Paul Marshall releases ‘BodyShots’ – a visual art exhibition detailing his stomach cancer journey

Bodyshots are blows received to the torso during combat that weaken the opponent.

Bodyshots is an art exhibition about Stomach Cancer and how resilience, community and love were important actors in facing the disease. It is an honest and uncompromising mixture of hope, insight and reality.
The exhibition is set in a ‘ward’ context. It uses images of Paul’s healed scar and weight loss to illustrate the impact of the various assaults to his body during the 12 months from diagnosis to completing treatment. Alongside the images are a selection of messages exchanged with friends and loved ones over the same period that serve to build a picture.
The exhibition however is not particularly a story of Paul’s cancer experience, rather it is a celebration of the love from his community, a village of people who carried him home and set him down gently. The context outlines why Paul was lucky to have received an early diagnosis. It strongly encourages visitors to be vigilant for persistent symptoms and indicates the serious costs of complacency, particularly for men aged 55+
Biography
* Paul Marshall is 60 years old and from Bangor from Co Down
* Paul works in Photo / Video / 3D and Virtual design.
* Paul designed and created this Virtual Exhibition.
* Paul teaches Moving Image part time on the photography degree course at Belfast School of Art.
* Paul graduated MFA in Fine Art with Distinction in 2015.
Photographs of Paul were taken by Jim Maginn MFA, Paul’s friend and collaborator
on the project from its inception.
Promotional Material
Promotional Video (Square for Social Media)


Download Link (Images / Press Release PDF)
Studio Image of Paul © 2024 Jim Maginn
3D Modelled & exhibition images © 2024 Paul Marshall

OGBodyshots.com

Facing Stomach Cancer through Resilience, Community and Love

CONTEXTUAL QUOTES
o “Cancer, is a slow, multi-round fight to the death. It is a scorched earth war of aggressive attrition versus the will to survive. “
o “Yes I am greatly weakened, I am 30% lighter, I am 1cm shorter and I can only eat food a handful at a sitting; but I am alive, I am without cancer, I am wrapped in love and I am grateful to be here. “
o “After ignoring persistent symptoms, I am cancer-free today because I eventually went to the doctor. If symptoms had faded, I would have forgotten about them until it was too late.”
o “80% of stomach cancer patients are diagnosed when the disease is too far advanced to be cured.”
o “Acting swiftly and not ignoring persistent issues in the stomach area is life-saving”
o “As days got hard, I was grateful to have those days, so that other days may follow”

WHO?
My name is Paul Marshall, I am a 60 year old man living in Bangor Co. Down. Professionally I offer a suite of production services to the arts; Video/ Photo / 3D & Virtual. I teach one day a week at Belfast School of Art, Ulster University.
CONTEXT?
I was diagnosed with Stomach cancer 4 days before Christmas 2023 and had my stomach surgically removed in May 2024. I am cancer free for now.
Stomach cancer is a slow growing and silent form of disease. There is no screening mechanism and symptoms tend to be non-specific.
My ‘good fortune’ was to have been diagnosed early enough for treatment and surgery to be a pathway. Only 1 in 5 stomach cancers are identified early enough for curative options to be available. It is a tragedy.
Cancer survival changes one’s perspective it involves great compassion for those less fortunate and immense survivor guilt. On my journey, people have called me a warrior, yet I am neither brave nor unique. I am just a lucky ‘one in 5 of one-in-two’. Lucky for now.
WHY?
Given the statistics, my objective with the exhibition is to flag up symptoms, particularly aimed at* men aged 55+ who are most commonly affected (60/40).

“Acting swiftly and not ignoring persistent issues in the stomach area is life-saving”

*Statistically the vulnerable group are men aged 55+ with lifestyle components that increase risk such as smoking, lack of exercise and poor diet.

MENTAL HEALTH
The subject of one’s mental approach in the face of a cancer diagnosis is a subject to take seriously and make plans to address.
Putting oneself in a strong mental position when faced with such adversity I believe is a powerful clinical benefit when facing a cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Personally I leaned upon my own experience as a documentary filmmaker observing the harsh journeys of others to know how fortunate I have been to not be on the other path, and how close it was.
“As days got hard, I was grateful to have those days so that other days may follow.”
Statistically, cancer may re-present itself sooner or later. There is a lot in my favour, but it’s sneaky. In knowing that, I am more grateful for every day and for the love I continue to receive from my Village around the world.

A JOURNEY?
Although a ‘Journey’ is the arc of the exhibition it was a not journey I took alone. During the period covered, I was closely supported by, and relied heavily on, the love of people near and far. My ‘Village’ carried me through the treatment and eventually brought me home. So while it is the relating of a journey, for me it is a celebration of love, of family, of community and of empathy. I feel part of a large group moving
through this as a unit, I feel insulated and together we have had momentum.

VISUAL NARRATIVE?
The Virtual tour and the planned exhibition are contextually rich. They are intended to not just be about the strong visual experience at their core, but to allow the viewer to achieve a sense of immersion in an unfolding narrative as they are exposed to environment and snippets of information.
This is achieved through the ‘ward’ setting, the blue curtains arranged as if around hospital beds. The translucency hides and reveals the adjacent ‘beds’, each representing a different assault to my torso, a body shot.
The booth with the bed and other 3D elements is a combination of my ward experiences through surgery and chemotherapy. Each leads to further information on that area of my experience.

The area populated with the ward chair, infusion stand, over-chair table, chemo-ward food and kicked-off shoes etc is as if I have just stepped away between infusions.
The ‘Shisendo’ Book is a personal nod to poet Gerald Dawe, referencing his poem ‘The Moon-viewing Room’. Gerald died during the period I was in treatment.
The many steps of this journey are indicated in the exhibition by displaying hundreds of randomly selected messages. Many communications were sent and received during the 12 months of treatment and a selection of 500+ are shown on screen in the virtual exhibition.
In a physical exhibition the messages are printed on individual strips of paper and placed in test tubes. There are 50 test tubes beside
each of the images exhibited. There will also be a scrolling text artwork projection.
Reading the messages as they appear over time builds a picture for the viewer of the ups and downs, of the impacts upon the mundane and the critical, interspersed with references to my repeated bodily impacts along the way. This aims directly at increasing relatability.
Printed images are sized and hung to my exact body-scale. This is for relatability, The viewer stands eye to eye, body to body. In the physical
exhibition, one image will be a black mirror and the viewer is spotlit so their reflection is superimposed on my body. The exhibition is
about putting people in my shoes, relating themselves for a few minutes to the experience, sufficient to make them rethink the next time
they have a persistent stomach issue.

VISIT THE EXHIBITION
https://www.ogbodyshots.com/