Tracey Emin says her cancer is ‘gone’ after surgery

Artist Tracey Emin said her cancer has “gone” after she underwent surgery.

Emin, 57, was diagnosed early last year after discovering a tumour in her bladder while working on a painting of a malignant lump.

She had surgery last summer, when many of her reproductive organs were removed and she was fitted with a stoma bag.

Emin told Newsnight she has reached a “big, big milestone” and last week her three-monthly scans were “all clear”.

In an interview set to air on Friday, she told the programme: “I’m not painting because I’m using my willpower to stay alive. That’s what I’m doing.”

Emin, best known for works such as her unmade bed and the tent Everyone I Have Ever Slept With, added she hoped to return to painting in the future.

“I never realised how much I wanted to live until I thought I was going to die,” she said.

Emin said she will now move to annual cancer scans.

In October last year the artist said she hoped to “get past Christmas” following the cancer diagnosis.