Jewelry to Stand Up to Breast Cancer

When New York artist Leonor Caraballo was diagnosed with breast cancer, one of her first questions was: what does the tumor look like?

The need to face the enemy led her and her husband, Abou, to embark on a pioneering project to visualize breast cancer tumors from the MRI's of patients and friends. Combining medical imaging, 3D printing and art, they turned this grim diagnosis into an inspiring project.

It's an amulet from an image of a tumor that is meant to shake things up a bit. First off, it's not pink, nor is it still October - but we still must think of the women who do have breast cancer now.

The goal is to empower someone with breast cancer and to say a giant "F-Off cancer, I'm not afraid of you!"

Object Breast Cancer, which is now both a company and art project, was created by artist�duo�caraballo-farman (Leonor Caraballo and Abou Farman). OBC is based on the conviction that artistic interventions can have important social and psychological effects.�Here is an object that has power and usefulness, not something to run away from. It gives form to the formless enemy and can be worn as an artistic statement.

Each piece is unique and is an empowering symbol, almost like an evil eye for the 21st century. With the help of prestigious fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts, a residency at New York City's leading art and technology center Eyebeam, and the help of radiologists from Weill Cornell and NYU Langone Medical Center, caraballo-farman are the first to have devised a way of "digitally extracting" tumors and turning them into 3D objects that can be printed on rapid prototyping machines. These 3D prints are the basis for the art work and jewelry line of Object Breast Cancer.

OBC has a partnership with the National Breast Cancer Coalition, a network of groups striving to end breast cancer through grassroots action and advocacy

LINK: http://www.objectbreastcancer.com/