place of the missing breast. Some of the statements are sentimental (one woman attached a replica of her wedding bouquet), some express bitterly pained (there is a torso with nails embedded in the chest), and still others are tinged with a shadowy humor (like the one entitled “Under Reconstruction,” which includes tiny trucks and construction toys as props). As they state in their mission, Ann Hutton and Bill Giacalone’s “purpose is to replace negative images of self-devaluation with images of the true value that each woman is—whole and complete even when missing a breast, strong and beautiful in her asymmetry. A single-breasted woman is a woman who is surviving. Each such woman’s life is a triumph.” A plaque with the model’s first name, age, and a short, heart-felt statement accompanies each sculpture.

Lila’s Breast is a collaboration that began a few years ago between Giacalone, a painter who had recently begun to experiment with body casting, and Hutton, who was enrolled in a Leadership Course at Landmark Education Corporation at the time. It was Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Hutton needed to create a project for her course. Reminiscing on the courage and sacrifice of her own mother, she proposed a project that would give voice and visibility to women who have undergone mastectomies. Her original goal was to create 42 sculptures because that was the age of her mother when she died. The number of women willing and interested in modeling has been so great, however, that Hutton and Giacalone surpassed the initial goal and are still hearing from volunteers who want to be cast. At first, Hutton was not sure how cancer survivors would respond to the project, but she soon discovered their deep need to be seen. Their participation in the project served as part of the healing process. Hutton says, “So far, all the casting has been done in central New Jersey and in the Hudson River Valley in New York. The project is representative of women of all shapes, ages (18 and up), sizes, and ethnicities. Our oldest model was 75 when she came into the studio to be casted. This has been a cathartic experience for many women. Disrobing and allowing their bodies to be layered with plaster strips—that’s not something that most women could even imagine doing. It forces us to confront our own images in very tactile and emotional ways.”

Lila’s Breast has been exhibited in a variety of venues over the past two years, from cancer walk-a-thons to a women’s health boutique and the lobby of a New Jersey playhouse. It has been presented at a church, in art galleries, and at a hospital. Other artists, photographers, and people who may not have experienced breast cancer have been drawn in by the power of the show.

Lila’s Breast will have an opening reception on November 9 from 7-9pm at the Backstage Studio Productions (BSP) building at 323 Wall Street in Kingston. Benedictine Hospital will provide information on women’s health and breast cancer for the duration of the show. For information, call 338-8700.