The Sun-Bather
Zoe Isaacson
Many women associate a tan with being healthy and more attractive. In the quest for beauty it is easy to forget the long-term risks. I made the sculpture close to the sea shore to signify the risk being taken by the sunbather. She can’t see how close the water is getting and she can’t predict how high her risk of melanoma is getting either.
Before the sculpture is claimed by the ocean, perhaps it will start to disintegrate as it dries in the sun. Its attractiveness will be sullied. While the sand it is made of is still damp, it appears strong. The first changes will be subtle, and it is not until too late to save it that the damage becomes obvious. This is true for women who sunbathed for vanity, and now have prematurely aged skin.
The sea itself represents ‘the tides of time’. It will come and wash away the sand sculpture. This symbolizes the transient nature of beauty and indeed life. All the effort that was put into making the sculpture will soon be for nothing. All the effort that the patient put into being beautiful will also mean little if she dies prematurely from the resulting malignancy.
When I first saw the picture I asked myself what it had to with medicine, but as with all things in WPC or SHM, there is always a story behind the story. After reading the reflection I realized that we can never judge a patient/work of art by our first impressions. It is our jobs as doctors to ask the right questions or look in the right places to get the whole story.
This sculpture is located at 120 The Strand, Manhattan Beach. It is best viewed from 2nd Street. Next time you pass by 2nd Street on The Strand or bike path, take a closer look.
I find this sculpture particularly interesting because of how true it is and how much I hate that it is true. Nowadays, constant reminders about the dangers of sunbathing are unavoidable yet so many people (particularly in Europe) find the pursuit of sunbathing for the sake of a healthy-looking glow impossible to resist. I am willing to admit that many of my friends, family members, and I are guilty of this. We love the idea of getting a tan to look ‘healthier’ and when we are confronted with the notion of premature aging (a direct threat to our vanity) or Melanoma (a direct threat to our life) we either try to forget and carry on with the same dangerous habits or try to brush them off with excuses such as “My skin type is different they aren’t talking about me” or “Life is too short”. I know next time I go in the sun, deep down I will have that fear that in however many years time I could be sat in the clinic receiving a Melanoma diagnosis and knowing it was almost completely my fault. The use of the sea as representing ‘the tides of time’ brings into question the whole pursuit of vanity, at the end of the day a tan is temporary but the damage that UV radiation causes can be permanent and should be a much bigger priority. So why is it still so hard to avoid topping up a tan when the sun is out?