Title: Origin Story

Mixed Media on Canvas

48 by 60 inches

This painting is where The Pink Gene Project began. At first glance, it is a simple female symbol interrupted by a navy medical cross. But that interruption is intentional. The female symbol represents every woman who enters the healthcare system seeking answers. The navy cross represents medicine itself. Its power to heal, but also its power to define, delay, dismiss, or validate our experiences. As I navigated my own journey with autoimmune disease, I realized my story wasn’t unique. I met countless women whose symptoms were minimized, attributed to anxiety or stress, or left unexplained for years before receiving an accurate diagnosis. This painting became the question that sparked The Pink Gene Project: What happens when a woman’s voice enters the medical system? Every portrait in the project grew from that question. This piece is not the conclusion. It is the beginning. I also love the visual metaphor that the medical cross sits directly over the center of the female symbol. It doesn’t erase womanhood, it occupies it. For many women with chronic illness, interactions with the healthcare system become intertwined with identity. That idea feels like the perfect first chapter for The Pink Gene Project.

 Prints available upon request.