All of her life, Nardiz Higuera Cooke has been surrounded by art. Her mother is a well-known painter and muralist in Sonora, Mexico, and her father is a scientist and poet.
Now, as a self-described dreamer and cancer survivor still undergoing treatment at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Nardiz, who prefers to go by her first name, has found her craft in sculpture work using radiation masks. Two masks were from her own treatments.
“i could feel its texture, but i was so deep in my stress that i neglected it, even when it became painful, keeping me up at night at times,” nardiz said.
with unrelenting symptoms becoming more aggressive and impossible to ignore, nardiz said her body was screaming for attention. when she could no longer stand the pain, she went to the e.r. for answers.
she left several hours later with a piece of paper in hand that read, “malignant edema, highly suggestive of metastatic disease.” her diagnosis—stage 4 metastatic breast cancer with metastasis to the brain—quickly led to a chaotic and nonstop schedule of tests, scans, biopsies, radiation and gamma knife treatments. it was at this first radiation treatment that nardiz had an idea. as the medical team placed the mask on her face, she wondered, “could i keep that?”
“i immediately felt like that was going to be my trophy,” nardiz said. “i didn’t know what i was going to do with it, but it became a symbol for me.”
the mask experience
in practice, radiation masks serve two functions—to keep the patient as secure and still as possible during treatment and allow for a precise delivery of the radiation beam. while the mask itself shouldn’t cause any physical pain, anxiety and fear are common feelings that can arise, especially in the first appointment.
“you really don’t know what you’re going to be experiencing until you’re there,” nardiz recalled about her first treatment. “it’s scary. you’re immobilized, but there’s no pain, only claustrophobia.”
“i honor, respect and learn from each one of them along their process of transformation,” nardiz said.
“nardiz turns the fearful experience of wearing the mask into something beautiful,” said carmen calfa, m.d., sylvester’s co-director of the sylvester survivorship and supportive care institute and an associate professor in the miller school’s division of medical oncology. “her message is deep, loud and clear. to me, it says, ‘do not be afraid. you can find beauty even in the things we fear the most in life.’ learning about her love for art and desire to help others who have to go through radiation made me understand her even more.”
a story of renewal
“It’s taken me down a path I couldn’t have even imagined,” she said.
And she has no intention of stopping here. Nardiz will present her collection this December during Miami Art Week, beginning Dec. 4-7. Opening night will take place at 6 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 4, at glottman. You can follow Nardiz on Instagram @radiant_sentinels.
The Crystal Quartz Mask is currently displayed in the lobby area next to the white piano at the Sylvester Cancer Center.
