"This self-portrait was created during a period of chemotherapy — a time when my body, my face, and my sense of self were in constant flux. As an artist, I have long turned to portraiture to understand what I see. But during this period, drawing became something more urgent: a way to stay connected to myself when everything familiar seemed to be falling away.

The portrait does not aim to dramatise illness or evoke pity. Instead, it is an attempt at radical honesty — to observe and accept what is. The falling hair, the pale skin, the fatigue in the eyes: all are part of a shifting reality that I wanted to capture without filters.

In that sense, the work is both deeply personal and universal. Everyone who goes through illness faces a version of this transformation. With this portrait, I hoped to create a visual language for that experience — quiet, but clear. A way of saying: This is what it looked like. This is how I kept looking.

Art, in this case, is not an escape, but a form of presence. A way of staying.

— Annemarie Busschers."