To You Mr. President,
To you
I am emotional and I am sick
To you
I am a series of holes, for penetrating or expelling
And so if I could, I would bleed indefinitely on your neatly manicured lawn because that is what would offend you the most
To you
I am hysterical
And so if I could, I would vibrate with the bees and we would be the water reaching a fever pitch to boiI you, our great American bullfrog
To you
I am emotional and I am sick
To you
I am sick, I have only illness
And so if I could, I would suck my cancer in and vacuum every diseased cell into my soul just to blow it into your face as the defect you fear and choke on
To you
I am weak, empathetic to the fellow weak
And so if I could, I would gather up my weaknesses and smother you with empathy, with vulnerability, with queerness, with compassion; to the point that you could not breathe for
your own inhumanity
Siobhan Hebron is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Los Angeles. She graduated from UCLA in 2012 with a B.A. in both Art and Art History.
Hebron’s work takes from her personal diagnosis of cancer and broader dialogues of illness, chronic conditions, disability and ableism, and the sick female body. Her visual work engages in feminist social practice, directly embracing community and collaboration. Her writing explores these same topics and functions within the idea that a radically honest dialogue is needed to change the socio-cultural norms around health and illness. Her most recent project was an 80+ page compilation of her own work over the last five years, released on the five year anniversary of her cancer diagnosis.
Hebron is currently pursuing a Patient Advocacy certificate, and plans to continue exploring and making work about illness to advance conversations between the artistic and medical communities.
Instagram: @siobhanhebron
Twitter: @SiobhanHebron
Website: http://siobhanhebron.com
Email: siobhanhebron@gmail.com