We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cory Favre. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cory below.

Cory, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I believe the body of work that I have been creating over the last year and a half has been possibly my most meaningful to date.

I am an artist and a mother. I have three children, two sons (2 and 8) and a daughter (5). A majority of my work over the last five or so years has been about motherhood, pregnancy, postpartum and all the ups and downs of it all. Things shifted for me in November 2023 when my daughter was diagnosed with stage 4 high risk neuroblastoma. It turned our family upside down and has sent us on a years long journey to try and heal her. I am the one who took over all of her cares, which involves central line cares, administering medicines, keeping track of treatment dates/locations and clinic appointments, and being hyper aware of how she is feeling day to day. Neuroblastoma isn’t an easy cancer to treat and it uses all methods of treatment available. She had 5 rounds of induction chemotherapy, 8 rounds of chemo-immunotherapy, two bone marrow transplants (she almost died during the second because of a lung hemorrhage), 12 rounds of radiation and now we are currently in the beginning of immunotherapy treatments. I have used my art as a way to process all of this and becoming a full time nurse on top of being a full time mom and artist. The work is still about motherhood, but now being a mother of a kid with cancer.

I believe the motherhood work is so important because it shines a light on many of the struggles mothers and caretakers often feel alone in, which translates seamlessly into caring for a sick child. Ultimately, I want to create spaces where these feelings are talked about and people feel seen. A cancer diagnosis is scary and there an enormous amount of feelings you cycle through, especially when you are watching it happen to your child, and still the world keeps turning and you still have to parent and cook and clean and play and let the dog out. I hope with this body of drawings connect the split reality that is motherhood, the constant balance of trying to keep it all together.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have always known I wanted to be an artist. As a kid I was always coloring and drawing and was excited to learn any new type of art. I took art whenever I could all throughout school and studied it in college. Even knowing I wanted to be an artist my entire life and done so much of the technical practice of drawing and painting, I struggled for years with what I wanted my art to talk about. I didn’t have a clear vision of what I wanted to make work about until I became a mother. Things that are important to me became more focused and I was better able to articulate them with my art that connected with people. I don’t think I could be the artist I am today without my kids and I don’t think I could be the mother I am without my art. They go hand in hand.

While my focus in college was drawing, I have spent many of the last years oil painting and incorporating embroidery into the pieces.. Since my daughter’s diagnosis, I haven’t been able to be in my painting studio at all, so I have spent her entire treatment so far drawing. I can take it wherever we are and am able to pick it up and put it down without all the mess and cleaning. I have really enjoyed bringing drawing back into my life. I envision my work to keep evolving with my life and keep providing me. a way to process all the big feelings and create spaces for others to do the same.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think my entire practice is a testament to my resilience. From meandering for years not knowing what my art should be to more recently, having a million reasons to quit, I haven’t. I have pushed through and made better work because of it. Being an artist means living with a lot of unknowing, but in a way that I have always found exciting and I think that has benefitted me in all aspects of my life. In many ways, I think it has helped me navigate motherhood and my daughter’s disease. Even with all the amazing things science and medicine provide us, there is still so much we don’t have answers for. I don’t know if tomorrow I will wake up and have lost any and all ideas for new art, I don’t know if I am failing or succeeding as a parent, or if this cancer will take my daughter’s life, but stubbornly, (like her) I will show up every day and put in the work.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Continuing to make work that is meaningful to myself and connects with viewers. One of my favorite parts of my practice is getting to see people view the work and relate and feel safe enough to talk about their experiences. Being an artist is often isolating, being a mother is isolating and being a mother with a kid with cancer can be crazy isolating, so keeping on in this endeavor important to me. Not only do I want to feel connected to myself and the pieces, but I want to connect with others and let them know that they are not alone. Art is such a beautiful way to build community and a powerful way to talk about difficult subjects.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.coryfavre.com
• Instagram: @the.beatnik