Pain Points

In ice hockey, bruises are inevitable, especially on the knees and elbows. Scientifically, a bruise forms when capillaries beneath the skin rupture from physical impact. But to me, bruises were more than biological reactions; they were badges of effort. After a game, I wore them with pride. Each bruise was a mark of how far I pushed myself. Their colors—first red, then purple, eventually fading into brown, yellow, and finally disappearing—visually reflected the changing intensity of pain. I found myself fascinated by these transitions. This artwork reimagines my body as a topographic map, where bruises become elevations and depressions, and the body itself becomes terrain. Each region metaphorically represents a body part, mapped by depth and pain. The color codes and layered contours correspond to the severity of each bruise, visualizing both physical trauma and emotional resilience. The overlapping landforms in the piece represent bruises accumulated over time, forming densely textured, almost cellular landscapes. In this way, my body becomes both subject and map, a codified record of impact. This work is presented across two separate panels, not as a complete map, but as a deliberately fragmented representation of the body. The division reflects the disjointed and incomplete sensations I experience as a result of my condition. Rather than suggesting a cohesive or unified form, the separation symbolizes the fractured perception of self that comes with chronic pain and bodily dysfunction. The panels serve as physical divisions and as a metaphor for a body and a self that no longer feels whole. In breaking the map apart, I invite the viewer to witness this interrupted sense of embodiment, where the body is no longer a continuous landscape but a series of emotional and physical ruptures.