With my artwork I want to portray the complex experiences associated with chronic pain, mental illness, and disability. In her book, The Body in Pain, Elaine Scarry says “To have great pain is to have certainty; to hear that another person has pain is to have doubt. The doubt of the other person amplifies the suffering of those in pain.” I work to make the pain days touchable and inspire some empathy in people who don't have experience with pain of any kind. The work is not just to show pain but to also to expand on a life with pain, the emotions, the daily schedules, and the various treatments tried and used. These things don’t just apply to chronic pain but also mental illness, disability, and other chronic illness, both visible and invisible. All of these ailments have similar stories of confusion, knowledge, ignorance, and frustration for the people experiencing them. Telling these stories and showing the through lines from the past to the present is an essential part of understanding and healing for those affected.