Interview: Gabriela Mejia Talks About Her Plans for a New Book, Cleavage: New Ways To Look

Lastly, I want to invoke a higher collective consciousness about the disease. One of the artists contributing to the book doesn't have a family history of breast cancer and had previously taken the initiative to approach a big breast cancer foundation to offer her artistic services and was refused due to her art apparently being "too edgy." I actually found it more compelling and inspiring that someone with no immediate history of the disease, but who was conscious of it, felt that it was an important enough issue to address through her artwork in order to help in some way. And yet she was refused! What a travesty -- no wonder the message isn't getting beyond a certain demographic and the other-regarding consciousness around it is being stymied!

NH: There is a certain amount of fear associated with getting tested for breast cancer, especially among younger woman. Do you hope to capture this in your book?

GM: Actually, if anything, I'd say that there isn't enough awareness in younger women that they're at risk and that they should go get tested; so there actually isn't much fear there at all. Because of our age, i think most of us actually feel immune to it. Once again, that's how it's rolled out in most campaigns -- as a disease that primarily affects middle-aged and older women.

Fear is a negative emotion to me, and I don't want to invoke that in my book at all. I want it to inspire and to stress the importance of awareness and taking preventative measures against the disease, but in a more positive light. Getting tested is a positive action. I think that taking charge of one's health and caring about ourselves and others can be very uplifting and instill a sense of pride. I want the book to be a gateway to that sort of consciousness and action. We shouldn't be afraid to get tested.

NH: Where are the proceeds from the project heading and why?

GM: I want the proceeds to go to a breast cancer charity or foundation with an agenda and early detection program that benefits underserved and unprivileged women and men.

My mother was an artist, and most of my friends are artists, which also sadly means that most of them are uninsured. In that sense, the book is important too because it actually represents an underserved at-risk demographic.

NH: To you, what is the potential and significance of breast thermography?

GM: Well, I think that the method is still somewhat controversial and opposed by a lot of traditional doctors, but I think that it's because it's still relatively new and not yet widely practised. However, it is cheaper and doesn't pose any health risks and is available to younger women, so I don't see the harm in people seeking it as an auxiliary early detection method. If it is effective in terms of early detection and available to younger women, then just think of the number of lives it could save! The potential and significance of its benefits are then profound and cannot be enumerated.