“A Collective Portrait of Pain”

Pain is one of the most human attributes of our ephemeral existence. The wellspring of this project is the artist’s personal struggle with debilitating pain, both physical & mental. Along the way, it has evolved into a project that explores how pain is a common thread that runs through humanity. This artwork is an attempt to map the human journey through this sensation. The panels are connected by a common thread, both literal and metaphorical, which, in no particular order, journeys across various facets of pain. From a barbed wire exploring the noxious nature of pain, it morphs into a nexus of neurons and tries to portray the physiology behind pain, it turns into a human chain of steadfast support, a fogging cloud around our heads and into a flowering vine to give us lessons in self-love, empathy and acceptance. The panels are in no particular order conveying the non-linear and cyclical nature of pain. The artist has taken inspiration from her own lived experience of  pain as well as from the experiences of over 75 people whom she had requested to respond on her questionnaire on pain. She wishes to keep this work an ongoing project.