Five-year old, Cancer Warrior and prodigy painter Aedan Pio Pascual Malvar recently opened his 2nd Art Exhibit entitled “Per Aspera, Ad Astra” (Through Hardships to the Stars) and can be visited until November 8, 2016 at Prism Gallery (located at the Ground Floor of Island Tower Condominium, Salcedo corner Benavidez Streets, Makati City).
Pio who loves the solar system, lego, Star Wars, Subway and who dreams to be an astronaut at NASA has been diagnosed of Chordoma, a rare type of bone cnacer that occurs in the bones of the skull and spine. His condition is one in a million and he is the youngest patient that has this sickness. He had his first craniotomy last year, July 8, 2015 at Philippine General Hospital with Doctor Gap removing 40% of his tumor. The average survival for chordoma is 7-9 years if treated.
While there are no approved drugs for this uncommon cancer and requires highly specialized care, this rare cancer can be treated through proton beam therapy. However,proton beam therapy is not available in the Philippines and it costs a lot. His current art exhibit is for his proton beam therapy to remove the tumor.
PER ASPERA, AD ASTRA at Prism Gallery is not only a fund-raising exhibit but also a visual reminder and inspiration to people to follow their dreams to the very end despite countless troubles and disabilities.
Pio and his love for the heavenly bodies, have transcended such message of hope through his paintings to show that despite his disease that disabled him to move and paint, he continuously to live a normal life with a positive outlook.
Come visit Prism Gallery and give his artworks a new home. You may also help by buying books from Literature VS. Cancer entitled “Abstract Jupiter: An Anthology for the Cause of Aedan Pio” that are available there and it includes 3 replicas of my earlier artworks.